​Job cuts at distillery as global market bites

​After almost a decade of relentlessly positive publicity, news of a major “restructuring” with an undefined number of redundancies from among the 45-strong workforce took many by surprise.

However, chairman Ron MacEachran, told the Gazette: “This decision reflects a view that this isn’t a short term issue. There is something more prolonged that has to be worked through.

“We picked this up about a year ago and since then we have contained capital expenditure and reduced our costs. This decision was delayed as long as possible but it is essential to take it now to give the business a chance to navigate extremely hard times, as it will do”.

Mr MacEachran said that all the major markets for not just the Harris distillery but the industry as a whole had suffered a downturn in demand – “UK, USA, France, to an extent Canada and Germany”. He added: “We aren’t seeing green shoots anywhere, which is quite unusual”.

The big players in the whisky industry, said Mr MacEachran, had been quietly reducing their marketing budgets and cutting back on volumes being distilled but smaller businesses like Harris had fewer options.

He added: “Scotch Whisky is experiencing two broad issues. The first is that there is too much stock in the market place. In the industry, that happens every 20 years or so. It is a feature of the industry which corrects itself.

“However, the second is a consumer issue which is more difficult to explain. People are buying more selectively and maybe being careful with what they spend. That makes it massively more challenging for the new distilleries which are trying to enter the market in this environment”.

On a more positive note, Mr MacEachran said that Harris Gin “is still getting good listings and big accounts in the UK” while it is also “growing in the US from a very low base”.

In a statement announcing the restructuring, managing director Simon Erlanger referred to “challenging headwinds” across the spirits industry. He said: “Following a number of cost-cutting measures, voluntary redundancy is being offered to staff in the first instance, with compulsory to follow thereafter if we do not fulfil our cost reduction target. It is deeply regrettable we find ourselves in this situation and thank our entire team, particularly those affected by the changes, for their dedication and contribution to the business”.

Harris councillor, Kenny Macleod, said the announcement had come “a shock – completely out the blue”. He added: “The number of pay-offs they are talking about is eye-watering for the community.

“These are good jobs and some of the people have come back to Harris, or moved in, to take them up. The first priority will be to support the ones who are going to lose their jobs out of this”.

The distillery opened in 2015 and has become one of the islands’ major tourist destinations as well as a big marketing success, first for Harris Gin and more recently for the Hearach whisky which was launched in September 2023.