Glenmorangie Distillers invest £45 million

From the BBC News site 1st July 2008 (Click here to read original article)

Whisky giant Glenmorangie is to relocate its headquarters to Edinburgh and upgrade distilleries at Tain and on Islay as part of a £45m plan.

Its present HQ at Broxburn, West Lothian, is to be sold to Diageo.

The revamp will also see the sale of its Glen Moray distillery at Elgin as a going concern.

Consultation with the company's 420 employees has started. Job loses are anticipated, but most are expected to go through retirements.

The company said it would focus on building its premium single malt Scotch whisky brands, Glenmorangie and Ardbeg, in response to growing demand.

It is planning to withdraw from the bottling and sale of blended Scotch whisky.

The process of change will be phased over two years.

A site for the new headquarters and bottling plant have still to be revealed.

Cask warehouses

No job loses are expected among the 17-strong workforce at Glen Moray because Glenmorangie said the distillery would be sold as a going concern.

The business plans include a multi-million pound investment in Tain, Ross-shire.

Under the proposals, its distilling capacity will be increased, new whisky cask warehouses built and the visitor centre restyled.

The single malt Glenmorangie was first created at Tain in 1843.

Further development is also planned at the company's Ardbeg distillery on Islay.

The distillery and visitor centre will be further upgraded and new cask warehousing constructed.