High spirits: Former Scots rugby star's firm hits record

Greig Cameron

Deputy Business Editor

Friday 12 October 2012

Grain merchant Alexander Inglis & Son has reported a record set of results helped by the booming Scotch whisky sector.

WINNING WAYS: Scotland skipper Jim Aitken in his rugby heyday.

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GREIG CAMERON DEPUTY BUSINESS EDITOR

The company, based in Ormiston, East Lothian, supplies barley to a range of whisky producers and has been run by former Scottish rugby captain Jim Aitken and his family since 1985.

Accounts filed at Companies House show turnover soaring 29% from £45.1 million to £58.4m while pre-tax profits jumped around 50% from almost £2m to more than £3m in 2011. Speaking to The Herald, Mr Aitken, who is now the company's chairman, said: "We are trying to concentrate on what we are good at – malting barley.

"We had a few additions to the company store-wise which has taken us from being a medium-sized store keeper to probably the biggest in Scotland in terms of grain."That is paying off. Not being reliant on second-hand storage and being able to do the job from farmer to consumer has been a great benefit for us."This is a record for us and what we are hoping is that it is now the norm. "Once you have done it the next thing is to look and try to beat it. We are pretty confident."Earlier this year the business acquired a grain store in the Scottish Borders and one in Northumberland in a deal backed by a £2.5m loan from Santander.The additions brought total storage capacity to more than 250,000 tonnes of grain, which is enough to produce around 120 million litres of whisky.Poor yields on barley harvest this year – recent data indicated spring yields down by 18% – have had an impact but Mr Aitken is confident of delivering another solid performance.He said: "The current year trading has been going as well as expected. "There have been problems due to the reduced yield from this year's harvest but the trading side has been very good. "A lot of that is credit to the young team we have around us here."The consumers have been pretty good about the whole situation. They have reduced expectations on quality, which is to the benefit of the farmer and I think they have paid a fair price. "They made sure they bought everything they could which was available in Scotland before looking somewhere else so it is clear they have understood the situation. "They want the Scottish farmer to keep producing for them and have been a big help. "Nine months into the year we are on target for what we budgeted for."The year has not quite turned out how we expected it to but we have managed to do other things to get the right result."Mr Aitken confirmed he remains in the market for further acquisitions and that he had recently hired former Scotland rugby international Gary Armstrong as a trader.The annual accounts show employee numbers at the business rising from 33 to 45. Directors' remuneration went from £533,919 to £550,450 with the highest paid receiving a slight increase in their emoluments from £205,350 to £206,156.Net debt increased from £12.6m to £28.5m due to greater capital expenditure, a £1.3m bad debt write-off and a near £10m increase in stocks held at the year-end.

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High spirits: Former Scots rugby star's firm hits record

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