Medical cannabis company Hilltop Leaf secures £2m investment

A medical cannabis company based in the south of Scotland has secured a £2m investment that will allow it to make its first commercial sales.

Hilltop Leaf in Dumfries and Galloway has Scotland's first medicinal cannabis cultivation and production facility.

Chief executive Hamish Clegg said the business was based on the "key pillars of health innovation, environmental sustainability and community impact".

It raised the funding from private investors and Traditum Private Equity.

Hilltop Leaf has already completed construction of the 11,000 square metre production facility in the south of Scotland.

It hopes to become one of the biggest UK producers of medicinal cannabis products.

The company said that could create dozens of jobs for the area.

Mr Clegg said: "Although medicinal cannabis use is growing, the UK relies solely on imports and we understand there is a problem with the reliability of the supply chain.

"We aim to provide an affordable, high quality solution to treat conditions ranging from chronic pain to severe epilepsy, while easing pressure on the NHS.

"We plan to rival other countries such as Canada, Germany and Israel with our own reliable supply from the hills of Scotland."

Tom Hurley, client services director with Traditum, said its investment would strengthen its growing portfolio.

"We believe cannabis has the potential to offer new and better treatments for some conditions and provide an alternative to opioids for pain relief," he said.

"We have been impressed by the strength of the company's management team, their fastidious approach to quality and their vision to create a purpose-built facility backed by research and development."