The company has submitted a planning application to Moray Council for the redevelopment of its Dailuaine distillery complex in Speyside. Consultations with local residents will begin this week. These plans would see a £9.5million upgrade of the existing bio-plant at Dailuaine, which deals with whisky by-products from a number of Diageo’s distilleries. The company said this would open the potential to up production capacity across Speyside.
Diageo is also developing other proposals, which would follow the Dailuaine project. The company said these other proposals would “see production capacity increased at existing distilleries by over 10 million litres per annum over the next two to three years” – the equivalent capacity to building a major new distillery – with an investment of around £10million. The details of these plans are still being developed and will be rolled out gradually over the next two to three years, subject to the relevant planning processes.
The Speyside region is home to 17 of Diageo’s 28 malt whisky distilleries in Scotland. Diageo’s recent investment in the region includes the opening of the Roseisle distillery - at a cost of £40million.
Bryan Donaghey, managing director of Diageo Scotland said: “Over the past six financial years Diageo has invested around £600 million in its business in Scotland, including our new £40 million distillery at Roseisle in Speyside which we opened last year. This announcement is another demonstration of our confidence in and commitment to the future of Scotland and Scotch.”
Diageo is also investing in scotch whisky growth outside of the Speyside area. This year will see £3.2million capital investment in increasing capacity at the Glen Ord distillery near Inverness.
Earlier this year, Diageo announced a £3.5million investment in increasing capacity at its Caol Ila distillery in Islay.
