Increased sales of Benromach Single Malt Whisky have helped Gordon & MacPhail maintain a strong financial performance. Benromach saw volume growth of 29% to the year ending February 2013, a trend which has continued into the current financial year with sales volumes increasing 25% in the first 8 months.
Overall, sales for the company, to February 2013 fell slightly by 3.5% to £21.6m. But sales in the UK were in line with the previous year despite a challenging economic background. Export sales volumes increased by 10%, but sales values fell 10% to £5.5m, primarily due to a change in the profile of ages of whiskies being sold and the increase in volumes of Benromach 10 Years Old. Increased sales volumes have been achieved in numerous markets including USA, Australia, Russia and China. Pre-tax profit was slightly down from £3m to £2.6m.
Managing Director, Michael Urquhart, commented, “Benromach is a strategic focus for our business and the brand’s strong on-going performance is an excellent result. We continue to invest in it and have decided to double production at the distillery in 2014 to meet future demand. In addition, we are increasing staff numbers with the appointment of a third distiller to hand-craft our award winning single malts and a brand manager to assist with brand building and marketing activity.”
He continued, “We’re pleased to have maintained strong sales overall. The business’s long term performance has been strong and the outlook is positive with more buoyant trading conditions in the UK and the continuing demand for our products both traditional and developing overseas markets.”
Gordon & MacPhail bottles whiskies from throughout Scotland under various brands including Connoisseurs Choice and Generations. The Gordon & MacPhail portfolio of over 300 expressions of Scotch Whisky is sold through various channels in the UK and is exported to more than 50 international markets. In addition, the firm is one of the UK’s leading independent wine and spirit wholesalers as well as a retailer, owning the iconic shop in Elgin where the business first began in 1895.
