End of an era: Distillery company appoints first non-founding family chair

For the first time in its history, the company that owns two of Campbeltown's three whisky distilleries is chaired by a non-founding family member.

 

Following the death of Hedley Gordon Wright on August 5 after a short illness, Neil Clapperton has been appointed chairman of J&A Mitchell and Co Ltd which owns Springbank and Glengyle Distilleries, as well as Scotland’s oldest independent bottler, William Cadenhead Ltd, and Cadenhead Retail Ltd.

 

"attachment_1016887" "aligncenter" "300"] The leadership change comes following the death of Hedley Gordon Wright, J&A Mitchell's long serving chairman. Photograph: Will Anderson/J&A Mitchell and Co Ltd.

 

Mr Wright, who died aged 92, was the fifth generation of the Mitchell family to own and manage Springbank, which was built on the site of an illicit still belonging to his great, great grandfather Archibald Mitchell.

 

Established in 1828, Springbank was taken over by Archibald’s sons John and William Mitchell, in 1837. John later took his son into the business and formed J&A Mitchell and Co in 1897.

 

In 2000, Mr Wright, as chairman of J&A Mitchell and Co, bought the buildings of the original Glengyle Distillery, founded by his ancestors in 1872 and operated until 1925, bringing the brand back into the hands of the Mitchell family line.

 

Four years later, the first new distillery in Campbeltown in more than 100 years and the first distillery built in Scotland in the 21st century had its first distillation run.

 

"attachment_1018072" "aligncenter" "300"] Glengyle Distillery was brought back to life in the early 21st century.

 

Now, despite the unprecedented change in leadership following Mr Wright's death, nothing at J&A Mitchell and Co will change in practice, as Mr Clapperton has been responsible for the day-to-day running of the business for the last 20 years.

 

He joined the company more than 30 years ago, having been the owner of the Cadenhead's shop in Edinburgh prior to that.

 

Mr Clapperton served in various roles on the company's boards, before being elected chairman on Monday of last week.

 

One of the only changes to the company is the appointment of a new board, including four or five ‘new faces’: Ranald Watson, sales director; Findlay Ross, production director; Hannah Fawcett, finance director; Linda McAulay, HR director; and Stephen Kelly, property director.

 

Ms McAulay was previously on the board of Cadenhead Retail Ltd only, so her role has been expanded to encompass all four companies, but the other four are completely new appointments at board level.

 

They have joined Mr Clapperton and several other long-serving directors, all of whom were appointed or approved by Mr Wright and include his nephew Patrick Lefebvre, as well as Stuart Campbell, company secretary, and designer George Redpath.

 

"attachment_1016893" "aligncenter" "300"] Hedley Gordon Wright and Neil Clapperton at the Springbank Distillery open day during the 2022 Campbeltown Malts Festival.

 

In a statement announcing the death of Mr Wright, who had no children, J&A Mitchell and Co wrote: “Mr Wright was chairman of J&A Mitchell for over 60 years and steered the company through both good and hard times with steadfast dedication to maintaining the quality and traditions that Springbank and Glengyle Distilleries, and William Cadenhead Ltd, are famous for.

 

“There will be no change in the structure or day-to-day running of the company following Mr Wright’s passing as the necessary arrangements were put in place a number of years ago.”

 

Asked about “the necessary arrangements”, Mr Clapperton said: “About 12 to 15 years ago, myself and Mr Wright looked at his shareholding which was over half of the company.

 

“We decided at that point, for the security of the company, that trust funds would be set up and that the beneficiaries of the trust fund would be the people of Campbeltown.

 

“Mr Wright obviously isn’t sitting on those trust fund boards any longer but I am and I always have been so nothing changes.”

 

Asked why Mr Wright’s shares were not simply sold, new board member Mr Watson said: “We value people and tradition over profit and technology and no one else would do it the way we do it.

 

“We are in the very fortunate position of choosing to reinvest the money we make into the business, and not in terms of improving the efficiency and economy, but about employing more people.

 

“There is not another business, certainly not in the whisky industry but anywhere, that would choose to do things the way we do because they are answerable to shareholders.”

 

"attachment_1017994" "aligncenter" "300"] Ranald Watson, sales director at J&A Mitchell and Co Ltd.

 

Mr Clapperton added: “No matter what happens, we are either supporting the town by employing people or supporting the town by raising a profit and putting it to the trust funds as shared dividends so, all ways round, it is to the benefit of Campbeltown.

 

“Mr Wright’s attitude to that was that his family made their fortune over the last 200 years off the people of Campbeltown, because they were the ones who had been working in the distillery, and therefore it is now time to give it back.”

 

Mr Wright, who remained “as sharp as a tack” until his death, was a geologist who lectured at the Dundee campus of the University of St Andrews.

 

“That was his career but his real interest was in music; the last thing he cared about was distilling,” said Mr Clapperton, who revealed that Mr Wright had been told by his father that he should sell the company as he had little interest in the industry.

 

“It didn’t matter what his father said to him,” said Mr Clapperton, “Mr Wright knew there were people whose lives depended on the distillery surviving. There wasn’t going to be other jobs for these people to walk into in Campbeltown so he had to stay and make it work.”

 

Mr Wright was a notoriously private person but he always attended Campbeltown Malts Festival, an annual celebration of the town's distilleries and whisky-making heritage, and his absence from this year's event was noted by many visitors.

 

Recounting one occasion when Mr Wright was not recognised, however, Mr Clapperton said: “There is a photo of Mr Wright at the door of the distillery shop. He and I were standing at the shop door talking when a gentleman came in and asked us to move so he could get a photograph of the picture on the wall, not realising Mr Wright was standing right there!”

 

"attachment_1018075" "aligncenter" "300"] Scotland's oldest independetn botter, William Cadenhead Ltd, and Cadenhead Retail Ltd are subsidiaries of J&A Mitchell and Co Ltd.

 

Asked about Mr Wright's character, Mr Clapperton said: “He was very generous. He supported lots of things in Campbeltown but he also supported the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Edinburgh Festival.

 

“He didn’t like the limelight; he did a lot of work behind the scenes but didn’t take any of the credit for it, even down to the policies that we now have almost written in stone.”

 

Talking of one occasion of note, Mr Clapperton added: “I was in London, just after Covid had died down and people were able to travel, and I got a phone call from Mr Wright who had been watching the television news and it appeared that everybody’s electric bill would be going up by £630 per annum, so he asked me to arrange to give everybody a £630 rise.

 

“That’s the kind of person he was; he had seen it on the news and decided that if we could afford to pay the staff an extra £630 to help pay their bills, we should.”

 

The company, one of Campbeltown's biggest employers with 114 staff on the books, maintains that ethos of treating its staff fairly, paying its own ‘minimum wage’ which is higher than the real living wage.

 

And it seems the company has a bright future, with lots of expansion plans in the pipeline.

 

"attachment_1017988" "aligncenter" "300"] Operating Springbank and Glengyle Distilleries, J&A Mitchell is one of Campbeltown's biggest employers.

 

Mr Watson said: “We are four-and-a-half years away from Springbank's 200th anniversary and times in the whisky industry are as good as they’ve ever been, especially from a J&A Mitchell perspective, so this is the right time to invest in our part of the next 200 years.”

 

“We are excited by the future,” added Mr Clapperton. “I am very privileged to have been voted in as chairman but I wished I hadn’t had to be. That’s the genuine truth. My aim was never about money or title.

 

“If Mr Wright had still been around, nothing would have changed, so there is a tinge of sadness to it but there is a willingness to go forward and an excitement about entering a new era.

 

“The precedent was that the chairman has always been a member of the family. This time, I’m not a member of the family but I am every bit as dedicated to Campbeltown and the company.”

 

A celebration of Mr Wright's life will be held in Campbeltown on November 11 to which everybody in the community is invited, with full details still to be confirmed.