Guinness closes UK brewery

THE brewing of Guinness in Britain is to cease after almost 70 years with the decision to close the company’s north-west London plant and move production back to Dublin, the drinks giant Diageo announced yesterday.

About 90 jobs will be lost with the closure of the Park Royal brewery in Brent, where the famous stout has been brewed since 1936.

Diageo said it had decided to consolidate production for the whole of the UK at the company’s historic St James’s Gate brewery in Dublin.

About four million kegs of Guinness a year are produced at the Park Royal brewery. The Dublin plant brews about eight million kegs of Guinness a year for distribution to markets including Europe and the US.

The closure is due to take place in the summer of 2005.

Gerry O’Hagan, of Diageo UK and Ireland, said: "A major review has shown that the best option would be to consolidate our production for the GB market into Ireland. Sadly, around 90 Diageo jobs would be lost at Park Royal."