Our Malting Sites
Simpsons Malt operates two malting sites in the United Kingdom. Located in prime barley growing regions in the north and south of the country, they have the capacity to produce 315,000 tonnes of malt per year.
Both sites combine to serve our diverse range of customers in the distilling, brewing and food industries worldwide, while our in-house grain storage infrastructure of more than 450,000 tonnes ensures the safe storage of our directly contracted, high-quality barley.
Berwick-upon-Tweed
Our Tweed Valley Maltings is located in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland.
The name Berwick is derived from the early Anglo-Saxon words for ‘Ber(e)’ = barley and ‘wick’ = small town, while the ‘Tweed’ comes from the fact that the town is situated at the mouth of the River Tweed.
Berwick-upon-Tweed is also the northernmost town in England and lies just two miles south of the Scottish border. Given its geographical position, it has an esteemed history, having changed hands between England and Scotland more than a dozen times.
Our Tweed Valley Maltings is where our head office has been situated since 1963, while it is also home to the headquarters of our agricultural merchanting division, McCreath Simpson & Prentice (MSP).
Tivetshall
Our Tivetshall Maltings is in the county of Norfolk, around two hours from the UK’s capital city London and a 30-minute drive south from the county’s biggest city, Norwich.
Located in prime English barley growing territory, Tivetshall has been producing malt since 1872 and the site was acquired by the company from Grand Metropolitan in 1986.
Since the turn of the century, Tivetshall has been the subject of vast investment and it has become the company’s hub for producing malt for the craft brewing sector.
In 2015, the plant was extended to accommodate our advanced bagging facilities and warehouse. Tivetshall is also home to our state-of-the-art Roast House, with the five roasting drums situated in there helping to produce our diverse range of crystal malts and roasted malts.
Overall, Tivetshall has the capacity to produce approximately 55,000 tonnes of malt per year.
Grain storage
In addition to our two malting sites, we also own six grain storage sites throughout the UK.
Five of these are spread out across Scotland, where most of our contracted malting barley growers are located, while one is near to our Tivetshall St Margaret Maltings in south Norfolk.
The number of grain stores under the company’s ownership grew from two to six in January 2021 after we completed the acquisition of W.N. Lindsay Ltd’s grain merchanting business.
These four additional stores provided us with more than 250,000 tonnes of extra in-house grain storage. This has allowed us to control 100% of our malting barley direct from the grower to service our Tweed Valley Maltings, enhancing traceability for both grower and end user.
Our grain stores
Craigswalls
Located just over the Scottish border between the village of Chirnside and town of Duns, the Craigswalls Grain Store is a 15-minute drive from our Tweed Valley Maltings. It was acquired from Philip Wilson (Grain) Ltd in 2000 and provides 125,000 tonnes of storage in its 29 sheds and 13 silos. There are also three driers in operation. Its location is ideal in that it's close to many of our farming partners throughout the Scottish Borders, which is a popular region for growing malting barley.
Gladsmuir
Gladsmuir is the former headquarters of W.N. Lindsay Ltd and the grain store is situated just off the A1 in East Lothian, ten miles east of Edinburgh. It became the main base of W.N. Lindsay Ltd in 1980 and boasts modern facilities and outstanding access, with the store well placed in one of Scotland’s most fertile areas. Gladsmuir offers 50,000 tonnes of storage, with this comprising nine sheds and three silos.
Stracathro
Situated in Angus, one of Scotland’s top malting barley growing areas, Stracathro is the largest of the four grain stores that were brought under the company’s ownership following the acquisition of W.N. Lindsay Ltd in January 2021. It is five miles east of the town of Brechin, just off the A90 – the main road connecting Dundee and Aberdeen. In total, Stracathro has 100,000 tonnes of storage across 12 sheds, while it can also dry 2,000 tonnes of barley per day in its four driers.
Keith
Located in the charming, historic town of Keith, which sits on the Speyside Malt Whisky Trail, Keith was the first grain store acquired by W.N. Lindsay Ltd back in 1973. It has a substantial storage capacity of 50,000 tonnes, comprising six sheds and 12 silos, while there are also three driers on-site. Keith is ideally located to serve farmers and growers in Morayshire and Aberdeenshire and has benefited from major investment throughout its lifetime – most recently a new barley intake that has significantly reduced time on-site for hauliers during harvest.
Sidlaw
Sidlaw is the smallest of the company’s six grain stores, with a total capacity of 30,000 tonnes across 15 silos totalling 2,000 tonnes each. It is located near the village of Burrelton in Perthshire and is 15 miles north-west of Dundee – the fourth-largest city in Scotland. Like our other grain stores, it is ideally situated in a popular region for growing malting barley.
Fersfield
Fersfield is the sole grain store under the company’s ownership in England and is located ten miles from our Tivetshall Maltings in south Norfolk, near to the town of Diss. A former RAF airfield that was used in World War Two, four Nissen huts remain from its time as an RAF base and its four sheds have a total grain storage capacity of 35,000 tonnes, all of which is used in the production of malts for the brewing industry at our Tivetshall Maltings.
Sustainability
We have ambitious sustainability goals of carbon neutral malting barley and distilling wheat production and net zero Scope 1 & 2 emissions - both by 2030.
As a result, we are always working on ways to make the malt supply chain more sustainable - from on-farm operations to the malt’s arrival at our brewing or distilling customers’ sites.
We have completed a number of significant steps on the road to net zero - notably the Energy Centre at our Tweed Valley Maltings which came online in late 2024 and has reduced company-wide Scope 1 & 2 emissions by around 55%.
We have also engaged with the wider supply chain, providing low-carbon fertiliser to contracted growers and helping them to become verified to Gold level on the Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA).
