William Grant & Sons named Scotland’s most profitable family business

William Grant & Sons named Scotland's most profitable family business

Scotch whisky distiller William Grant & Sons has been named Scotland’s most profitable family business.

The Family Business United 2019 Scottish Family Business Top 100 report said Dufftown-based William Grant & Sons claimed the top spot as its profit before tax stood at £304 million on turnover of almost £1.2 billion in its most recent accounts.

The report has found that in total, Scotland’s top 100 family businesses’ turned over a combined £20bn, generated £1.3bn in profits and employed over 112,000 people during the period under review.

It also found that the combined turnover generated by the top 100 has increased by 16.3% on the previous year, whilst overall profits from firms in the listing increased by 18.1%.



Arnold Clark Automobiles was identified in the report as the firm which has the largest turnover in the Top 100 Scottish Family Firms at £3.9bn. As a business it is significantly larger in terms of turnover than any other family firm, representing 19.7% of the total turnover generated cumulatively by the Top 100 family firms in Scotland.

However, in terms of total turnover generated, William Grant & Sons ranks second as it stands at £304m.

The Edinburgh Woolen Mill came in third place with profits of £81.2m, City Facilities Management Holdings Limited came in fourth with a turnover of £821.7m and Parks of Hamilton completing the top five with a turnover of £761m.

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