The world’s largest premium drinks company says the Diageo Archive at Menstrie in Clackmannanshire. is the largest collection of its kind in the world, consisting of more than half a million items. The collection includes documents, advertising material, bottles, books and memorabilia relating to global brands such as Johnnie Walker, Bell’s, Smirnoff, Gordon’s and Tanqueray.
The project will include a new storage facility and a new reception and library area for visitors. Each year hundreds of Diageo employees from around the world visit Menstrie to learn about the history and heritage of the brands for which they work. The archive is also a key source of inspiration for innovation and the development of new products and marketing campaigns.
Christine McCafferty, who has managed the Diageo Archive for the past 15 years – and who oversaw the relocation of the archive to Menstrie said: “The Diageo Archive is has been carefully and lovingly built over many years and is a living record of the tradition and heritage of brands which are famous around the globe.
“Diageo has the world’s leading collection of premium drinks brands and with new marketing campaigns, new bottles and new packaging being developed all the time our collection is continually expanding. I am absolutely delighted that the company is prepared to invest in developing and expanding our home here in Menstrie, securing the future of this global facility in centralScotland.”
The Diageo Archive is 23 years old and holds more than 405 years of history and heritage on Diageo brands, companies, people and sites – including Diageo’s 28 malt distilleries inScotland.
It contains material on more than 1,500 brands, 200 Production Sites and 150 markets and includes more than 10,000 bottles and 12,000 adverts.
“As the demand for our brands grows worldwide and there is an increasing requirement to protect brand identities and trade-marks, the work we do here in Menstrie remains as relevant and essential as it did when we started in 1990,” said McCafferty.
The Diageo Archive facility in Menstrie opened in June 2001 and although it is not open to the general public, a selection of the archive material is always on display at the company’s distillery visitor centres aroundScotland. The archive also contributes regularly to public displays, including a recent exhibition at the Scottish Parliament to mark the centenary of the Scotch Whisky Association.
Diageo has submitted a planning application to Clackmannanshire Council for permission to extend and re-develop the archive, which is part of the company’s Technical Centre complex at Menstrie.
