IPA brewer to roll out the barrel worldwide

Published on Wednesday 30 April 2008 10:15

IT'S an Edinburgh institution and famously a favourite tipple of Inspector Rebus.

But now Deuchars IPA could be set to become a worldwide brand after a successful trial in the United States.

The new boss of brewer Scottish & Newcastle's UK operations said he wanted to make Deuchars an international success.

S&N completed a deal earlier this month that saw it take full control of the Caledonian Brewery – Edinburgh's last remaining working brewery. The deal, weeks before Heineken took control of the Edinburgh-based firm, sparked fears for the future of the Slateford Road operation.

But following S&N becoming part of the Heineken Group yesterday, Jeremy Blood, the new managing director of the combined company's UK operations, said the Caledonian's products have been earmarked for growth in the UK and abroad.

He also insisted that Edinburgh will remain important to the new company and said its office at Broadway Park in the Gyle, where around 600 staff are employed, will continue to be its UK HQ.

However, he warned that jobs could go at S&N's headquarters at St Andrew Square as some jobs are duplicated in Heineken's Amsterdam HQ.

Deuchars is already becoming popular in London and has been successfully piloted in the United States. Mr Blood expects speciality cask ales like Deuchars and Caledonian 80/- to become more popular as consumers look for something different from the mainstream products.

He said: "We see the future of beer being about consumers looking for something more distinctive and the Caledonian products stand to benefit from that.

"Deuchars is doing great guns down in London and we see a real opportunity for strong growth in England. Internationally, we've done some research in the United States and there has been really strong results so there is potential for overseas in the future."

S&N employs around 1080 staff in Edinburgh, making it the Capital's 24th-biggest employer.

It also has strong historical associations with the Capital, having been based in the city since Younger's, which later became S&N, opened a brewery near The Kirkgate in Leith in 1749.

"We're not in Edinburgh for sentimental reasons, it's because the people in Edinburgh who work for Scottish & Newcastle are talented at what they do," said Mr Blood. "As long as that is the case there would be absolutely no logic in moving. I'm very relaxed and confident about the future of the Edinburgh offices."

But it appears unlikely that a use will remain for its historic HQ at St Andrew Square. Mr Blood said: "We are trying to ensure we are communicating with the people who work at St Andrew Square but there will be changes.

"Some of the jobs that the (S&N) PLC did will be done in Amsterdam because that is where the PLC is."

Vronique Schyns, senior spokeswoman for the Heineken Group, said: "We are in the middle of a process of integrating two largely complementary businesses in the UK – Heineken and Scottish & Newcastle.

"For us it is more about the combination of the brand portfolios offering new opportunities, so it will be business as usual for those brands."