THE first Scotch whisky distillery to operate in the Scottish Borders since 1837 has secured a £35 million funding deal to drive its growth aspirations over the next three years.
The award-winning Borders Distillery Company, which was founded by George Tait, John Fordyce, Tim Carton and Tony Roberts in 2013, said the funding from Ferovinum will support the business as it builds towards the release of its inaugural single malt.
Ferovinum, which specialises in lending to wine and spirits businesses against inventories, will provide The Borders Distillery Company with specialist operations and supply-chain tools to support trading in the UK, Europe, and the US.
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Mr Fordyce, managing director of the distillery company, said: “We are delighted to have found a partner in Ferovinum and its excellent team. We share the same ambitions to grow, enthusiasm for the Scotch whisky industry and commitment to deploy technology to facilitate growth in multiple markets.”
Ferovinum, which also works with the owner of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, Artisanal Spirits Company, said its platform provides an “agile and efficient” funding solution by holding assets during production, storage, distribution and fulfilment, giving companies “end-to-end capabilities” to fund full production and distribution cycles. It added that clients also benefit from integration with freight, storage and fulfilment providers along with payments, licensing and commercial infrastructure to enable “optimised” trading and “streamlined” access to key export markets.
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Gregor Mathieson, director of spirits at Ferovinum, said: “We are very proud to be supporting The Borders Distillery during their next phase of growth. It is six years since the stills started running at their extraordinary site in Hawick, and the dedication to making great whisky as well as being a force for good in the Borders community is palpable amongst the whole team.
“Ferovinum was created to provide ambitious, visionary drinks businesses like this with the backing and specialist support they need to achieve their goals, and we are very excited to be partnering with John and the team for the journey ahead.”
The Borders Distillery, which recently won the World Whiskies Awards Best Scotch New Make title, was advised on the deal by Noble & Co.
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