New whisky distillery offers optimistic vision of regeneration

The Cabrach community distillery is the 152nd distillery in Scotland to open. But this is no ordinary distillery – it is part of the vision of the Cabrach Trust to repopulate and regenerate the local area.

The Cabrach Trust was established in 2013 and has established several projects to boost population growth. The local area has seen rapid depopulation in recent years.

Once home to 1000 people, there are less than 100 people living in the Cabrach today.

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That story isn’t unique or rare – in fact it is consistent with so many small communities in the Highlands and Islands and rural Aberdeenshire.

These local trends need to be contextualised, of course.

A fortnight ago, new figures revealed that Scotland’s population was growing at the fastest rate since the 1940s.

The National Records of Scotland figures confirm that Scotland’s population currently sits at 5,490,100.

That is 43,100 higher than it was the year before, in mid-2022. That is a 0.8% increase on the previous year – the biggest increase since 1946-1947.

The reason for that growth was people moving to Scotland from other parts of the UK.

That is confirmed by the work of HMRC, which conducted research into the impact of Scotland’s tax changes on net migration.

On average, 4200 more people moved to Scotland than left every year since income tax was devolved.

(Image: Getty Images)

We don’t have the latest figures for this year but it shows that there is a lot more optimism about Scotland than opposition parties would have you believe.

The issue is that the benefit of increased immigration is not shared equally across Scotland. Coastal areas and rural places are not seeing the same increases.

The Cabrach Trust believe that social enterprises, targeted investment and creative projects will be instrumental in regenerating the Cabrach. And the distillery is the latest brilliant initiative to achieve this.

I was delighted to formally open the distillery yesterday. The Scottish Government has invested in the distillery, alongside substantial private investment.

One of the key sources was the Just Transition Fund, which recognises the importance of rural communities in the north east and Moray in the drive for net zero.

That funding supports innovation, creates jobs and – most critically – invests in the skills and talent of the workforce embedded in these communities.

The food and drink industry more generally is one of Scotland’s most successful sectors.

But, for me, the best bit about it is that it is an industry that is truly national. From the most northern villages in Shetland to the furthest flung parts of Dumfries and Galloway, so much of our food and drink industry relies on small villages, social enterprises and family businesses.

These local employers create local, community wealth. They keep the local schools open, sustain other local businesses and act as building blocks for the national industry.

The whisky industry has long been the foundation stone of Scotland’s food and drink industry.

It is a recognisable part of Scotland’s heritage and culture. In Scotland, it is leading the way in achieving net zero – the Scotch Whisky Association’s Sustainability Strategy captures that.

In my remarks to the crowd at the opening of the Cabrach community distillery, I remarked that we were celebrating an initiative that captures all that we are seeking to achieve for Scotland. A focus on repopulating Scotland, a hopeful and optimistic vision for the next generation, utilising Scotland’s brilliant natural assets in the hands of our skilled and talented people.

What the Cabrach Trust has done is intentional. Change doesn’t happen by accident. It wants to create prosperity – but only because it serves the purpose of regeneration.

And it is the leadership at the Cabrach Trust who have done that. With the original vision of Grant Gordon, who founded the Cabrach Trust, and the current leadership of chief executive Jonathan Christie, the Cabrach Trust has delivered a multi-million-pound investment in the community’s future.

We are progressing a number of policy initiatives, including community wealth building legislation. That is to normalise the principle that every business, every local enterprise and every economic policy should seek to enrich local communities – enrich them with resilience, opportunity, and equality.

I am hugely inspired by the work of those already engaged in that mission – who have been doing it long before community wealth building was an area of interest for the Scottish Government.

It is all bound up in my vision for Scotland. A self-reliant, prosperous, independent nation that puts people first.

That creates opportunity. That considers the next generation. That will share prosperity. That creates hope. There are so many examples of how that is already happening in Scotland. That should inspire us.