Our Consultant Caroline Strachan popped in to see our clients Inver House Distillers in Airdrie recently to catch up with the team, and filled us in on life at the busy distillery.
When I visited International Beverage Company Inver House Distillers for a supplier meeting, I have to say I was blown away by the in-depth site tour and how welcoming and attentive the staff were on the site.
I met with Nicole & Lisa in HR firstly, and discussed the history of the business and their sites across Scotland. Inver House are part of their parent company ThaiBev, who are Bangkok-based and employ around 50,000 staff. Inver House have five distilleries across Scotland where they distil whisky and gin which is then distributed to the Inver House Distillery in Airdrie and stored in their warehouses. They manufacturing well-known brands including Old Pulteney and Caorunn Gin.
The business is a top tier COMAH site with over 50 warehouses including 13 racked warehouses, and they store over 500,000 casks onsite – 50 tankers go through the site each week to distribute the finished product to their customers.
Whilst I was on site I was introduced to Garry, the Assistant Facilities Manager and shown one of the warehouses which was very impressive. Inver House was one of the first sites to have a palletised warehouse and each cask is laid on top of a pallet until it is as high as a forklift will go, which enables the business to optimise the use of their space.
I was then taken to their bottling hall which was the first time I have seen a bottling hall in action. I was shown the manually operated single cask line, this is where they bottle their Single Cask Malt Old Pulteney 25 year old, and I was delighted to be able to bottle two of my own bottles and used the machinery to fill and cap the bottles!
I was then taken to where they emptied the casks and was able to see the charcoal which sits in the casks and adds to the flavour of the whisky.
Finally, I was taken to their newly built visitor centre where they have a bar at the top of the warehouse for Whisky tasting! Some of the casks had glass bottoms and the casks were turned on their side, it was so interesting to learn that the older the whisky, the less is left in the cask and you could see how much is lost through the glass bottom – the whisky which leaves the cask over time is called ‘The Angels Share’.
All in all, a fantastic morning out at Inver House, and it was clear to see the staff take pride and passion in what they do and how they deliver to suppliers and customers. I was really impressed with how organised every part of the site was. They have the most friendly and happy staff who really took the time out to make me feel welcome. Inverhouse has an excellent working environment and fantastic culture to work in, which shines through in all the staff.
We asked the HR team at Inver House what it was like working there:
"We believe our culture is welcoming, innovative, inclusive, and people orientated. We want to support our team to grow and develop as individuals while they help build our brands and grow and develop our business. We want our journey to involve the whole team and we want that team to be open and honest in everything that they do.
Below is a quote from our MD which I think really encapsulates the company and something we share at induction with all new starts:
“Our company excels at creating high quality brands of distinctive character, and our success lies in playing to this strength. Our whiskies are made by long serving, local distillery teams who bring so much integrity and an authentic story to the process. They put their heart and soul into every bottle and not every drinks company has that. Drinkers love that sense of place and personality, and of a whisky or gin that has been carefully made by a person, not a corporation. Looking ahead, we will continue to invest in our brands, in telling their stories and in the people who make our products around Scotland.”
As the company grows, we are outgrowing our site, so we plan on expanding our office space on site and refurbing some of our older warehouses once the new warehouses are complete. We are also currently installing a £3million anaerobic digestion site at our Balmenach distillery which will make the distillery one of the greenest in the industry and generate enough power to contribute to the local grid.