Profits grow as whisky firm marks 70 years

Scotch whisky specialist Douglas Laing is going from strength to strength after revealing operating profits were up by 40% to £2.4m in 2017.

The Glasgow-based firm, which has seen double digit growth year on year since 2014, recently announced that sales of their whiskies grew to 70,000 cases which were shipped to nearly 60 countries worldwide.

International growth is at the core of the 70 year old firm’s strategy with particular focus being brought to bear on both their Remarkable Regional Malts range and establishment of their own vertical production site encompassing a distillery, bottling facility and new HQ in Glasgow.

This corporate direction led to Chris Leggat recently being promoted to CEO with Douglas Laing’s Owner, Fred Laing, transitioning to the role of chairman.

Chris Leggat said: ‘This is an exciting new role for me and the business at a particularly positive time as we mark our platinum anniversary. Douglas Laing is an impressive, growing business with an excellent and expanding team of professionals in place, world-class brands and an exciting future.

‘We are gearing up for the next chapter where we will continue to invest heavily in our Whisky stocks, our team and the global customer base. We have laid a solid foundation to allow the business to grow ahead of the industry curve, planning out for both the short and longer term.

Douglas Laing has released the XOP Platinum Hero to mark its 70th birthday

‘It’s a high energy, creative environment at Douglas Laing and we’ll maintain those values through the next chapter.’

Fred Laing added: ‘As we continue to build and establish Douglas Laing as a key player within the Whisky industry, I am delighted to appoint Chris as CEO.

‘He brings a great combination of passion and enthusiasm as well as a flair for strategic thinking and understandably works well with my daughter Cara, our director of whisky. Last years’ numbers are history and become the new benchmark for further growth. We are currently recruiting for six new key roles across sales and marketing, as well as a number of internal promotions, so we believe the future is certainly looking bright for our family company.’

The company was founded by Fred Douglas Laing in 1948. From its relatively humble beginnings, few could have predicted the continuing success of the company now in the hands of its third generation.