THE world’s first fully community-owned distillery has filed for administration ten years after thousands of people backed the business due to “substantive” legal issues and a “challenging” whisky market.
Established in 2015 as a community benefit society, the GlenWyvis Distillery went on to create award-winning whisky and gin, while also simultaneously investing back tens of thousands of pounds into the local community.
The Dingwall-based business was hailed at the time as a “pioneer” in the industry after its first crowdfunding raised £2.5 million, with its society having more than 3800 members worldwide.
However, on Thursday the bosses behind the not-for-profit firm said it had filed a Notice of Intention to Appoint Administrators at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
The directors of GlenWyvis Distillery said the decision follows a “prolonged period” of substantive commercial, operational and legal issues on the business, “driven by” challenging conditions across the whisky market, rising operating costs and sustained external pressures.
They said they had appointed Interpath Advisory to lead an external fundraising process in recent months, which had approached potential investors and funders to secure the additional finances the business required.
The directors added that while the process “generated interest”, it did not secure the funding needed for the distillery to continue trading.
Alistair McAlinden and Geoff Jacobs of Interpath Advisory have been nominated as Joint Administrators.
Dr Jock Ramsay, chairman of GlenWyvis Distillery, said the appointment is a “very sad day for all of us associated with GlenWyvis Distillery”.
He added: “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.”
The directors said members of the society were informed directly ahead of the announcement.
They added that private cask owners will receive a separate communication from the Joint Administrators, and that “no action is required from cask owners at this stage”.
Pauline Smith, chief executive at the Development Trusts Association Scotland (DTAS), which has supported GlenWyvis since its founding share offer, said the announcement is “genuinely sad news”.
She added: “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.”
Over the years, GlenWyvis Distillery had donated money to various cultural, educational and entrepreneurial projects in the area, including £30,000 between local primary schools, the Dingwall Museum and the Dingwall Gaelic Choir.
