GlenWyvis distillery files notice to appoint administrators amid ‘challenging conditions’
In recent months the directors appointed Interpath Advisory to approach potential investors and funders to secure the additional capital the business required but it did not secure the funding needed for the distillery to continue trading as a going concern.
A community owned distillery in Dingwall has filed a Notice of Intention to Appoint Administrators (NOIA) after facing an “exceptionally difficult trading environment”.
The management committee of GlenWyvis Distillery Ltd said the decision follows a prolonged period of substantive commercial, operational and legal issues on the business as well as rising operating costs and sustained external pressures.
In recent months the directors appointed Interpath Advisory to lead an external fundraising process, approaching potential investors and funders to secure the additional capital the business required.
While that process generated interest, it did not secure the funding needed for the distillery to continue trading as a going concern.
Filing a NOIA does not mean administrators have been appointed. It provides the business with a period of protection of up to ten days while next steps are progressed. Alistair McAlinden and Geoff Jacobs of Interpath Advisory have been nominated as joint administrators.
Founded through a pioneering community share offer, GlenWyvis became the world's first 100% community-owned distillery and is owned by more than 3,800 members in Scotland and around the world. Over the past decade it has produced award-winning spirits from its site above Dingwall.
Members of the Society were informed directly ahead of this announcement.
Private cask owners will receive a separate communication from the joint administrators, upon their appointment, setting out the proposed approach to privately owned casks; no action is required from cask owners at this stage.
Dr Jock Ramsay, chairman of GlenWyvis Distillery, said: “This is a very sad day for all of us associated with GlenWyvis Distillery. For ten years this distillery has been owned by its community and sustained by the extraordinary support of its members, volunteers and staff and the team explored every available option to secure its future.
“Our focus now is on working with the proposed joint administrators to achieve the best possible outcome for our members, creditors and the wider community, and we will keep our members informed at every stage."
Pauline Smith, chief executive at the Development Trusts Association Scotland (DTAS), which has supported GlenWyvis since its founding share offer, said: “This is genuinely sad news. GlenWyvis brought thousands of people together to build and own a distillery, and that achievement should not be lost in today's news.
“The difficulties the Society has faced do not diminish what community ownership can make possible. GlenWyvis was a pioneer – built and owned by thousands of people who believed in what a community could achieve together. Its volunteer directors have faced an exceptionally difficult trading environment across the whisky industry, alongside the sustained burden of defending a series of legal proceedings.
“The Society has repeatedly defended itself successfully, but doing so has inevitably consumed time, money and energy that a community business governed by a volunteer board could ill afford. They deserve great credit for how they have conducted themselves throughout, and DTAS will continue to stand with the Society and its members through whatever comes next."
Further updates will be provided following the appointment of the joint administrators.
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