The world’s first community-owned carbon neutral distillery to make history in the small Highland town of Dingwall
(TRAVPR.COM) UNITED KINGDOM - July 6th, 2016 - GlenWyvis and Community Shares Scotland have hit the £2.25 million in a remarkable effort to raise investment for the world’s first community-owned distillery project in Scotland.
GlenWyvis distillery project is putting Dingwall back on the World Whisky map for the first time in 90 years, as it lands on the £2.25 million crowdfunding mark, making it the biggest community share offer in the UK.
With well over 2300 investments from over 30 countries, Founder John F. McKenzie, GlenWyvis Community Benefit Society said: “We hoped for £1.5 million, we were delighted when we hit £2 million and we are ecstatic reaching £2.25 million so quickly and really does underpin our ambition to make whisky history in Dingwall.
“We have a huge following locally and this has been borne out in pledges from over 50% of local investors and over £1.3 million coming from the local IV area – making it a community-owned distillery without a doubt. The distillery will bring employment, added tourism focus on the North Coast 500 and put Dingwall on the World Whisky map.
“Team GlenWyvis has worked hard to raise awareness across Scotland, UK and beyond and this has paid off. It really is history in the making and we are delighted to be able to say we will be reintroducing craft whisky distilling back to the Dingwall area after a gap of 90 years.
“We opted to extend our target date to meet demand and we would like to thank all of our investors as well as our GlenWyvis and Community Shares Scotland teams who put in a huge effort to make this happen.”
Community Shares Scotland, Programme Manager, Kelly McIntyre added: “This has been an amazing project right from the start with interest from individuals globally, business, media and international organisations and really goes to show that community enterprise is hugely popular both in Scotland and around the world.
“The GlenWyvis community share offer is a bright shining light showing just what can be achieved in such a short period of time. Undoubtedly there is an appetite for community ownership in Scotland and another terrific example alongside our Portpatrick Harbour community share offer success last year.
“This should give community projects the impetus to take the next step and make their plans a reality”.
The GlenWyvis Community Share Offer will remain open until 12pm on 8th July.
Ends
For further information on Glenwyvis Community Share Offer Number 7305 contact:
John F. Mckenzie: Founder/Owner
F: GlenWyvis T: @glenwyvis
W: www.glenwyvis.com
For further community shares information contact
Kelly McIntyre: Community Shares Scotland/Programme Manager
Email: kelly@communitysharesscotland.org.uk
For information check out: http://www.communitysharesscotland.org.uk
Twitter: @CommSharesScot
For press information contact
Fiona Stewart, PR Consultant, Interwoven PR
E: fiona@interwovenpr.com/T: 07940560453 Tw: @interwovenpr
Notes to Editors
Community Shares Scotland
Community Shares Scotland is funded by the Big Lottery Fund Scotland and Carnegie UK Trust. Delivered by DTA Scotland in partnership with the Plunkett Foundation, the Community Shares Unit (a joint project run by Locality and Co-operatives UK) and Rocket Science.
Background details on GlenWyvis Community Share Offer can be found here http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk
GlenWyvis based in the historic Highland town of Dingwall aims to create Scotland's very first community-owned craft whisky distillery, 270 years on from the Battle of Culloden. GlenWyvis has raised over £2m of investment that will help to put whisky distilling back at the heart of Dingwall.
To ensure a high level of local ownership of the distillery, locals living in “IV” postcode areas can invest as little as £250. Investment opportunities started from £750* for UK and international investors interested in buying into Scotland’s first community owned distillery with tranches* of investment rising to a maximum investment of £100,000.
Whisky has been made in Ross-shire and Inverness-shire for centuries and inspiration has been taken from former distilleries: Ferintosh, Ben Wyvis in Dingwall and Glenskiach in Evanton. The original Ferintosh Distillery was established by the Forbes of Culloden family in 1690, on the Black Isle just east of Dingwall, and is one of the oldest recorded whisky distilleries in Scotland. The new Distillery will re-instate craft whisky distilling to the Dingwall area, some 90 years after the last of the town's original distilleries closed down.
The famous Ferintosh brand of the day was a much loved whisky throughout Scotland and was a favourite of Scotland’s great bard Rabbie Burns, who lamented: “Thee, Ferintosh! O sadly lost! Scotland lament frae coast to coast!” ... on its closure in 1785.
The new GlenWyvis Distillery will be built on a farm above the town of Dingwall and will be 100% community-owned distillery and 100% powered by green energy.
A short video in support of the GlenWyvis Distillery, Community Share Offer can be downloaded hereand used for broadcast purposes with permission.
Background to Investment amounts & Rewards:
The price of a share in GlenWyvis Distillery is £50, with a minimum investment of £250 to become a member. Joint memberships where people could club together to buy a share or discuss staged payments were offered to a maximum investment of £100,000.
Invest £250 - £749
Postcode restriction to IV postcodes in Scotland.
1 bottle Gin now, T-Shirt and bottle Whisky in year 3.
Invest £750 - £2,499
2 Gin now or 2 Inaugural Whisky between Burns Day 2020 and St Andrews day 2020, T-Shirt now and private distillery tour for 2 in 2018.
Invest £2,500 - £4,499
6 Gin now or 6 Inaugural Whisky between 25/1/20 and 30/11/20, 2 T-Shirts now and shared distillery tour in 2018 plus tour for 2 including 20 minute helicopter whisky history tour in 2017 flown from Dalcross Airport, Inverness, by The Flying Farmer.
Invest £4,500 - £7,499
One 64l “first fill” sherry cask filled with 64l New Make spirit at circa 63% abv (please see terms and conditions on our website). Plus 6 Gin now, 2 T-Shirts now and shared distillery tour in 2018 plus tour for 2 including 20 minute helicopter whisky history tour in 2017 flown from Dalcross Airport by The Flying Farmer.
Invest £7,500 - £14,999
One 128l or two 64l “first fill” sherry cask filled with New Make spirit at circa 63% abv (please see terms and conditions on our website). Case of Gin now, 2 T-shirts now and private tour for 4 in 2018 plus tasting masterclass at distillery and 30 minute shared helicopter whisky history tour for 2 in 2017 flown from Dalcross Airport by The Flying Farmer.
Invest £15,000 - £49,999
Fill Hogshead Cask personally in 2017 and add your name on wall or roof of distillery plus case of Gin now and bottle of Whisky every Burns Day till year 10 including New Make spirit. A private extended 30-minute helicopter whisky history tour for 4 flown from Dalcross Airport by The Flying Farmer plus a private tour and tasting master class for 4 in 2018.
Invest £50,000 - £100,000
Investments will be considered by application only and bespoke packages similar to above can be arranged
Casks are sold to you and become yours on successful application for shares. Detailed terms and conditions of your cask ownership are available on our website www.glenwyvis.com/. These include that UK Duty and VAT may be payable after bottling; that you are a private individual purchasing for private consumption or gifting and that you many not sell on or trade for profit, the bottled whisky. A 64l cask will produce around 100 bottles of whisky at 46% abv. Assuming a bottling cost of £5 per bottle and VAT and duty at current rates, each bottle would cost you £20.
Tax Relief We have applied for advance assurance from HM Revenues and Customs (HMRC) that the shares in GlenWyvis Distillery are eligible for tax relief under the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) - these are Government-backed schemes designed to encourage investment in smaller companies. If you are a UK tax payer, investors in GlenWyvis Distillery can apply for income tax relief after the start of trading.
GlenWyvis Distillery (Dingwall) Limited has been established as Co-operative and Community Benefit Society with the specific purpose of owning and operating a community-owned whisky distillery and visitor centre in Dingwall to benefit the community of Dingwall.
Whisky Stills will be supplied by the prestigious company, Forsyth of Rothes, and will be delivered in September 2016.
Green credentials: GlenWyvis Distillery will run entirely on energy produced using the renewable technologies – hydro, wind and solar already used on the farm. An advanced heating system will be powered by biomass and solar thermal and water from both the Skiach River and Tulloch Spring will be used to make the whisky with a borehole being used to supply the process water required.
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All facts correct at the time of publishing noted at the top of the press release
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