The Princess Royal Opens New Bottling Facility at Chivas Brothers

The Princess Royal shown Prestige Bottling Hall by Chivas Employees

Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal officially opened a brand new bottling hall during a visit to Renfrewshire.

The Prestige Hall was completed last year as part of an annual £40m investment in operations by Chivas Brothers. It was created to facilitate the hand-packaging of the company’s highest-value products, including those in the Chivas Regal, Royal Salute, The Glenlivet, Beefeater and Ballantine’s ranges, as well as some limited edition single malts.

The process in the Prestige Hall is much more hand-crafted, quiet and bespoke than in a typical bottling hall, drawing on the skills of specially-selected employees to ensure the highest possible standards to meet the specification expected by the expanding group of luxury whisky and gin consumers around the world.

During the visit, Her Royal Highness unveiled a commemorative plaque.

While on the visit, Her Royal Highness was able to witness the company’s full range of bottling facilities from high-speed, high-volume bottling lines to the detailed processes carried out by hand for the high-value expressions packaged in the new Prestige Hall. Employees presented to Her Royal Highness included current and former apprentices, family members who work together on the site and employees who have long service exceeding 20 years.

Speaking at the event, Mr Lacassagne, Chairman and CEO of Chivas Brothers, said: “It was an incredible honour to receive this visit by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, and one that our employees will remember for years to come. We are very proud of our state-of-the-art bottling facilities here in Paisley, and the teams that run them, so it was a pleasure to be able to present these to such a prestigious guest.

“The Prestige Hall is a prime example of how we have evolved our business to ensure it is clearly aligned for the future. The long term prospects for premium Scotch whisky and gin remain very good and this investment will continue to help us appeal to discerning consumers all over the world with the very highest quality products.”