New whisky storage facility opens in Glenrothes

A new £10 million whisky storage facility has opened in Glenrothes.

Comprising four warehouses, maintenance and bottling buildings and offices, the investment marks the first phase of longer-term development at Southfield Industrial Estate.

The facility will allow Scotch to age on site, and is expected to stimulate the local economy, as well as creating jobs in the region.

Scotch Whisky Investments(SWI), which operates the new facility, also recently announced that it is set to relocate its headquarters, currently located in Sassenheim outside Amsterdam in the Netherlands, to the Fife village of Falkland.

The headquarters will be located at the site of the former St John’s Works, situated to the south of the urban edge of the village.

These latest plans are pat of a multi-million pound investment by the company in the Kingdom.

Keith Rennie, Manging Director for Scotch Whisky Investments, said: "We are delighted to open our new whisky storage facility here in Glenrothes and would welcome anyone requiring such facilities to come and speak with us.

“The facility, which will be our base in Scotland for many years to come, is a crucial part of our expansion plans globally, delivering a multi-million-pound package of investment in Fife and creating considerable employment opportunities.

“Our vision as a company is to showcase and educate people about single malt Scotch whisky and promote investment in the commodity. Our new state-of-the-art storage facility will help us achieve that goal.

“We would like to thank both Fife Council and Scottish Enterprise, who provided significant support and funding for the additional phases of this development.”

The company earlier this year acquired a further 7.7 hectares of land at the Glenrothes estate, marking one of the largest industrial land transactions in Fife in recent years.

SWI say it will "accommodate the delivery of a large-scale whisky storage facility, bottling plant, cooperage, and office complex, critical to the company’s investment plans". 

It has plans to expand to 27 warehouses, which could hold 200,000 casks, and create up to 38 full-time jobs. SWI has received some £850,000 in grants from Scottish Enterprise and had support from Fife Council.