"This is a welcome and substantial investment by Diageo in one of the UK's world renowned industries. It is a vote of confidence in the workforce in Scotland and in the strength of the food and drink sector in Britain. This decision will create new jobs and I am particularly pleased to see the investment the company is making in apprenticeships.
"Already this year we have seen a number of significant investments announced by major international companies here in Britain. Across a wide range of sectors like manufacturing, tourism, and now distilling, firms like Diageo are demonstrating their belief in the competitiveness of our economy and the skills of our labour force.
"Later this summer Diageo will be among the world's leading businesses coming together in London for the British Business Embassy programme of business summits and I look forward to seeing more positive steps like this being taken in the rest of 2012."
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