The BRIGGS team had a brilliant day at the ISPE UK Affiliate Annual Conference

It was a great opportunity to connect with industry leaders from across the Pharmaceutical sector, gaining valuable insights into the latest trends shaping the industry. A special congratulations to BRIGGS team member, Lewis Neve for delivering an impressive presentation on our role in driving the transition towards greener propellants, which you can find more about here.

As proud Platinum Sponsors, we thoroughly enjoyed the event and are already looking forward to next year’s gathering in Manchester!

About Briggs of Burton

If you have eaten or drunk it there is a chance that Briggs of Burton has helped to produce it.

Briggs are the engineers behind supplying the equipment, engineering and automation to the world’s largest food, alcoholic beverage, and pharmaceutical manufacturers

Today BRIGGS employs over 300 colleagues across six sites in the UK, Scotland, USA, Mexico, China, and Australia. The team deliver turnkey engineering projects for leading household brands covering North America, Europe, Central America, Africa, Australia, and Asia. BRIGGS benefits from a global network of stainless-steel manufacturing facilities, including their own located in Burton on Trent and Prestonpans, Scotland.

BRIGGS is actively developing sustainable engineering solutions, focusing on their customer’s requirements towards carbon neutrality.

Our team, alongside colleagues from Ziemann Holvrieka, had a productive and engaging time at Drink JAPAN.

The event was a great opportunity to meet with customers and project partners from the Beer, Distilled Spirits, and Beverage industries in Japan. We discussed practical solutions for designing, engineering, and constructing facilities with a focus on safety, efficiency, and sustainability.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to share insights and explore ideas. We’re excited to build on the conversations we had and continue supporting the industry with tailored project solutions.

About Briggs of Burton

If you have eaten or drunk it there is a chance that Briggs of Burton has helped to produce it.

Briggs are the engineers behind supplying the equipment, engineering and automation to the world’s largest food, alcoholic beverage, and pharmaceutical manufacturers

Today Briggs employs over 300 colleagues across six sites in the UK, Scotland, USA, Mexico, China, and Australia. The team deliver turnkey engineering projects for leading household brands covering North America, Europe, Central America, Africa, Australia, and Asia. Briggs’ benefits from a global network of stainless-steel manufacturing facilities, including their own located in Burton on Trent and Prestonpans, Scotland.

Briggs is actively developing sustainable engineering solutions, focusing on their customer’s requirements towards carbon neutrality.

The BRIGGS team recently welcomed a group of whisky industry professionals – from local producers to large-scale operators – to our office in Forres, Scotland, for our event, Malt Whisky: Sustainable Solutions Towards Net Zero.

Key speakers included Dr Ben Connolly and Rebecca Hooper from the team Briggs of Burton team, alongside Martin McAdam from Ardgowan Distillery Company Limited, who shared valuable insights into practical and innovative ways to advance sustainability in the scotch malt whisky sector. A special thank you to Eleanor Bradford for chairing the event and guiding the discussions.

Key highlights included:
– In-depth discussions on BRIGGS ThermoDrive, our Mechanical Vapour Recompression (MVR) technology.
– Showcasing solutions to maximise energy efficiency and reduce carbon footprints.
– Engaging conversations about the path towards a greener, more efficient future for the industry.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and contributed to the discussions.

For those who couldn’t attend, you can learn more about BRIGGS’ sustainable innovations for malt whisky distilleries here.

You can register your interest for future events here.

This month, BRIGGS team members Katy Bragg and Jeff Doss represented BRIGGS at the Kentucky Distillers’ Association (KDA)’s 144th Annual State Dinner and Members reception.

Taking place in the home of Bourbon, Kentucky, this was a great opportunity to meet major bourbon producers and suppliers across the industry – and raise a glass of bourbon together, of course.

About Briggs of Burton

If you have eaten or drunk it there is a chance that Briggs of Burton has helped to produce it.

Briggs are the engineers behind supplying the equipment, engineering and automation to the world’s largest food, alcoholic beverage, and pharmaceutical manufacturers

Today Briggs employs over 300 colleagues across six sites in the UK, Scotland, USA, Mexico, China, and Australia. The team deliver turnkey engineering projects for leading household brands covering North America, Europe, Central America, Africa, Australia, and Asia. Briggs’ benefits from a global network of stainless-steel manufacturing facilities, including their own located in Burton on Trent and Prestonpans, Scotland.

Briggs is actively developing sustainable engineering solutions, focusing on their customer’s requirements towards carbon neutrality.

Thank you to the Institute of Brewing & Distilling (IBD) – Scottish Section for the ‘Lifelong Learning Day’ in Pitlochry. Focusing on sustainability, the event brought brewers and distillers together to learn from a range of speakers about the latest happening across the industry, and also a reminder of some fundamentals and good practice.

Scott Davies and Andrew Mieleniewski, who were coined as the ‘MVR Guys’ at the event, were delighted to have had the opportunity of sharing BRIGGS’ own expertise on how Mechanical Vapour Recompression (MVR) technology – BRIGGS ThermoDrive worked and how it could support in sustainable production. Andrew explained how this energy-saving technology was being applied to GlenAllachie in Aberlour, as part of the Scottish Industrial Entergy Transformation Fund (SIETF).

About Briggs of Burton

If you have eaten or drunk it there is a chance that Briggs of Burton has helped to produce it.

Briggs are the engineers behind supplying the equipment, engineering and automation to the world’s largest food, alcoholic beverage, and pharmaceutical manufacturers

Today Briggs employs over 300 colleagues across six sites in the UK, Scotland, USA, Mexico, China, and Australia. The team deliver turnkey engineering projects for leading household brands covering North America, Europe, Central America, Africa, Australia, and Asia. Briggs’ benefits from a global network of stainless-steel manufacturing facilities, including their own located in Burton on Trent and Prestonpans, Scotland.

Briggs is actively developing sustainable engineering solutions, focusing on their customer’s requirements towards carbon neutrality.

A major milestone has been reached for McMillan Coppersmiths and Fabricators, as two handcrafted copper whisky stills – a wash still and a spirit still – embarked on their journey to Ardgowan Distillery, currently under construction in Inverkip, Scotland.

These traditional copper stills, crafted using techniques dating back to the 1800s, will soon form the heart of Ardgowan’s distilling operations. The project represents a collaborative effort, with teams from BRIGGS and McMillan playing pivotal roles in the design, engineering, and build of the new distillery.

The moment was captured by The Edinburgh Reporter, celebrating this essential step in the distillery’s progress. Further updates on the project’s development will be shared as it continues to take shape.

John McIntosh, McMillan Coppersmith’s Global Projects Director, explained the TVR process which is key which improves the efficiency of the distillation process. He said: “Thermal Vapour Recompression uses the energy we have used before – capturing that, enhancing that and using it again so that it is not lost. Traditionally we had energy used once and then dispelled into the atmosphere. Here we capture it from our heat energy, process it to make our processes more efficient. There is a capital investment in the beginning but that certainly comes with a payback and the end users do benefit from it.”

Martin McAdam, CEO and founder of Ardgowan Distillery, said: “This is a very special day – and a transition of the project. We move from a building site to become a distillery once these stills are installed. This is the culmination of a lot of work here by the guys at McMillan Coppersmiths. We are delighted to have these ready and to be installed on the site in the next couple of days.”

Find out more about McMillan Coppersmiths here.

Photos Courtesy of Duncan McGlynn.

About McMillan Coppersmiths

Founded in 1867, McMillan Coppersmiths has a rich heritage of craftsmanship, with many of its production methods dating back 150 years. The manufacturer prides itself on the traditional handcrafted production of copper stills, as well as semi-automatic and manual welding equipment for welding stainless steel, copper and nickel alloys. Since acquiring McMillan in 2020, Briggs of Burton’s business growth in the Scotch Whisky sector has soared.

People worldwide celebrate World Mental Health Day each year on 10 October. This year’s theme from the World Federation of Mental Health focuses on workplace mental health. Emphasising the need to support mental well-being in the workplace to benefit individuals, organisations, and communities.

At Briggs of Burton, we understand the importance of prioritising mental health and well-being in the workplace. That’s why we’re proud that so many of our team are on hand to support. There are Mental Health First Aiders who can help with short-term challenges, and Mental Health Champions who provide longer-term support and guidance.

Let’s continue to break the stigma surrounding discussing mental health ensuring everyone feels valued, supported, and able to thrive.

About Briggs of Burton

If you have eaten or drunk it there is a chance that Briggs of Burton has helped to produce it.

Briggs are the engineers behind supplying the equipment, engineering and automation to the world’s largest food, alcoholic beverage, and pharmaceutical manufacturers

Today Briggs employs over 300 colleagues across six sites in the UK, Scotland, USA, Mexico, China, and Australia. The team deliver turnkey engineering projects for leading household brands covering North America, Europe, Central America, Africa, Australia, and Asia. Briggs’ benefits from a global network of stainless-steel manufacturing facilities, including their own located in Burton on Trent and Prestonpans, Scotland.

Briggs are actively developing sustainable engineering solutions, focusing on their customer’s requirements towards carbon neutrality. 

McMillan Coppersmiths, one of the world’s oldest coppersmiths, marks four years of growth under the ownership of global engineering company Briggs of Burton.

Specialising in designing and manufacturing copper distillation equipment, McMillan Coppersmiths now supplies customers as far away as Mexico and China, as well as supplying stills and distilling equipment throughout Scotland. Its portfolio includes projects with industry leaders like Diageo, William Grants, Brown Forman, Pernod Ricard, Ardgowan and others. These collaborations have showcased an ability to deliver customised solutions and uphold the highest standards of quality and innovation.

Robert Goudie, Production Manager at McMillan Coppersmiths, said:

“Creating the right spirit involves many factors, including the copper stills we design and hand-make. As whisky enthusiasts know, the shape and size of the still are considered to influence the flavour of the whisky produced by each distillery. Our role is to customise a design that fits perfectly with the spirit they aim to produce, either by recreating and matching their existing shapes, or for newer entrants, drawing inspiration from others combined with customisation to make a strong impact on the aesthetics of the still house. We are now world leaders in the hand crafting of whisky and gin stills, rum stills and worm tubs.”

McMillan was awarded Manufacturer of the Year at the Made in Scotland Awards in 2023.

Rob Buxton, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Briggs of Burton, said:

“Over the last three years we have made a huge investment in McMillan Coppersmiths. This includes building the next generation of coppersmiths through apprenticeships programmes, recruiting and upskilling our team from within , and supporting the team through better welfare facilities and employment contracts.  We have also made a big investment in supporting the team with the development of a health and safety culture.”

About McMillan Coppersmiths

Founded in 1867, McMillan Coppersmiths has a rich heritage of craftsmanship, with many of its production methods dating back 150 years. The manufacturer prides itself on the traditional handcrafted production of copper stills, as well as semi-automatic and manual welding equipment for welding stainless steel, copper and nickel alloys. Since acquiring McMillan in 2020, Briggs of Burton’s business growth in the Scotch Whisky sector has soared.

Briggs of Burton featured in The Press and Journal alongside Gareth Roberts at Organic Architects, Dawn Maskell director at Heriot-Watt University and Liz Fletcher at the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre

Dr Scott Davies spoke to journalist Peter Ranscombe about brewers and distillers being the pioneers of biotechnology and how Briggs of Burton has a long history of supporting its customers by leveraging microorganisms to produce fermentation-based products. The article explores the potential for breweries and distilleries to consider the production of other fermentation-based products with their existing operations. Briggs has worked on many projects around the world, using its process engineering know-how and project delivery experience in engineering systems from propagating and growing yeast for distilled spirits, beer and bread production, to hygienically scaling up fermentation processes to producing liquid biofuels.

Reach out to the team if you want to discuss a project that involves a hygienic process system for the processing of yeast or bacteria across the food, alcoholic beverage, and life science sectors.

About Briggs of Burton

If you have eaten or drunk it there is a chance that Briggs of Burton has helped to produce it.

Briggs are the engineers behind supplying the equipment, engineering and automation to the world’s largest food, alcoholic beverage, and pharmaceutical manufacturers

Today Briggs employs over 350 colleagues across six sites in the UK, Scotland, USA, Mexico, China, and Australia. The team deliver turnkey engineering projects for leading household brands covering North America, Europe, Central America, Africa, Australia, and Asia. Briggs’ benefits from a global network of stainless-steel manufacturing facilities, including their own located in Burton on Trent and Prestonpans, Scotland.

Briggs is actively developing sustainable engineering solutions, focusing