Expansion plans announced by Bairds Malt at its Inverness site
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Further expansion plans worth up to tens of millions of pounds and creating new jobs have been announced at a state-of-the-art malting plant in Inverness.
Bairds Malt, which primarily supplies the Scottish distilling sector, increased production capacity at its plant in Longman Road a year ago following two years of construction work.
It now expects to add further capacity by early 2027 following the completion of a second phase of development which will also harness renewable heat and power.
It follows the acquisition of Bairds’ parent company, United Malt Group, by Malteries Soufflet in November.
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Malteries Soufflet managing director, Guillaume Couture said: "We are delighted to announce this expansion of one of our UK malting facilities so quickly after the acquisition of United Malt Group and Bairds Malt.
"This project is our first in our growth plan for the combined global malting business and will be the flagship facility for our combined UK business going forward."
Bairds Malt, which has four UK malting locations, produces over 285,000 tonnes of 25 different malts each year, destined for the distilling and brewing industry.
The proposed new investment at the Inverness plant follows last year's completion of Project Angel which added 79,000 tonnes of capacity to support the demand for quality malt from Bairds customers.
It expects to add an additional 57,000 tonnes of annual capacity by early 2027, given full planning consent is already in place and a significant proportion of the onsite infrastructure was installed during the initial phase of the development.
Phase two will include a new building but it will share the existing kiln.
It will also mark a significant stride towards enhancing carbon reduction efforts throughout the wider supply chain.
In line with Malteries Soufflet’s sustainability agenda, Bairds Malt plans to integrate renewable energy from the onset of phase two commissioning.
In collaboration with local suppliers, it plans to harness renewable heat and power, furthering its commitment to carbon reduction.
It is also poised to expand its onsite plant, enabling comprehensive treatment of effluent adding to its water conservation efforts.
UK general manager Richard Broadbent said: "Our customers have been very clear with their aspirations for any malting capacity expansion in Scotland, that it needs to be both quality and sustainability focused.
"We have always had a robust barley procurement strategy in Scotland and aim to incorporate additional renewable energy to align with Malteries Soufflet’s carbon emission targets for 2030."
He said the robust growth of malting barley procurement in Scotland had been integral to Bairds Malt’s success over the past three years.
"We recognise that at the heart of success for the Scottish distilling industry is the supply of quality UK malt, sown and grown from UK growers," he added.
"While we celebrate the success of Scotch being enjoyed around the world, we are particularly proud of our growers and malting team who play a key part in that story beginning right here in the Highlands, with UK barley a key character."
Bairds Inverness Maltings was first established as Moray Firth Maltings in the late 1960s.
It became part of the Bairds Malt business in the late 1990s following the merger of Moray Firth Maltings with Hugh Bairds.
From its three malting plants on site, its annual output of 99,000mt of malt makes it the largest of Bairds’ four UK malting locations with barley sourced primarily from growers throughout the Highlands and Aberdeenshire.
