Wemyss family bring their Darnley’s Gin home to Fife

THE Wemyss family of Fife have opened their new gin distillery in Kingsbarns, bringing production of its Darnley’s Gin brand “home”,

The family will distil the brand in Scotland for the first time, having until now produced the spirit in London. Their new gin distillery is housed, alongside a visitor centre, in a refurbished cottage in the grounds of their Kingsbarns whisky distillery.

The investment has been made to expand Darnley’s at home and abroad, with the company aiming to lift sales to 20,000 cases a year within three years from the current 8,000. There are also plans to expand the Darnley’s range under new gin distiller – and Fife local – Scott Gowans. The distillery will initially produce three Darnley’s spirits: Orginal, Spiced Gin and Navy Strength.

Managing director William Wemyss, whose family have worked in the East Neuk of Fife for centuries, said: “From a business perspective this is a momentous investment for the future of Darnley’s Gin, following on from the recent refresh of our brand and the growth in demand for our high quality gin around the world.

“As a Scottish family business, it is also a decision that was an instinctive one for us, bringing the making of our gin home to a part of Scotland where we have such deep roots and a connection to the land and local communities.” WOOD Group has poured cold water on talk of a recovery in the hard-pressed North Sea oil and gas industry highlighting a material drop in business in the area in the first half.

The Aberdeen-based firm noted there had been a significant fall in spending on new facilities in the North Sea in recent months accompanied by pressure on margins for maintenance work.

“In the first half we have seen continued challenges in our core oil and gas market with modest recovery only in certain areas,” said Wood Group. “Robust activity in the west … is being more than offset by weaker activity in the east, where we have seen a further reduction in projects and modifications work, particularly in the North Sea.”

The comments in an update on trading since January 1 provide a gloomy perspective on conditions in the key oil services sector.

As the industry enters the fourth year of a deep downturn Wood Group still appears to see no prospect of an improvement in conditions in UK waters.

The update highlights the continued impact on workloads of cuts in investment in the North Sea by oil and gas firms in response to the fall in crude prices since 2014.

It underlines the pressure on the supply chain as oil and gas companies expect firms to accept cuts in margins to help compensate for the drop in crude prices.

Led by chief executive Robin Watson, Wood has struck a similarly downbeat note about the outlook for the North Sea in other announcements over the last 18 months.

However, the latest comment may create the most alarm in Scotland, where the partial recovery in crude prices since last year has fuelled hopes a recovery may be on the way in the North Sea.

Last week Bank of Scotland said a survey it completed of oil services firms suggested the industry was turning a corner with

Wood has become more cautious on the full-year outlook after a weaker then expected first half.

conditions for growth more favourable than for some time.

The latest oil and gas sector survey by Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce signalled a marked increase in confidence among services firms from the historic lows seen in the last 18 months.

The start up of the giant Kraken heavy oil field off Shetland on Monday boosted sentiment.

Hurricane Energy wants to raise $520 million to fund work on bringing a big find it made West of Shetland onstream.

But Wood has only seen the benefit of the increase in the crude price since November in a few areas, such as onshore shale fields in the USA.

This may have implications for

North Sea jobs, although Wood made no comment on the subject. Wood has cut more than 2,000 jobs in the UK since 2014 and Mr Watson has noted employment numbers are closely linked to activity levels.

Victoria McCulloch, analyst at RBC, said the update underlined the motivation for Wood’s £2.2 billion recommended bid for the Amec Foster Wheeler engineering combine. The takeover would help reduce Wood’s reliance on the oil and gas market.

Amec Foster Wheeler has a big North Sea business. Wood has said it may sell the bulk of the unit to help allay concerns about the impact of the AFW acquisition on competition.

Any potential buyer might

expect to squeeze significant costs out of the business.

As shareholders have approved the AFW acquisition, Wood is focused on integration planning.

It has said around 1,200 jobs will be shed globally under plans to realise £165m synergies from the enlarged firm. The takeover is expected to complete in the fourth quarter, subject to competition approvals.

Wood said: “First half performance is down on 2016 and weaker than anticipated. We are more cautious on the full-year outlook but anticipate a stronger second half.”

Wood still plans to pursue a progressive dividend policy. Shares in the group closed down two per cent, 16p, at 644.5p. A DECADE after Scotgold acquired a mining site in Argyle, the company has revealed the two jewellers who will design items with the first batch of refined gold from the site, which was mined in December.

Luxury independent jeweller Hamilton & Inches, and Orkney designer Sheila Fleet, will incorporate Scottish gold into uniquely designed collections in a move called the “most significant for the Scottish jewellery industry in generations”.

Both will reveal details of their design plans after the prized metal has been delivered to them.

Richard Gray, chief executive of Scotgold Resources, said: “This is a superb milestone for Scotgold and it validates our belief in the strength and value of combining Scottish gold of proven provenance with the skill and prestige of the Scottish jewellery industry.”

Earlier this month it was revealed Scotgold had reached an agreement with two “pre-eminent” jewellers in the country.

In November 2016, the group successfully auctioned the first gold to be commercially mined in Scotland.

The Cononish site was acquired by Scotgold in 2007. Full production is expected to commence early in 2019 with up to 29,000 ounces of gold being mined per year, for the eight years of estimated life, providing 60 jobs for local people.