AS GlenWyvis and Community Shares Scotland move nearer in their bid to create what is believed to be the world’s first community-owned distillery, the community share offer is approaching £1 million pounds.
Momentum is now building towards the target of £1.5m in the final weeks of this unique project – considered Scotland’s largest community share offer, to date.
World Gin Day takes place this Saturday, 11 June and the GlenWyvis team will be using it as a platform to attract GlenWyvis gin followers to invest in the distillery.
Working on preparations for the next stage, founder, John F. McKenzie, said: “Support has been amazing with nearly 20 countries represented in the investment total to date – really putting Dingwall on the international map.
“We are marking our £1 million investment with a range of promotions including a banner at entrance to the town and display sign on the distillery site. We are keeping our focus on the big £1.5 million target and so have created additional campaigns to increase interest in investing both here and further afield.”
John added: “We are now launching the ‘Path to the Stills’ element, where people can pay as little as £30 to have their name – or dedicate a name – added to the path leading up to the stills when the distillery is built. We would like thousands of names for the path as this will not only look incredible but will be a real draw to Dingwall and the visitor centre in the future.
“The path will start at the bottom of the hill and will run through the front door and finish in front of the two stills called ‘Glen’ and ‘Wyvis’.
“Just prior to opening we will be drawing one male and one female to have their name larger than others and closest to the stills. It will be an incredible sight and lit up at night and one that adds to our historic links back to Old Ferintosh, the Jacobites at Culloden and, of course, Rabbie Burns.
“We will definitely be reaching out to our many Scottish diaspora friends on this front as it will be a legacy pathway in years to come, as people will visit from across the world to visit Dingwall and the visitor centre and see their names and those of friends and family.”
The GlenWyvis team will also be offering people whom have already invested, a chance to ‘make mine a double’ from Friday the 17 June allowing people to double their investment to the next level.
Community Shares Scotland project manager, Kelly McIntyre, said: “There is no doubt that with the increased knowledge of what ‘community shares’ are – that projects like the GlenWyvis Distillery and Portpatrick Harbour really catch interest very quickly.
“A greater desire to understand the workings of their own community and create local employment encourages more people to get involved from the outset.”
Kelly added: “The sheer amount of Interest from the very start has been immense and directed an amazing trajectory of investment set to be a great success.
“As other community groups and enterprises see this enthusiasm, we hope it will inspire them to get in touch and create their own community share projects.”
The GlenWyvis Community Share Offer opened on 16 April 2016 and closes on 24 June 2016. However, the board reserves the right to extend this deadline if the amount raised is close to the total required to proceed.
Details on how to invest in GlenWyvis Community Share Offer, along with the Share Offer Notice, can be found here http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk
ENDS
For further information on Glenwyvis Community Share Offer Number 7305, contact:
John F. Mckenzie: founder/owner
F: GlenWyvis T: @glenwyvis
W: www.glenwyvis.com
For further community shares information contact
Kelly McIntyre: Community Shares Scotland/programme manager
Email: kelly@communitysharesscotland.org.uk
For information check out: http://www.communitysharesscotland.org.uk
Twitter: @CommSharesScot
For press information contact
Fiona Stewart, PR consultant, Interwoven PR
E: fiona@interwovenpr.com/T: 07940560453 Tw: @interwovenpr
Notes to editors:
GlenWyvis based in the historic Highland town of Dingwall aims to create what is believed to be Scotland’s very first community-owned craft whisky distillery, 270 years on from the Battle of Culloden. GlenWyvis aims to raise over £1.5m of investment that will help to put whisky distilling back at the heart of Dingwall.
To ensure a high level of local ownership of the distillery, locals living in ‘IV’ postcode areas can invest for as little as £250. Investment opportunities start from £750* for UK and international investors interested in buying into what is considered Scotland’s first community-owned distillery with tranches* of investment rising to a maximum investment of £100,000.
Whisky has been made in Ross-shire and Inverness-shire for centuries and inspiration has been taken from former distilleries: Ferintosh, Ben Wyvis in Dingwall, and Glenskiach, in Evanton.
The original Ferintosh Distillery was established by the Forbes of Culloden family in 1690, on the Black Isle just east of Dingwall, and is one of the oldest recorded whisky distilleries in Scotland. The new distillery will re-instate craft whisky distilling to the Dingwall area, some 90 years after the last of the town’s original distilleries closed down.
The famous Ferintosh brand of the day was a much loved whisky throughout Scotland and was a favourite of Scotland’s great bard, Rabbie Burns, who lamented: “Thee, Ferintosh! O sadly lost! Scotland lament frae coast to coast!” … on its closure in 1785.
The new GlenWyvis Distillery will be built on a farm above the town of Dingwall and will be 100 per cent community-owned distillery and 100 per cent powered by Green energy.
A short video in support of the GlenWyvis Distillery, Community Share Offer can be downloaded here and used for broadcast purposes with permission.
* Investment amounts and rewards: The price of a share in GlenWyvis Distillery is £50, with a minimum investment of £250 to become a member. If you are struggling to afford £250 but want to invest, we can offer joint memberships where people club together to buy a share or discuss staged payments. The maximum investment is £100,000.
Tranches and rewards
Invest £250 – £749
Postcode restriction to IV postcodes in Scotland
One bottle gin now, T-shirt and bottle whisky in year three.
Invest £750 – £2,499
Two gin now or two inaugural whisky between Burns Day 2020 and St Andrews day 2020, T-shirt now and private distillery tour for two in 2018.
Invest £2,500 – £4,499
Six gin now or six inaugural whisky between 25/1/20 and 30/11/20, two T-shirts now and shared distillery tour in 2018 plus tour for two, including 20-minute helicopter whisky history tour in 2017 flown from Dalcross Airport, Inverness, by The Flying Farmer.
Invest £4,500 – £7,499
One 64l ‘first fill’ sherry cask filled with 64l New Make spirit at circa 63% abv (please see terms and conditions on our website). Plus six gin now, two T-shirts now and shared distillery tour in 2018 plus tour for two, including 20-minute helicopter whisky history tour in 2017 flown from Dalcross Airport by The Flying Farmer.
Invest £7,500 – £14,999
One 128l or two 64l ‘first fill’ sherry cask filled with New Make spirit at circa 63% abv (please see terms and conditions on our website). Case of gin now, two T-shirts now and private tour for four in 2018 plus tasting masterclass at distillery and 30-minute shared helicopter whisky history tour for two in 2017 flown from Dalcross Airport by The Flying Farmer.
Invest £15,000 – £49,999
Fill Hogshead Cask personally in 2017 and add your name on wall or roof of distillery plus case of gin now and bottle of Whisky every Burns Day till year ten including New Make spirit. A private extended 30-minute helicopter whisky history tour for four flown from Dalcross Airport by The Flying Farmer plus a private tour and tasting master class for four in 2018.
Invest £50,000 – £100,000
Investments will be considered by application only and bespoke packages similar to above can be arranged
Casks are sold to you and become yours on successful application for shares.
Detailed terms and conditions of your cask ownership are available on our website www.glenwyvis.com/.
These include that UK Duty and VAT may be payable after bottling; that you are a private individual purchasing for private consumption or gifting and that you many not sell on or trade for profit, the bottled whisky. A 64l cask will produce around 100 bottles of whisky at 46% abv. Assuming a bottling cost of £5 per bottle and VAT and duty at current rates, each bottle would cost you £20.
Tax Relief We have applied for advance assurance from HM Revenues and Customs (HMRC) that the shares in GlenWyvis Distillery are eligible for tax relief under the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) – these are Government-backed schemes designed to encourage investment in smaller companies. If you are a UK tax payer, investors in GlenWyvis Distillery can apply for income tax relief after the start of trading.
GlenWyvis Distillery (Dingwall) Limited has been established as Co-operative and Community Benefit Society with the specific purpose of owning and operating a community-owned whisky distillery and visitor centre in Dingwall to benefit the community of Dingwall.
Whisky stills will be supplied by the prestigious company, Forsyth of Rothes, and will be delivered in September 2016.
Green credentials: GlenWyvis Distillery will run entirely on energy produced using the renewable technologies – hydro, wind and solar already used on the farm. An advanced heating system will be powered by biomass and solar thermal and water from both the Skiach River and Tulloch Spring will be used to make the whisky with a borehole being used to supply the process water required.
Crowdfunder UK crowdfunding platform – raising over £15 million for thousands of businesses, social enterprises, charities and individuals across the UK. Crowdfunder’s unique and proven business model enables partners to offer their support and services to help projects grow.
VisitScotland visitor research – VisitScotland visitor research has revealed that the one thing that makes Scotland different to any other destination is its ability to ‘stir your soul’.
Through an ambitious new global Spirit of Scotland campaign and #ScotSpirit social movement, VisitScotland is working to raise the profile of Scotland to unprecedented levels as a place to visit, invest and live.
All facts correct at the time of publishing noted at the top of the media release.
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Email: fiona@booktrawler.com
Website: http://www.communitysharesscotland.org.uk
