The Robertson Trust was established by the Miss Robertson sisters in May 1961. Miss Elspeth, Agnes and Ethel donated the shares in the Group founded by their grandfather, William Robertson to the Trust for charitable purposes. Today, the Trust controls The Edrington Group which now owns the well known brands of Scotch Whisky: The Famous Grouse, The Macallan and Highland Park. The Trust Deed had two main objectives: the first to ensure that the company remained independent and the second to ensure that dividend income from the shares would be given to charitable purposes. The Misses Robertson were Trustees of the Trust for a combined total of 71 years which ensured that the Trust was well established using the guidelines that they had used for their family business: Honesty, Integrity and the Ability to Help People in Trouble.

Summary of Financial Year 2005 / 2006

In the year to March 2006 the total value of donations paid out was £6.0M. The equivalent figure in the previous year was £6.8M. In addition there was a net increase of £1.8M in pledged donations which will be paid out subject to agreed conditions being met by the recipient charity.

The Trust received a total of 817 eligible applications in the year to 31st March 2007 and of these approximately 50% received a donation from the Trust.