At 204 years old, Bladnoch Distillery is one of Scotland’s oldest independent maker of single malt whisky. After the distillery was shuttered for years, Australian entrepreneur, David Prior acquired it in 2015 with a determination to reinvigorate Bladnoch Distillery’s rich history in the Scottish Lowlands, all while managing its business operations from the opposite side of the world.
To do this, Prior and team selected Oracle NetSuite to take their operations to the next level. Working together, it has helped the distillery successfully revive its Bladnoch and Pure Scot whisky brands and expand its distribution network to more than 40 markets worldwide.
Bladnoch sets sights on global market
During the overhaul of its distillery, one of the first decisions Prior made was to transition from an outdated technology system to NetSuite in order to address inventory management shortcomings and turbocharge previously fragmented financial reporting and budgeting processes.
With the right systems in place, Bladnoch Distillery has been able to achieve a steady stream of growth and was able to manage the operational complexity brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic to take advantage of a surge in demand.
Enhancing customer experiences
The Bladnoch Distillery team was able to use data-driven insights from NetSuite to launch a new ecommerce site and navigate changing conditions, including the closure of retail and on-trade distribution channels throughout 2020.
In this new remote environment, NetSuite’s anywhere, anytime cloud-based functionality helped bring the Bladnoch Distillery global team together. This included unifying data from warehouse and fulfillment teams at its Scotland distillery with its finance, sales and marketing teams throughout Australia. NetSuite also helped the Bladnoch Distillery team stay connected with distribution partners in priority markets such as the US and Europe.
“We were concerned that the more complex our business became the more complicated the technology would have to be. We just wanted a single platform that would help us get the job done easier, which is why we selected NetSuite,” explains Will Pitchforth, Head of Commercial, Bladnoch Distillery. “As an independent distillery, NetSuite has given us the agility and insights we needed to quickly respond to changes, build lasting relationships with customers, and better understand the motivations and desires of shoppers directly through our global online stores.”
Cheers to a bright future
Bladnoch Distillery’s multi-currency ecommerce site is now available in the U.S., UK and Australia and it played a key role in helping the company achieve 85 percent year-on-year growth in 2020. As the Bladnoch Distillery team set their sights on the future, they have partnered with HSBC UK in a new £10 million funding round to support continued global expansion that includes boosting distribution in international markets such as Australia, China, the U.S., Israel, and parts of Europe.
As the Bladnoch Distillery team takes this next step, the company will continue to integrate its operations with NetSuite to deliver more transparency and seamless experiences for customers such as new functionality for live inventory availability directly on its website and much more. As the brand continues on this journey, we will be there in stride to help provide them with the agility and insights they need to manage new funding resources and expand their global operations.
