E-Malt.com News article: 1284

The largest brewery in Europe, Scottish & Newcastle, after a review of its supply chain operations, has expressed its concern over its partnership with Hays. Hays has worked with S&N on its beer transportation business for the past ten years but the expected cost savings and productivity improvements have yet to materialize. Termination of the contract has not been ruled out. Hays is currently looking to offload its logistics business but this very public tiff will not help its cause, Datamonitor reported. Scottish & Newcastle has said that is in "intensive talks" with Hays, its national beer distribution contractor, regarding the performance of the partnership.

The talks follow a series of problems and mishaps after the pair increased the scope of their relationship from simple transportation operations to a greater value contract including supply chain management. The publicity surrounding the poor performance of the partnership will hurt Hays and further dent the reputation of its logistics operations. Many logistics managers that have taken the step to out-source a wide range of operations are taking measures to bring these operations back in-house again.

Scottish & Newcastle is the largest brewery in Europe, and one of the top ten brewers in the world. In the fiscal year ended April 2002, revenues totaled just over $6 billion, a slight decrease of 3.5% from the previous year. Scottish & Newcastle owns and operates approximately 1500 public houses. The company operates 14 breweries in the UK, Ireland, France and Belgium and also operates an international division. The group produces beer across Europe and in addition it runs a pub, bar and restaurant operator, Scottish & Newcastle retail. Scottish & Newcastle is headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland.


07 July, 2003