POTENTIAL funders of the first ever legal Scotch whisky distillery on Harris have expressed interest in putting up about one-third of the £10 million investment required, the managing director- designate of the project has revealed.
Simon Erlanger, a former sales and marketing director of Scotch whisky distiller Glenmorangie, told The Herald that a total of £10m would be required to build the distillery at Tarbert and to provide the working capital to cover costs, including barley and barrels, ahead of first revenues.
He hopes to raise this money from the private and public sector within a "matter of months", to enable construction of the distillery to start in early 2013 and operations to start by summer 2014.
Mr Erlanger said that Isle of Harris Distillers, of which he is managing director-designate, was in the process of seeking planning permission from local authority Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and was "in good dialogue".
He added that the local community appeared to be supportive.
Isle of Harris Distillers noted the project was under discussion with Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scottish Enterprise, and Scottish Government ministers.
Mr Erlanger emphasised the opportunity to build Harris's reputation on the world stage, and highlighted plans to work with the island's successful tweed industry.
Isle of Harris Distillers has meanwhile received an important boost with the pledge of support for the project from Scottish-born designer Maeve Gillies, who is now based in New York.
Ms Gillies said: "I really like this project. I think the Harris brand has fabulous potential, and this is a brilliant idea for the island and its people.
"The Outer Hebrides are a part of Scotland I love very much and I relate to personally, so I want to do what I can to help, and I'm really keen to get involved with the Isle of Harris Distillers team."
Mr Erlanger believes that the proposed project, which already has an online presence at www.harrisdistillery.com, would be able to produce its first bottled product within about five years of laying it down.
Revealing funding plans and progress, Mr Erlanger, who declared there had never been a licensed distillery on Harris before, said: "The total investment required is in the order of magnitude of around £10m. That is the money we need to basically get up and running and keep the business going while we lay down whisky stocks and before we start getting money back in."
He added: "The money needs to come from a combination of private and public sector. We have got expressions of interest for about one-third of the amount we are looking for.
"This is the big push now to raise the other two-thirds – to get the commitments for the other two-thirds."
He highlighted his aim of having the visitor centre – which he described as an "important part" of the proposed distillery project – open in time for the summer 2014 tourist season.
Mr Erlanger, who spent about 15 years with Glenmorangie and played a key part in reviving Islay distillery Ardbeg during this time, anticipates it will take about 15 to 18 months to build the proposed distillery complex on Harris, "weather permitting".
Isle of Harris Distillers, whose chairman Anderson Bakewell has travelled the globe and been connected to the Isle of Harris for more than 40 years, envisages that about 20 people would be employed in the proposed distillery's production, warehousing, retail, exhibition, and catering operations.
Mr Erlanger said: "When you build a distillery, you need to finance not only the bricks and mortar - but you also need to source all the raw materials, the barley, the barrels, before you can start to make turnover."
He added: "We don't envisage any planning obstacles. It [the project] would appear to have quite strong support from the local community. They seem to be quite excited by it.
"There has never been a licensed distillery [on Harris] before.
"When you look at the climatic conditions in the Outer Hebrides [it is] ideally suited to whisky maturation. You need water to make the stuff. We have two lochs up on the hillside above the distillery.
"The idea is to bring Harris to the world."
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