United Kingdom: S&N UK to become Heineken UK by the end of the year

Scottish and Newcastle UK will begin trading under the name of Heineken UK by the end of the year, Brewers’ Guardian reported on May, 22.

The change will come in the final quarter of the year, a spokesman for the brewer confirmed, and will mark the final abandonment of the S&N name, which dates back to the 1960 merger of the Scottish and Newcastle Breweries.

The spokesman for the brewer, which announced the shock departure of managing director Jeremy Blood this week, said the name change will result in no operational changes at S&N UK.

News of Blood’s decision to quit his post came as a “bolt from the blue”, the spokesman added and he reiterated earlier statements that put the departure down to “personal reasons”.

Heineken and Carlsberg carved up the S&N empire between themselves last year following the joint buyout of the British multinational for £7.8 billion. Heineken took over much of S&N’s western European operations and its 37.5% stake in India’s United Breweries, while the key lure for Carlsberg was the remaining 50% in Russian market leader Baltika Breweries.

27 May, 2009