Speyburn Distillery plans £4m expansion

By Gemma McKenna

Published: 26 February, 2014

Speyburn Distillery is to double its production with a £4 million expansion to cope with growing global demand for Scotch whisky.

Speyburn SpeyburnInver House Distillers is planning a £4m expansion at Speyburn Distillery, in order to meet fast-growing global demand.

The distillery, near Rothes in Speyside, is part of the Inver House Distillers portfolio, which is owned by International Beverage Holdings.

The expansion programme will see the facility's production capacity upped from 1.8 million litres to over 4 million per year, allowing the business to stockpile ahead of future growth in both established and emerging markets. The brand forecasts volume growth for 2014-15 of 15%.

The expansion will be much more environmentally-friendly than the existing site, cutting back on water consumption and boosting its carbon footprint, with predicted energy savings of more than 20%.

Inver House has contracted local firms to manufacture production equipment and carry out the building work.

Speyburn Distillery was founded in 1897 and produces Speyburn Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, a top 10 malt brand in the USA.

Inver House Distillers' managing director Graham Stevenson said: "As we continue to be very optimistic about the long term potential for Scotch whisky, particularly in the emerging BRIC, African and South East Asian economies, investment in our production capabilities is crucial. Having the infrastructure in place to produce our high quality whiskies in greater quantities will be key to the future success of our brands, so we are delighted to see the first phase of this major programme of work get underway at Speyburn Distillery."

Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead said: "We know there is great demand for Scotland's national drink with whisky exports from the UK increasing by 87% over the last ten years from £2.3 billion in 2002 to £4.3 billion in 2012, and the expansion of this distillery will play an important role in meeting that global appetite for our premium product."

International Beverage Holdings, which employs 850 people globally, was set up in 2006 as the international arm of ThaiBev. It owns Chang beer, alongside Old Pulteney, Balblair and anCnoc among other beverages.

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