Administrative/Biographical History
Scottish Brewers Ltd was registered in 1931 as a limited liability company to acquire William McEwan & Co Ltd, Holyrood Brewery, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh (closed 1986). The company acquired Red Tower Lager Brewery Ltd, Royal Brewery, Manchester, in 1956; Thomas & James Bernard Ltd, brewers; J & J Morison Ltd, brewers, and Robert Younger Ltd, brewers, all in Edinburgh, in 1960. It merged with Newcastle Breweries Ltd, Tyne Brewery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in 1960 and changed its name to Scottish & Newcastle Breweries Ltd (S & N).
Mackinlay-McPherson Ltd, Edinburgh, was formed in 1962 to combine and run the wine and spirit side of the business, gaining control of Glenallachie Distillery Co Ltd, Aberlour-on-Spey, and Isle of Jura Distillery Co Ltd, Craighouse, Isle of Jura, in the 1960s. The company acquired County Hotels & Wine Co Ltd in 1962; Christopher & Co Ltd, wine merchants, in 1972; Gough Brothers Ltd, wine and spirit merchants (sold 1984), and the Royal Brewery, Manchester, in 1979; Home Brewery plc, Nottingham, in 1986; and Matthew Brown plc, brewers, Blackburn, and T & R Theakston Ltd, brewers, of Ripon, Yorkshire, in 1987. It fought off a hostile takeover bid by Elders IXL of Australia in 1988.
In 1989 S & N formed its Leisure Division after purchasing 74.8 per cent of the holiday company Center Parcs Ltd (the remaining 25.2 per cent were bought in 1991, and the entire business sold in 2000). A Retail Division was formed in 1990, and it was sold in 2003.
In 1993 the company acquired the Chef & Brewer Ltd estate, from Grand Metropolitan plc, London, and in 1999 the pubs, pub restaurant and lodge business of Greenall Whitley plc, Warrington. S & N became the biggest brewer in the UK in 1995 when it acquired Courage & Co Ltd, London and doubled the scale of the beer business with the addition of beer brands including Foster’s, Kronenbourg and John Smith’s to the company’s portfolio. Scottish Courage Ltd was formed to manage S & N’s brewing business. Its name was changed to Scottish & Newcastle UK in February 2006.
In March 2000 S & N formed a major partnership with Groupe Danone’s beer business interests, Brasseries Kronenbourg of Strasbourg, France, and Alken Maes of Waarloos, Belgium to create a major new European beer group. In August that year, it entered into a joint venture to run the Portuguese brewer and distributor Central De Cervejas (Centralcer) of Lisbon, Portugal, and acquired full control of the company in 2003. In 2002, S & N became a partner with Carlsberg Breweries in BBH, which has acquired Russia’s leading brewing companies and beer brands.
S & N acquired the cider makers HP Bulmer Holdings plc in 2003. In 2004, the ownership of the Masham Brewery returned to the Theakston family. Also in 2004, S & N announced it would close its Fountain Brewery, but acquired the Caledonian Brewery in the city. The management of the latter brewery remained in the hands of the previous owner, Caledonian Brewing Co, in which S & N acquired a stake of 30 per cent. S & N also acquired the Northern Cub Federation Brewery at Dunston and transferred its brewing operations there from its Tyne Brewery.
At the beginning of 2006, S & N continues to be a beer-led drinks business and is ranked the world’s seventh-largest brewer by volume sales. It employs more than 15,000 people directly in Europe, as well as 15,000 in joint ventures there and another 7,000 in its investment and joint venture companies in Asia.
Sources:
Richmond, Lesley and Turton, Alison (eds), The Brewing Industry. A Guide to Historical Records, (Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1990).
Scottish & Newcastle plc website.
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