UK: S&N's Jeremy Blood is new chief of Heineken UK

Jeremy Blood was confirmed as the new Edinburgh-based head of Heineken in the UK, Scotsman reported April 30.

The appointment, which had been expected, follows the Dutch brewer's formal takeover of Scottish & Newcastle. Blood was hitherto S&N's UK managing director.

Heineken, which bought S&N through a joint venture with Danish peer Carlsberg, said it had decided to locate its UK "operating headquarters" in Edinburgh, suggesting other S&N head office staff may be kept on.

Blood, who joined S&N in 1988 as a graduate trainee, has worked his way up through the company, holding a variety of marketing and strategy positions in both the beer and pub retail divisions.

Blood will report to Didier Debrosse, Heineken's president for Western Europe.

Heineken said it had reappointed the existing heads of the businesses acquired from S&N in Belgium, Finland and Portugal.

The changes mark the first phase of the integration of S&N – a process likely to take several months.

30 April, 2008