THE FIRM

Your cut-out-and-keep guide to top employers 51. Glenmorangie

In a nutshell: The last independent quoted Scottish whisky distiller and the sixth largest whisky company in the world.

History: Like any good scotch, Glenmorangie has matured and improved with age. It all began back in 1893 when Roderick Macdonald and Alexander Muir formed the spirits company Macdonald and Muir in Leith, Edinburgh. In 1897 the company established links with drinks company James Martin and Co and began to develop its own brands, including its blended Highland Queen. Over the next 30 years the company went on a spending spree, taking over James Martin in 1912, buying the Glenmorangie distillery in 1918 and the Glen Moray distillery two years later. In 1948 the company changed its name to Macdonald and Martins Holdings, before finally settling on the Glenmorangie name in 1996.

Brands you'd recognise: As well as Glenmorangie single malt, Scotland's number one malt whisky, you will also find the whisky brands Ardbeg, Glen Moray, Bailie Nicol Jarvie (named after the fictional Glaswegian magistrate in Sir Walter Scott's novel Rob Roy), Highland Queen and James Martin's. But non-whisky drinkers need not fret, Glenmorangie also owns the Crabbie's brand of green ginger wine, the lucky old souls.

The strategy: "Having a culture which enables skilled, enthusiastic and creative people to reach their full potential," it says. Best keep them off the tasting sessions then.

Where you'd work: No need to spell it out, it is Scottish whisky after all. But you could work at Tain, Elgin, the Isle of Islay, Leith or at its head office at Broxburn, West Lothian.

Do say at interview: I'd love a job please (Glenmorangie came in at number 30 of the Department of Trade and Industry's 100 best companies to work for). That's the spirit!

Don't say at interview: It's a family affair (after 111 years of family ownership the company has put itself up for sale).

Contact: 01506 852929, http://www.glenmorangieplc.co.uk