Scotch whisky distillery dream and what matters most now

The Herald Scotland

12 hours ago

All the way from when I started covering the dream of a Scotch whisky distillery on Harris, years before it came to fruition with its 2015 opening, Mr Erlanger has been a constant.
I spoke to the Scotch industry veteran in the early days about the aspiration of US-born musicologist Anderson Bakewell to build a distillery on Harris, and about the drive to raise funding for it. Mr Erlanger was passionate about the vision, and did a great job of ensuring the funding was secured for the project. This appeared throughout to be a labour of love, and it was also clearly a very major undertaking.
In an article in May 2012 in The Herald, I wrote: 'Potential funders of the first ever legal Scotch whisky distillery on Harris have expressed interest in putting up about one-third of the £10 million investment required, the managing director-designate of the project has revealed.
'Simon Erlanger, a former sales and marketing director of Scotch whisky distiller Glenmorangie, told The Herald that a total of £10m would be required to build the distillery at Tarbert and to provide the working capital to cover costs, including barley and barrels, ahead of first revenues.
'He hopes to raise this money from the private and public sector within a 'matter of months', to enable construction of the distillery to start in early 2013 and operations to start by summer 2014.'
The distillery opened its doors in September 2015 - a little later than planned back in the spring of 2012 but a very impressive feat nonetheless.
A couple of years later, I had the pleasure of travelling to Harris to interview Mr Erlanger.
By that time, the distillery was in full swing with its award-winning Isle of Harris gin. The spirit that would become The Hearach single-malt Scotch whisky, named after the Gaelic word for a native of Harris, was maturing in the barrels.
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And what was probably most striking was the importance of the employment the distillery had brought to Harris, with Mr Bakewell's vision realised.
Mr Erlanger told me in 2017: 'It was his vision to do something to stem that population decline [on Harris].
'He didn't come from the [Scotch whisky] industry. It took someone from outside the industry to come up with the idea. He just had this feeling that distilleries tend to last for generations, rather than [being] short-term ventures.'
By August 2023, as Isle of Harris Distillery prepared to launch The Hearach the following month with major growth ambitions to swiftly double the size of the enterprise to a near-£8 million annual turnover business, it employed 45 local people. This was around double what had been promised.
Mr Erlanger noted at that stage the impending millionth bottle of gin milestone for the distillery and the approaching launch date for The Hearach, and said: 'We talk about this as being the end of the beginning. We now go into a different momentum, a different era. In a way, we have gone through a lot of growing pains [with] a very inexperienced team.
'We have 45 local people now, which is double what we said we would deliver.'
Executive chairman Ron MacEachran observed at that stage that one-third of this workforce was under 30.
Like the broader Scotch whisky sector, Isle of Harris Distillery has sadly encountered tougher trading conditions in recent times.
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In April, it announced 'deeply regrettable' plans for redundancies 'in a move to safeguard the future' of the business.
When these job cuts were announced, Mr Erlanger said: 'In a move to safeguard the future of our business, we are introducing a restructuring programme which will see reduced production and workforce at the distillery.
'Much like our colleagues in the wider spirits industry, we are facing challenging headwinds which have led to some incredibly difficult decisions. Following a number of cost-cutting measures, voluntary redundancy is being offered to staff in the first instance, with compulsory to follow thereafter if we do not fulfil our cost-reduction target. It is deeply regrettable we find ourselves in this situation and would like to take the opportunity to thank our entire team, particularly those affected by the changes, for their dedication and contribution to the business.'
It seemed clear that Mr Erlanger, and also Mr MacEachran when I interviewed him that day, were acutely aware of the effect of these job losses on the workforce and the island community.
Asked by The Herald last week about the outcome of the redundancy programme, a spokeswoman for Isle of Harris Distillers said that 18 staff had 'chosen to take voluntary redundancy earlier this year, with the company supporting them to find employment elsewhere'.
While it is clearly a positive that compulsory redundancies were avoided, no one should underestimate the impact of these job losses on people and their families, and on Harris.
However, we should also not lose sight of the fact that this distillery, built from scratch, still employs 31 people, including four seasonal staff.
This is crucial employment for these workers and their families, and for Harris.
Mr MacEachran last week highlighted his confidence in the future.
Declaring 'change provides us with an opportunity for renewed growth', he said: 'Recent weeks have seen the pink ceilidh bottle sell out in just 45 minutes, showing ongoing demand for the premium gin we produce here on the island.
"Alongside this we have recently successfully launched global travel retail products - The Hearach croft strength malt whisky and Isle of Harris gin tidal strength - allowing consumers to sample a taste of Harris in new and different ways. New listings also continue to be achieved in Scotland, London and further afield, while new product innovation continues on island.'
Mr MacEachran, when asked at the time the redundancy programme was announced in the spring if the workforce could rise again in the future, said: 'It is too early to say but one would hope that if the business was back on a growth journey that would mean more employment.'
Whatever the future holds - hopefully it will be prosperity - Mr Erlanger's crucial role in creating what has been built must be recognised for the great achievement that it is.
Isle of Harris Distillers highlighted the vital part played by Mr Erlanger when it announced his retirement last week.
It said: 'Simon has been instrumental in the success of the business since its inception. Under his leadership, the distillery has established two well-respected international spirits brands and has laid the foundations to achieve its purpose of providing multi-generational employment for the Isle of Harris. The board would like to thank Simon for all he has achieved and for his dedication to the company and the island.'
Mr Erlanger has achieved so much, and with great passion.
What is so important now as Isle of Harris Distillers moves on to a new chapter is that it prospers over the long term and continues to provide such valuable jobs on Harris, enabling people to stay rather than being forced to move away because of a lack of employment.