Caledonian Brewery chief Stephen Crawley bows out

Stephen Crawley said he has yet to decide on his next move after he leaves the brewer. Picture: Contributed

The capital’s last remaining major brewery, which traces its roots back to 1869 and is owned by Dutch brewing giant Heineken, has launched a recruitment drive to find a successor to its long-standing boss.

Crawley said he had some “exciting opportunities” to consider but is yet to decide on his next move after he leaves the brewer, which is affectionately known as the Caley and produces ales such as Deuchars IPA and 80 Shilling.

He said: “I guess they will not be far away from great beer and brewing. It just remains to wish the new leader and all those at Caledonian an exciting future.

“It’s been great fun, but I’ve probably done all I can do there. You’re only here once so it’s probably time to start doing some new things.”

The former professional cricketer joined the Caley in 1993 and became managing director in 2001, when the firm was owned by a group of businessmen including Bill Crerar and Russell Sharp. They had rescued the brewery from potential closure in 1987, after previous owner Vaux decided to pull out of Scotland.

Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) took a stake in the business in 2004, and in May 2008 bought out the remaining 70 per cent. The same month saw the Slate-ford Road brewery become part of Heineken through the £7.8 billion takeover of S&N.

Chairman Keith Hogg said: “Stephen has successfully led the Caley through a significant period of change, and we will all be very sad to see him go. He has developed an excellent senior management team and has worked tirelessly to find new markets for our great beers.”

Crawley is also a former managing director of Harviestoun and remains a shareholder in the Alva-based micro-brewer. He teamed up with Donald MacDonald and Sandy Orr in 2008 to buy the maker of Bitter & Twisted and Schiehallion, which had been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Caledonian since 2006.