- Formerly a World War II naval storage depot, the 50-acre Royal Elizabeth Yard has consent to become Scotland’s largest independent bonded warehousing facility;
- Located less than seven miles from Edinburgh city centre, the site’s capacity exists to mature more than 1.1m casks in a fully managed facility operating at net zero emissions;
- The £7.5m loan from OakNorth will refinance existing debt and support conversion of several existing sheds to bonded whisky maturation warehouses, plus consented new development over time.
Glasgow, 11 February, 2026: OakNorth, the digital bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs, has provided a £7.5m loan to support the next phase of growth at Royal Elizabeth Yard at Queensferry.
Formerly a World War II naval storage depot, the 50-acre Royal Elizabeth Yard is being repurposed into Scotland’s largest independent whisky warehousing site. Located less than seven miles from Edinburgh city centre and close to key transport links including Edinburgh Airport and the Queensferry Crossing, the site offers distillers and whisky investors a secure, strategically located storage solution within Scotland’s Central Belt. Royal Elizabeth Yard has planning consent to develop up to 830,000 sq. ft. of bonded warehousing, with the capacity to mature over 1.1 million casks once fully developed. The site is being repositioned from traditional industrial use to a fully managed bonded whisky maturation facility, providing long-term storage, handling and compliance services for third-party whisky producers and cask owners.
The £7.5m loan from OakNorth will be used to refinance existing debt and support the conversion of several existing sheds into bonded whisky maturation warehouses, enabling the business to meet growing demand for high-quality independent storage capacity.
Alan Wright, Head of Operations at Royal Elizabeth Yard, commented on the transaction: “This funding from OakNorth is a significant milestone for Royal Elizabeth Yard as we continue to develop the site into a world-class bonded whisky maturation facility. Demand for independent storage capacity remains strong, and this facility gives us the flexibility to invest in the infrastructure required to support distillers and cask owners over the long term. Fraser and the team at OakNorth took the time to understand both the asset and the operational model, and we’re pleased to be partnering with them as we progress the next stage of the site’s evolution.”
Fraser McPhail, Senior Director of Debt Finance at OakNorth, added: “Royal Elizabeth Yard is a unique asset with a compelling long-term strategy, underpinned by strong fundamentals in the Scotch whisky sector. The site’s scale, location and extensive planning consents position it well to address the structural shortage of independent bonded warehousing capacity in Scotland. In addition to supporting the refurbishment of existing buildings, we have a strong appetite to support the consented new-build development over time, enabling Royal Elizabeth Yard to continue expanding its storage capacity. This provides distillers and whisky investors with the flexibility to grow inventory without the need to deploy significant capital into developing their own storage infrastructure.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
About OakNorth
Launched in September 2015 and founded by entrepreneurs, OakNorth is a digital bank focused on serving and empowering breakthrough businesses – profitable and scaling lower-mid-market companies – who are too often overlooked by traditional banks.
To date, it has provided $21bn to these businesses across a wide range of sectors, achieving performance metrics that place it amongst the top 1% of commercial banks globally. Its loans have directly contributed to the creation of 61,000 jobs, and over 38,000 new homes across the UK and the US – the majority of which are affordable and social housing.
It is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.
Visit www.oaknorth.co.uk for more information.
For press inquiries, please email: [email protected]
About Royal Elizabeth Bond
Royal Elizabeth Bond is a new centre of maturation excellence for the Scotch Whisky industry. A first of its kind facility, it will be Scotland’s biggest independent bonded cask warehousing site when completed, setting new standards of connected, sustainable and modern cask management for clients.
The development is based near Dalmeny on the outskirts of Edinburgh at the Royal Elizabeth Yard: a 50-acre former World War II naval storage depot. With a storage capacity of 1.1 million casks, it will offer the perfect location for warehousing of this scale, in close proximity to many of the country’s main blenders and bottlers in the central belt and benefitting from easy access to transport and distribution routes.
Royal Elizabeth Bond secured HMRC Warehouse Keepers approval in late 2025 and confirmed two leading operational partners: Summerhall Distillery for facilities management; and Proof8 , who will deploy their powerful blockchain-powered platform to support inventory and warehouse management.
The business is now welcoming casks from a range of clients within its refurbished historic warehouses, with plans for the addition of several newly constructed warehouses currently in development.
https://www.royalelizabethbond.com/
For press inquiries: Royal Elizabeth Bond: [email protected]