IHD began with a simple idea.
Over the decades, Harris has suffered a long-term decline in population with community numbers halving over the last 50 years. IHD was created as a way to help stem this tide and boost employment on the island for future generations. Beginning its journey in 2015, the Distillery now employs 50 permanent staff on an island with only 2000 inhabitants. The Isle of Harris Distillery’s mission is to create a sustainable, commercially successful long-term venture which provides multi-generational employment on the island of Harris & investor reward.
As a catalyst for positive change within the community, the Distillery continues to work with purpose, bringing new life to the island and supporting its aspirations to survive and thrive as they move forward together. The Distillery, known as the Social Distillery, was built to help create sustainable local employment and offer long-term careers for those who wish to stay and set down roots in their island home. From distilling and blending, to marketing and hospitality – there are a wide variety of skillsets and development opportunities available to local people as they create two beautiful Outer Hebridean spirits and bring them to the world.
These spirits – Isle of Harris Gin, launched in 2015 and The Hearach Single Malt Whisky, the distillery’s primary product, launched in 2023 – are recognized by commentators, the trade and consumers as products of the highest quality.
IHD, having now launched its primary product, The Hearach Malt Whisky, is seeking to reinforce the capabilities of its team to support further growth with the appointment of a Financial Controller. The September launch of another expression – The Hearach Oloroso – reflects IHD’s growth ambitions. IHD currently has a relatively small finance team in place for the size of the business and there is an opportunity to further develop the team in support of 3 key areas; development of the ERP system to fully utilise its capabilities and provide more insightful management reporting, sharpening the commercial focus of the team and supporting an increasing level of governance as the business scales.
For full details on this unique opportunity, please see the position profile below.
