Whisky producer Glenmorangie is using online training to give its widely distributed workforce the chance to improve their IT and business skills.

The scheme will give 334 staff at the company's headquarters in Broxburn, West Lothian - as well as workers at remote distilleries - access to up to 21 training courses via Glenmorangie's intranet.

The courses, from e-learning specialist Thomson NETg, include the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) as well as management and personnel development modules.

Glenmorangie's distilleries - at Tain in the far north-west of Scotland, Glen Moray in Morayshire and Ardbeg on the isle of Islay - each employ between 16 and 24 staff. With such a widely dispersed work force, classroom-based training has previously proved difficult and time-consuming.

Each distillery now has a learning centre open 24 hours a day so that all staff, including shift workers, can access the online courses at their convenience.

Morag Mathieson, Glenmorangie's training and development manager, said the company has seen a significant improvement in skills throughout the company as a result of the e-learning programme.

"The majority of distillery workers don't use PCs much, so this is a great opportunity for them to gain confidence and become IT-literate," said Mathieson.

"We have seen high usage of all the courses, but ECDL is particularly popular among staff and allows them to gain a qualification in IT that's recognised throughout Europe."

The main learning centre at Glenmorangie's Broxburn HQ has also been sponsored by the government as part of its learndirect flexible learning initiative.

This has enabled the distiller to extend usage to workers' friends and families free of charge. Glenmorangie will also soon be opening up the centre to local organisations and schools.

Mathieson said: "Our goal is to create a 'learning organisation', where learning is embedded into our company culture and is a part of each employee's daily life.

"By sharing our training resources with local communities we can help people become more knowledgeable and employable so they can in turn put something back into the community."

The Thomson NETg courses are part of a blended approach to training at Glenmorangie which also includes classroom-based education and bespoke, job-specific learning materials.