22nd April 2024
Ferovinum and The Borders Distillery Company Limited have agreed a £35 million funding package to support the distillery for the next three years.
The new arrangement will enable The Borders Distillery - the first to operate in the Scottish Borders since 1837 and recent winner of the World Whiskies Awards Best Scotch New Make award - to grow its business and develop its core strengths in advance of the eventual release of its Single Malt Scotch Whisky.
As a first-of-its-kind funding platform dedicated to unlocking growth for wine and spirits enterprises, Ferovinum will also provide The Borders Distillery with specialist operations and supply chain tools to support trading in the UK, Europe and the USA.
Commenting on the deal, The Borders Distillery Managing Director John Fordyce said: ‘We are delighted to have found a partner in Ferovinum and its excellent team. We share the same ambitions to grow, enthusiasm for the Scotch Whisky industry and commitment to deploy technology to facilitate growth in multiple markets.’
The Ferovinum platform delivers a more agile and efficient funding solution by holding assets during production, storage, distribution and fulfilment, giving companies end-to-end capabilities, funding the full production and distribution cycles. Access to the platform also enables clients to benefit from seamless integration with freight, storage and fulfilment providers along with payments, licensing and commercial infrastructure to enable optimised trading and streamlined access to key export markets.
Gregor Mathieson, Director of Spirits at Ferovinum added: ‘We are very proud to be supporting The Borders Distillery during their next phase of growth. It is six years since the stills started running at their extraordinary site in Hawick, and the dedication to making great whisky as well as being a force for good in the Borders community is palpable amongst the whole team. Ferovinum was created to provide ambitious, visionary drinks businesses like this with the backing and specialist support they need to achieve their goals, and we are very excited to be partnering with John and the team for the journey ahead.’
The Borders Distillery was advised by Scottish corporate finance advisory boutique Noble & Co.
The Borders Distillery, Hawick, TD9 7AQ, Scottish Borders
For further information and images please contact Burt Greener Communications
Lorna Burt / lorna@burtgreener.co.uk / 07792 253818
Rachael Tyrrell / rachael@burtgreener.co.uk / 07818 075606
For further information on Noble & Co please contact Duncan McFadzean, Head of Food & Drink – 07970 749288
About Ferovinum
Ferovinum’s technology brings together capital and distribution in a single platform built for and dedicated to the wine and spirits sector; providing capital efficient inventory management alongside trading and distribution tools that radically simplify the supply chain for brands and resellers.
The Platform allows businesses to access flexible capital when they need it, reducing their liquidity risk and reliance on payment terms, as well as protecting profitability should supply chain disruptions occur. Ferovinum clients can also take advantage of supply chain and sales inventory management tools to access automation and reduce the operational burden of getting their products into the hands of consumers.
For banks and financial institutions, Ferovinum’s technology provides a risk-managed and cost-efficient way to deploy capital into this traditionally hard-to-bank sector, where high levels of fragmentation have led to a historic lack of access to working capital. It uses structures adopted by investment banks in commodity markets to deploy a broad range of capital from credit funds, banks and other institutions.
The company was founded in 2018 by two wine and spirits enthusiasts: Mitchel Fowler, an experienced investment banker and commodity supply chain expert; and Daniel Gibney, who has years of experience in corporate finance, debt restructuring and hospitality. With bases in London, Scotland, Ireland and the USA, Ferovinum has a growing team of specialists across finance, technology, wine and spirits and law.
About The Borders Distillery
The Borders Distillery Company was founded in 2013 by George Tait, John Fordyce, Tim Carton and Tony Roberts. After raising £9.6m in equity funding a new distillery was built in an abandoned building in the centre of Hawick with the first nip distilled on 6th March 2018.
The Borders Distillery employs and trains local people and aims to have all of its distillers fully qualified. It co- founded with Simpson Malt The Borders Growers & Distillers Group bringing together the distillery and sixteen Borders farms to source malted barley, manage co-products and actively promote the rural economy.
aToday the Company employs 18 people and has recently launched its Workshop Series of Scotch Whiskies including Borders Malt & Rye, the first Scotch Whisky made in the Borders since 1837.
