Bairds Malt Limited has announced a major investment in malting capacity in two of its Scottish malting plants.

Work is currently underway at its Arbroath facility, which will see the refurbishment of a Clova malting plant, increasing production capacity by 22,000 metric tonnes per annum.

Further to that, a new malting plant will be constructed at its Inverness facility on Longman Road, increasing capacity by 57,000mt per annum.

Construction of this new state-of-the-art malting plant begins next week, with the first batch of barley expected to come through its maltings by the end of 2021.

The honour of getting the first spade in the ground fell to senior malt technician Alex Glass, an employee of 21 years with Bairds, and one of the longest-serving team members at Inverness.

“It’s a big occasion for the Bairds team at Inverness with the construction of a new facility and it's great to be able to reach this milestone of the groundbreaking,” said Mr. Glass. “The expansion of the maltings is good news for the business and our community, and we’re looking forward to seeing the new maltings develop and the first batch of barley through the new plant for our distilling customers.”

At a socially distant ceremony, Mr Glass was joined by fellow Bairds employees Mark Kinsman, distilling customer manager, as well as Isla Prentice, who will be overseeing the development of Bairds’ new maltings in her role as project coordinator.

“Getting a spade in the ground represents a lot of hard work from the team at Bairds and the contractors who have helped us get to this pivotal stage," said Ms Prentice. "It’s particularly exciting as one of the youngest employees in the business to be able to play a part in the next chapter in this essential industry. It’s also significant to see the detail of the green credentials of the new plant, which is a major step forward in efficiency and hygiene standards and a further commitment to the long-term sustainability of the supply chain.”

President of Bairds Malt, Dr Richard Broadbent, commented on what the development of the new maltings meant for the wider supply chain: “This is a very exciting period for the distilling industry in Scotland and with this investment, in addition to the support from our significant grower base, we believe this expansion provides a world class malting plant to supply our customers with the quality Scottish distilling malt they require. This is a long-term industry with long-term relationships right along the supply chain from ‘Drill to Still’ and this enables Bairds Malt to play its part in supporting the investment we’ve seen recently in whisky production and going forward for many years to come.” Bairds Malt is one of the largest malting companies in the UK, with five sites located throughout the Eastern Seaboard of the UK. The business was founded in Glasgow in 1823, with the Inverness Maltings originally being opened in 1962 as Moray Firth Maltings. It became a central part of the Bairds Malt business when Moray Firth Maltings and Hugh Bairds merged in the 1990’s.

Bairds supply malt to customers across the globe, with a particular focus on serving distilling customers from its Inverness Malting, where a range of malts are produced, most notably Bairds’ range of Peated Malts which are especially popular with distilling customers. Bairds Malt is supported in its business by a range of local contractors, most notably its barley growers, many of whom are growing barley for supply into the maltings from a 50-mile radius of the Longman Road facility.

Amongst those supporting Bairds' expansion plans are McArthur Haulage, a second-generation haulage company based in Forres who have been providing haulage to the maltings since the doors first opened in 1962. Bairds Malt is a subsidiary of United Malt Group Limited (ASX: UMG), an international producer of malt to the world’s leading distillers and brewers, with operations in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia.