Scottish & Newcastle

defunct brewery

Scottish & Newcastle plc was a brewing company in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was an international beer business.

Scottish & Newcastle
Company typePublic
IndustryBrewing
Founded1749
DefunctApril 2008
FateAcquired by consortium of Heineken and Carlsberg
HeadquartersEdinburgh, Scotland, UK
Key people
Sir Brian Stewart (Chairman), John Dunsmore (Chief Executive)
ProductsBeer
ParentHeineken Edit this on Wikidata
SubsidiariesS&N UK; Alken-Maes; Beamish & Crawford; Brasseries Kronenbourg; Central de Cervejas; Hartwall; Home Ales; Mythos; Waverley TBS; S&N Pub Company

The company was bought by Heineken and Carlsberg in 2008. Heineken UK called themselves Scottish & Newcastle until 2009. The S&N Pub Enterprises pub part of the company has had its name changed to Star Pubs & Bars.

History change

 
Portrait of William Younger by Alan Ramsay

The Company was created by Grizel Syme who ran her dead second husband's brewery. This brewery became William Younger & Co.[1] It joined with McEwan's in 1931 and turned into Scottish Brewers.[1] In 1960 it joined again to Newcastle Breweries to make Scottish & Newcastle.[1]

By 1985, the company had become a brewer focused on Scotland and the North of England.[2] It was ranked number five in the UK. By 1995, by buying Courage, S&N became the UK’s biggest brewer. Its Managed Pub division was called S&N Retail. It had 2,500 pubs. In 2000, S&N grew bigger by buying companies in Western Europe. By buying Hartwall in 2002, Finland’s biggest drink making business, S&N became owners of half of Baltic Beverages Holding (BBH) which had brewers all over East Europe.[3]

In July 2003, S&N bought the Bulmers cider business, adding the Strongbow, Scrumpy Jack and Woodpecker brands to its group.

In November 2003, S&N sold the pubs to the Spirit Group. But they still looked after some pubs.[4]

In 2004 lots of breweries were closed to save money.[5]

In 2006, S&N and Swiss freight company, Kuehne and Nagel set up a drinks selling business.

On 17 October 2007, Heineken International and Carlsberg said that they were going to buy Scottish and Newcastle.[6] On 25 October Heineken and Carlsberg said that they had sent a written offer to S&N.[7] S&N didn't alllow this.[8]

A new offer announced on 15 November 2007 by Carlsberg and Heineken. The new offer was bigger.[9]

On 25 January 2008, S&N said they liked the deal.[10]

The company was bought on 29 April 2008.[11]

On 23 November 2009, the company changed its name to Heineken UK Ltd.[12]

Breweries change

Scottish & Newcastle employed 40,000 people in the United Kingdom and Europe. It brewed beer at:

Operations change

S&N owned or three of the top ten beers in Europe.

It also owned other drink companies:

Some other brands they could use were:

Hofmeister was a pale lager made by S&N from the 1980s to 2003.[13][14] The 1980s adverts showed a bear, George, with a shiny yellow jacket and a pork pie hat.[15] The 1983 adverts were directed by Orson Welles.[16] In 2016, the Hofmeister brand returned with a new 5% recipe.[17][18][19]

Division of the business between the Carlsberg/Heineken group change

Heineken acquired:

S&NUK; Beamish and Crawford - ROI; Hartwall - Finland; Alken Maes - Belgium; Central de Cervejas - Portugal; Indian JV with UB; US selling business

Carlsberg acquired:

Other half of Baltic Beverages Holdings; Kronenbourg - France; Mythos (beer) - Greece; Chongqing joint venture in China; Venture markets:- Switzerland; Africa; Hungary; Luxembourg; Indian Ocean; South and Central America Andorra and Asia.

References change

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Records of William Younger & Co Ltd, brewers, Edinburgh, Scotland". Archives hub. July 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2009.
  2. Gillett, A., Tennent, K., & Hutchinson, F. (2016). Beer and the Boro—A Perfect Match!. In Brewing, Beer and Pubs (pp. 303-320). Palgrave Macmillan UK.
  3. Cope, Nigel (15 February 2002). "S&N gulps Hartwall and moves into Russia". London: BBC News. Archived from the original on 6 July 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  4. Walsh, Dominic (7 October 2003). "Pub sector recast as S&N sells retail division". London: Guardian. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  5. "Further fears after brewery cuts". BBC News. 18 February 2004. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  6. "Bid plan for Scottish & Newcastle". BBC News. 17 October 2007. Retrieved 31 October 2007.
  7. "Heineken N.V. and Carlsberg A/S approach to Scottish & Newcastle plc" (Press release). Heineken N.V. 25 October 2007. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
  8. "REG-Scot.& Newcastle Statement re Possible Offer" (Press release). Scottish & Newcastle PLC. 25 October 2007. Retrieved 31 October 2007.
  9. "Carlsberg A/S and Heineken N.V. - full and fair proposal made to Scottish & Newcastle PLC" (Press release). Carlsberg A/S. 15 November 2007. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
  10. "S&N accepts £7.8bn takeover deal". BBC News. 25 January 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  11. Bradley, Jane (29 April 2008). "S&N sails into history as brewer taken over". The Scotsman. Retrieved 30 April 2008.
  12. Scottish & Newcastle to become Heineken UK Morning Advertiser, 28 September 2009
  13. "Follow the bear... out the door as Hofmeister is axed - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic". www.brandrepublic.com. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  14. "Hofmeister from Berkshire (Heineken) - Ratebeer". www.ratebeer.com. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  15. Wheeler, Brian (16 October 2003). "The death of cheap lager". BBC News. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  16. Leaming, Barbara (2004). Orson Welles: A Biography. Limelight Editions. p. 580. ISBN 978-0879101992.
  17. "Follow the bear again! Hofmeister to make a comeback 13 years after it was axed". Express.co.uk. 10 October 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  18. Davies, Rob (21 November 2016). "George the bear seeks new followers as Hofmeister lager returns". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  19. "Follow the bear: Hofmeister brings George out of hibernation". The Week Portfolio. Retrieved 15 September 2017.

Other websites change