The owner of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) has opened its £2.5m bottling plant as the society starts its 40th anniversary celebrations.
Artisanal Spirits Company plc says the Masterton Bond bottling plant at Uddingston will mark a “real step change” in its supply chain performance.
The group signed a 10-year lease on the site in October 2021 and the plant was fully operational by November 2022, with some 20,000 bottles produced by the year’s end.
READ MORE: Margarine manufacturer Cardowan Creameries acquired by KTC Edibles
The plant employs 14 people and means the group’s bottling requirements can all be met in-house. The plant will also provide cask storage, fulfilment and distribution of the group’s whisky and other spirit products.
Artisanal Spirits Company also owns J.G.Thomson & Co, producer of a range of small batch blended malt whiskies, grain whiskies, rum and gin.
Andrew Dane, CEO of Artisanal Spirts Company, said: “I’m delighted to officially open Masterton Bond today. It seems poignant that, as we celebrate 40 years of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, we look ahead to an exciting new era of providing more whisky than ever before to our membership worldwide.
“Masterton Bond is in line with our long-term business plan, utilising funds raised from our IPO in 2021, to evolve our cask storage and bottling requirements. This excellent new facility reduces our dependence on third party bottlers for production, storage, fulfilment and distribution – our sincere thanks to all our third party suppliers who have worked with us and helped us to get to this point.
“This improvement to our capacity for bottling marks a real milestone for our supply chain efficiency and performance. We are forecasting an improvement to margin as well as a higher volume of bottle production.
“Furthermore, Masterton Bond is already substantially reducing road miles involved in the manufacture and supply of the Group’s products, helping us lower our carbon footprint and tread more lightly on the planet.”
Gary McGrath, operations manager at Masterton Bond, said: “This is an important day to us all and the team involved in getting the facility ready. Our testing and optimisation of our production in the run up to opening today has been successful.
“To date, we have already bottled over 70,000 bottles on the line and we will soon be making shipments to all our key markets internationally including China, the United States, Australia, Germany, France and Japan, from here in Uddingston.”
To mark its 40th anniversary year the Scotch Malt Whisky Society is planning commemorative events including collaborations with a ‘thrill engineer’ and a top-secret world-record attempt.
