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The new distillery, which Diageo says will employ “the most modern environmental and distilling techniques … and has an ambitious target of being water and fossil fuel neutral,” will produce single-malt spirits destined for Diageo’s range of blended Scotches, including Johnnie Walker, J&B and Bell’s.

While construction of the facility is subject to planning consents, Diageo hopes to break ground this year with an opening date of early 2009. The initiative is expected to create around 25 new jobs in Diageo’s operational and support staff departments.

About Diageo:
Diageo, which currently employs 4,000 people in Scotland and operates 27 malt and two grain distilleries there, is also expected to expand its existing Cameronbridge grain distillery in Fife, already one of the largest of its kind in the UK. A further $40.7m is earmarked for upping the capacity of its Shieldhall packaging plant in Glasgow and its central Scotland warehousing facility.

The history of Diageo begins in the 18th and 19th century, with the creation of some of their most valuable and well-recognised spirit brands. Their story races through a twentieth century noted for expansion, innovation and diversification, before entering the 21st century as the business they know today - producing the world's greatest selection of premium drinks.

Their strategy is to drive organic growth in premium drinks. They will invest to take leadership positions in every category, market and consumer occasion in which they choose to compete.

They aim to drive brand growth by exploiting complete category participation opportunities, rather than solely focusing on individual brands within categories. Key categories include Scotch whisky, vodka and rum.

Their focus on their priority brands in their most profitable markets helps drive brand growth of their global trademarks – Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff, Baileys and Guinness.

They will look to invest more resources into these and other brands with the best growth prospects.

As part of their innovation agenda they place an increased emphasis on premium brands, striving to build the best premium brands collection in the industry.

They will look for opportunities in emerging markets – Brazil, Russia, India and China are current examples of markets they are building now to drive growth tomorrow.

Finally, they seek out selective acquisitions to support their brands growth, innovation and customer focus strategies where they can add shareholder value.

Source: :”Diageo To Build £40M Scotch Plant,” Dan Marsteller, Wine Spectator, July 12, 2007