Speyside Cooperage has increased its profit in spite of supply chain problems.
The whisky barrel provider said that importing casks from the United States had been more difficult than usual because of a lack of shipping container availability. There was also a drop in barrel prices in the first half of the year, which squeezed margins.
Annual accounts show turnover fell by more than 6 per cent to £25.3 million in the 12 months to April 2022. Britain remained Speyside’s largest single market, with sales of £20.9 million, followed by Asia on £2.4 million and Europe at £1.4 million. Some goods also went to America and Australia.
Despite the issues, a reduction in costs and administrative expenses helped the company to a 29 per cent rise in pre-tax profit to £2.7 million.
Speyside Cooperage was founded in 1947 at Craigellachie in Moray and it has since expanded into another site at Alloa. It added operations in Kentucky and Ohio in the US to serve the bourbon market.
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A visitor centre at Craigellachie allows people to see the process of making and repairing the oak barrels that are primarily used in the storage and maturation of whisky.
Since 2008 Speyside has been owned by Francois Frères Tonnellerie, a cooperage group based in the Burgundy region of France with roots going back to 1910. The directors of Speyside, which employs more than 100 people, said: “Our aggressive cooper apprenticeship programme initiated four years ago is increasing our skilled workforce by 20 per cent every six months and will be completed by summer 2024. This extra coopering capacity is in line with our customers’ projected requirements.”
