Scottish & Newcastle

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

Scottish & Newcastle
Public
IndustryBrewing
FateAcquired by consortium of Heineken and Carlsberg
Founded1749
DefunctApril 2008
HeadquartersEdinburgh, Scotland, UK
Key people
Sir Brian Stewart (Chairman), John Dunsmore (Chief Executive)
ProductsBeer
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

 
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

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

Operations

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

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.

Scottish & Newcastle Media

References

  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. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/sampn-gulps-hartwall-and-moves-into-russia-660776.html. Retrieved 2009-01-01. 
  4. Walsh, Dominic (7 October 2003). Pub sector recast as S&N sells retail division. London: Guardian. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/article1167145.ece. Retrieved 2009-01-01. 
  5. Further fears after brewery cuts. BBC News. 18 February 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3496871.stm. Retrieved 2009-01-01. 
  6. Bid plan for Scottish & Newcastle. BBC News. 17 October 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7048796.stm. Retrieved 2007-10-31. 
  7. Heineken N.V. (25 October 2007). "Heineken N.V. and Carlsberg A/S approach to Scottish & Newcastle plc". Press release. http://www.heinekeninternational.com/071025heinekennvpressrelease.aspx. Retrieved 2007-10-25. 
  8. Scottish & Newcastle PLC (25 October 2007). "REG-Scot.& Newcastle Statement re Possible Offer". Press release. http://www.scottish-newcastle.com/snplc/ir/fininfo/finnews/rnsitem?id=1193319469nRNSY3731G. Retrieved 2007-10-31. 
  9. Carlsberg A/S (15 November 2007). "Carlsberg A/S and Heineken N.V. - full and fair proposal made to Scottish & Newcastle PLC". Press release. http://www.carlsberggroup.com/media/News/Pages/19_151107.aspx. Retrieved 2007-11-15. 
  10. S&N accepts £7.8bn takeover deal. BBC News. 25 January 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7208341.stm. Retrieved 2009-01-01. 
  11. Bradley, Jane (29 April 2008). "S&N sails into history as brewer taken over". The Scotsman. http://business.scotsman.com/fooddrinkagriculture/SN-sails-into-history-as.4028900.jp. Retrieved 2008-04-30. 
  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 (2003-10-16). "The death of cheap lager". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3188382.stm. Retrieved 2010-03-02. 
  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" (in en). Express.co.uk. 2016-10-10. http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/719463/Beer-brand-Hofmeister-comeback. Retrieved 2017-09-15. 
  18. Davies, Rob (2016-11-21). "George the bear seeks new followers as Hofmeister lager returns" (in en-GB). The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 . https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/21/george-the-bear-hofmeister-lager-facebook-twitter-craft-ale. Retrieved 2017-09-15. 
  19. "Follow the bear: Hofmeister brings George out of hibernation". The Week Portfolio. Retrieved 15 September 2017.

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