THE upcoming installation of a fourth bottling line at QAS Group’s Kirkcaldy site will mark the latest investment milestone for the business in its quest to become a true one-stop-shop for the whisky and spirits industry.
QAS offers a range of services including bottling, bottle sleeving, contract packing, bonded rework, case and carton assembly, and warehousing.
The firm employs around 200 people – rising to 300 during busy periods – at two sites in Kirkcaldy, Fife and Linwood, Renfrewshire, and commenced a major investment programme six years ago which has seen the Kirkcaldy premises completely refurbished.
Director Derek Page recently told Packaging Scotland about the business’ rise from humble beginnings – and ambitious plans for growth.
“The company’s been going for 30 years,” Derek explained. “We started off as an associate company to a logistics business. Working slightly independently, we started a glass re-sorting business. We then got into more of the packaging side of things, working with packaging suppliers into predominantly Diageo at Leven. That took us into the assembly market where we were assembling cases and cartons.
“The case and carton assembly business has grown, as has the Diageo footprint where there’s been significant investment. The closure of Diageo’s Kilmarnock site injected a lot more volume into Leven from a bottling perspective, which then as a consequence of that meant more volume for QAS on case and carton assembly and warehousing.
“On the other side of the business, we’ve got a facility in Linwood providing bonded rework services. That’s filled stock that comes in a case format, and we will rework into a different configuration or format for gifting markets and duty-free environments across the world.”
The growth of the QAS Kirkcaldy site has come through dry stockholding and case assemblies, while the Linwood operation has focused on a bonded wet stock environment. Services have increased at both locations in recent years, with investments including glass sleeving technology which allows QAS to apply sleeves to bottles.
The Linwood site’s close proximity to Glasgow has meant the business is well located to support some of the whisky and spirit sector’s biggest names.
It is the Kirkcaldy operation, however, where Derek anticipates much of the future growth will come from.
“The Kirkcaldy business has grown significantly,” he revealed. We refurbished this whole property.
“We recognised that in order to grow and develop the business that we needed to up the standards, the facilities, and the people. Significant investment started going in five/six years ago. We looked to strip this property right back down to the steel and concrete and re-build to a very high-spec. That stopped and started because of Covid but we’re virtually complete now and we’ve got a very high-quality facility.
“During that process we relocated production and created a new facility for case/carton assembly in a new area within the site that had been refurbished. That allowed us to refurbish the old production area. We managed to configure the refurbishment to accommodate bottling. We felt that with the services we provide, if we could offer a bottling service then that would help compliment everything we do in the sector and allow us to grow and develop the business further.
“We put significant investment into a vatting and blending spirit capability and bottling lines as well. We now have three bottling lines within Kirkcaldy and that is probably where the predominance of the growth will come. We’ve got a fourth line scheduled to be in by July this year.
“As part of that process we also installed a new sleeving machine similar to what we have in Linwood, so that we can bottle, sleeve and pack all in the one site.
“In most environments, products get moved from A to B to C for each of the different processes, whereby we can do everything as a one-stop-shop. It reduces a lot of logistics costs and movements for us to do that on behalf of the clients.”
QAS is a Living Wage Employer – an increasingly important aspect in a challenging labour market. Derek describes the industry generally as ‘very competitive’ at the moment, adding that a focus on efficiency has helped to offset many additional costs. The business sees itself as an extension of its customers’ production and therefore is continually reviewing processes to ensure that standards and measurements remain relevant.
Sustainability is also a major consideration. QAS is currently in the process of achieving ISO 14009 certification and has recruited senior members to the team to help enhance quality, health and safety, and environmental aspects. As part of the Kirkcaldy refurbishment, LED lights and sensor-driven technology were incorporated into the designs.
Despite being involved in numerous high-profile initiatives – including the Johnnie Walker Game of Thrones White Walker sleeving project – Derek preferred to speak about the QAS workforce when asked about memorable projects.
“When you’re a predominant labour supplier, and a seasonal business, to gain the trust and confidence of the employees and develop a culture where you’ve got that is hugely challenging, because you do rely at various times on agency,” he explained. “Seeing the people grow and develop as the business has grown and developed and help us take the business forward – and it’s not finished by any manner of means – that journey has been probably most fulfilling part of it for me as opposed to any specific project. There have been big milestones from an investment perspective but overall, the development of the people and the retention and growth of some of the people that we’ve got has been great.”
QAS offers coaching and mentoring on site, as well as external support as required. The business prides itself on the number of individuals who started on the shop floor and have progressed to roles including team leaders, forklift drivers, machine operators, and office staff.
Derek added that ongoing investment has been ‘critical’ to the continued success – and estimates that at least 80% of QAS’ work is repeat business.
“We’re aware that you’re only as good as your last job,” he added. “The strapline we’ve got is ‘Always do more’ and we always try to do more and add a bit more value. We’ll normally always try to accommodate requests. We won’t take anything on that we felt we couldn’t do – which is not a lot – but I think the fact that we are so responsive, flexible, and adaptive adds value to what we do.”
Looking ahead, Derek is excited about future developments, particularly in Kirkcaldy where there is ample room for expansion. “There will be a focus on Kirkcaldy where the bottling is,” he explained. “We see this becoming a wet site entirely. We’ve got another facility within the estate whereby we’ve got capability to build a production area and that will become our dry site. We’ve got quite a lot of expansion ground available at both our sites, in terms of acreage, to grow and develop the business.
“We’re open minded. We would welcome anybody looking to relocate a facility or a production facility that may be servicing a client in Fife and the machinery being based in Fife. We’re happy to look at anything that’s going to add value to them and to ourselves.”
