There is no doubt that Scotland will always be regarded as the home of some of the finest whisky in the world.Made in the glens of Scotland for hundreds of years, today whisky is one Scotland’s biggest exports and the reason that Euan Shand, managing director of one of Scotland’s older whisky companies, Duncan Taylor, spends a high proportion of his time overseas.
Being brought up at a distillery (Glendronach in Huntly) where his father was manager, it is perhaps no surprise that Euan would end up working in the industry himself despite a stint in the oil sector which resulted in the acquisition of an engineering company.
When Duncan Taylor came to his attention in 2002, it was a dormant company as the New York-based owner had died. The opportunity to venture into an industry that he knew and loved with massive potential for growth was too much to resist.
Duncan Taylor has its origins in 1930’s Glasgow when the company was a merchant and broker of Scotch whisky casks. Devotion to providing only the finest casks to be filled at Scotland’s most prestigious distilleries has been a key feature of the company’s history and this tradition of building an outstanding portfolio of only the finest Scotch whiskies, including some of the oldest and rarest, is still the same today.
Booming exports
In recent years, the amount of Scotch whisky sold abroad has risen to record levels as more than one-and-a-quarter billion bottles were exported in 2007. The value of global sales that year rose 6% to £2.8bn ($5.4bn), representing a quarter of all the UK’s food and drink exports.
There is growth in all leading markets in Europe, the Americas and Asia with demand in Venezuela, China and South Africa particularly buoyant. Combined with the surge in online sales, business is booming for Duncan Taylor which is expecting a turnover of £4million this year and pushing for £5 million next.
With global taste for the wee dram still growing, Euan has significant plans for expansion in the drinks industry as a whole. “We are developing a number of new brands including a vodka and a gin,” he says. “We have already developed drinks brands specifically for a range of supermarkets in the US, and we are looking to do the same in China.”
In addition, Euan has recently announced plans to build a single malt distillery in his home town of Huntly and is actively on the acquisition trail for other businesses that would add value to the Duncan Taylor brand.
“The time is right to move the business to a new level”, explained Euan, explaining the decision by Duncan Taylor to appoint Ritson Smith as its accountants and advisors. “We have aggressive and exciting plans for the company and we need to have advisors on board that have the maturity, experience and business acumen to handle that.
“I looked at a lot of firms before deciding on Ritson Smith but I liked what I saw. They have a sensible, no-nonsense approach and a good track record in corporate finance.The prospects are bright for Duncan Taylor, and we feel confident that we have the right team of advisors behind us.”
