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Diageo has
opened a new state-of-the-art Innovation
and Research Centre at Menstrie which
will focus on science, technology and
innovation projects across the drinks
industry supply chain.
Diageo has officially opened the
doors of a new state-of-the-art
Innovation and Research Centre in
Scotland as part of the
company’s investment in the sustainable
growth of the distilling industry.
The new £6.4 million laboratory building
at Menstrie in Clackmannanshire was
officially opened on Thursday last week
by Roseanna Cunningham, Cabinet
Secretary for Environment, Climate
Change & Land Reform. The centre will be
the new home for the Diageo teams
working on science, technology and
innovation projects across the drinks
industry supply chain.
The new building is adjacent to the
company’s existing International
Technical Centre in a location with more
than a century of leadership in
industrial innovation, dating back to
the Glenochil Research Station which
pioneered the scientific study of Scotch
whisky distilling in the early 20th
Century.
Diageo is now focused on the
grain-to-glass sustainability of its
business for the next 100 years and the
teams based at the Innovation and
Research Centre will play a leading role
in driving innovation in sustainability
at every stage of the supply chain
including distillation, maturation,
packaging and logistics.
Environment Secretary Ms Cunningham
joined guests and employees at an event
to officially mark the opening of the
new facility. She said: "Diageo is
responsible for many of Scotland’s most
famous drinks brands and makes a
significant contribution to our economy
while also playing a key role in our
food and drink tourism industry. I
commend their support for our island
communities through investment in
developing and enhancing our distillery
heritage.
"I particularly welcome its commitment
to environmental sustainability, which
has included a £100 million investment
in renewable energy facilities. Our
journey towards becoming a net-zero
society will require us all -
governments, businesses communities and
individuals - need to work together to
end Scotland’s contribution to climate
change whilst seizing the economic
opportunities that this will creates.
"Diageo is also, of course, a major
employer across the country and the
opening of this new Innovation and
Research Centre demonstrates its
continued investment in the people of
Scotland. We are a country of innovators
with world-renowned skills in the fields
of science, technology, engineering and
mathematics, and I am pleased that
Diageo continues to commit its support
to our skilled and talented workforce."
Diageo Global President for Supply &
Procurement and Chief Sustainability
Officer David Cutter joined the Cabinet
Secretary at the official opening. He
said the investment in the new
laboratories and the people who work
there will play a key role in developing
the sustainability of Diageo’s business
in the future..
He said: "For over a century we have
been at forefront of scientific and
technological advances in the distilling
industry and with these state-of-the-art
facilities we are now investing in the
next 100 years of innovation and growth.
"We have exceptionally talented people
and these new laboratories provide a
great environment for them to do their
best work. We are particularly excited
about the opportunity to lead the next
generation of research into
sustainability throughout our supply
chain for the future."
The new laboratory builds on Diageo’s
already extensive footprint in
Clackmannanshire, which includes the
company’s largest warehousing site ((Blackgrange),
cooperage (Cambus), coppersmiths
(Abercrombie in Alloa) and global brand
archive (Menstrie).
It also builds on a remarkable heritage
of innovation in the whisky industry at
the location in Menstrie where Diageo's
heritage of innovation and scientific
research at the Menstrie site goes back
as far as 1897:
- 1897: Distillers Company Limited
(DCL) employs its first analytical
chemist
- 1903: experimental yeast making
plant established at Glenochil
Distillery, Menstrie (the same site
as today’s Innovation & Research
Centre)
- 1911: DCL establishes first
laboratory at the Glenochil site.
- 1925: Glenochil laboratory
employing 10 full time staff to
provide analytical support to
distilling business.
- 1948: Yeast Research Outstation
established at Glenochil.
- 1949: Magnus Pyke joins DCL as
Deputy Manager of Yeast Research
Outstation
- 1955: laboratory and research
facilities renamed Glenochil
Research Station; Magnus Pyke
appointed as Manager.
- 1973: Magnus Pyke retires from
DCL and goes on to develop career as
the first TV science.
- 1997: Diageo created;
laboratories renamed Diageo
Technical Centre leading research
across all areas of supply chain.
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