Scottish government awards 13 firms £3.5M in grants

By Matt Atherton

- Last updated on GMT

Thirteen Scottish firms were awarded a total of £3.5M in grants
Thirteen Scottish firms were awarded a total of £3.5M in grants

Related tags Scotland

Thirteen food and drink manufacturers have received a total of £3.5M in grants from the Scottish government to diversify and expand their operations.

The grants – part of the Food Processing, Marketing & Co-operation scheme – will support sustainable collaboration from farm to fork, the government said.

Scotch whisky producer Douglas Laing & Co received £855,430 to build a new Glasgow distillery, and Aberdeenshire-based Maxwell Farms was awarded £634,784 for a new retail packing facility. Other manufacturers awarded grants included: Kettle Produce, Katy Roger’s Artisan Dairy, Kelburn brewing Company and Glenrath Egg Products.

‘A cornerstone of our economy’

Scottish government rural economy secretary Fergus Ewing said: “Scotland’s food and drink industry is a cornerstone of our economy, environment and culture, and the quality of our produce is world renowned.

“Today we are announcing £3.5M of new funding for 13 organisations across Scotland, which will support sustainable co-operation and collaboration, from primary production and processing, to the market, so industry can continue to flourish.

“I congratulate each recipient of these awards, and wish them the best of luck for the future.”

Three north-east Scottish firms received almost £1M. Two food producers in the Scottish borders got more than £700,000 in total, while four food and drink producers in eastern Scotland were awarded a total of £900,000.

East coast food producer Kettle Produce was awarded £279,000 by the Scottish government to build a new cold storage complex.

‘Developing and maintaining sustainable agricultural production’

Kettle Produce financial director Liz Waugh said: “Kettle Produce is committed to developing and maintaining sustainable agricultural production in Scotland, and it is fantastic to see this commitment mirrored by the Scottish government with a total of £3.5M being awarded to the industry in Scotland.

“We are very pleased that our grant will allow us to enhance Kettle’s onsite storage capabilities with a flexible new long and short-term cold storage complex.”

The Food Processing, Marketing and Co-operation scheme is part of a £70M food and drink processing support initiative in Scotland. It was launched to provide support for suppliers and producers, and to make Scotland healthier, wealthier and smarter.

Meanwhile, in September, a distillery on the Morvern Peninsula was awarded £431,291 from the scheme​. The Drimnin distillery created up to eight new jobs after the investment, and began work on a new distillery.

Full list of firms awarded grants by the Scottish government:

  • Douglas Laing & Co, Glasgow, awarded £855,430.07 towards the construction of a new distillery in Glasgow. It will go towards the creation of office space, pre-production storage, distilling equipment, warehousing of casks, bottling and finished product storage.
  • Maxwell Farms, Aberdeenshire, a family business growing and processing root vegetables, awarded £634,783.60 for a washing, grading, overwrapping and retail packing facility.
  • Glenrath Egg Products, an egg processing business near Peebles, awarded £427,000 for egg processing equipment to double its existing capacity to access new markets in the foodservice sector.
  • Kettle Produce from Cupar, Fife, awarded £279,000 to construct a new complex capable of short and long-term cold storage for 4,500t of swede, carrot, pointed cabbage, cauliflower, kale and courgettes.
  • McDonald Agri, Angus, a vegetable processing business awarded £167,998.80 for the construction of a packhouse and various processing equipment.
  • W & R Logan Partnership from East Lothian awarded £244,949.60 to extend its original packhouse and to install technically advanced cabbage sorting and overwrapping equipment.
  • Coleburn Investments, Moray, awarded £246,476.54 for the building works and distilling plant and equipment to create a boutique distillery at its Coleburn distillery.
  • Kelburn Brewing Company, East Renfrewshire, awarded £54,471.98 for moving to a bigger premises including building, flooring works and drainage, and the purchase and installation of a 20 barrel plant, casks, computer equipment and software.
  • Millers of Speyside, Highlands, awarded £83,660 for purchasing and installing an on-site incinerator plant and a stunning box for its cattle/pig line.
  • Simon Howie Butchers, Perthshire, awarded £206,294 for the construction of a dry goods store, and engineering support facility, a cold store with blast freezing and a centralised packing room.
  • Border Meats awarded £305,000 to centralise operations in Lockerbie and create a more efficient and sustainable abattoir, butchery and sales facility.
  • Katy Rodger’s Artisan Dairy, Stirlingshire, awarded £16,425.12 for the purchase and installation of an external walk-in fridge and freezer, a commercial fruit cooking machine and a pot filler and conveyor.
  • Scottish Islands Abattoir Association, the Islands, awarded £43,400 for a feasibility study to consider how the economic sustainability of its abattoirs could be ensured and their levels of operation improved and increased.

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