S&N closes landmark brewery

Scottish & Newcastle has announced the closure of its Berkshire brewery. The brewery, which was the largest in the UK when it opened in 1979, is thought to be contributing to overcapacity in the brewing industry. S&N’s operations director Stephen Glancey estimates that the brewery’s 7 million hectolitre capacity represents around 13.5% of the UK’s 52m hectolitre beer market.

The closure of the brewery will cost S&N £22m. This figure includes redundancy payments for the 362 people who will lose their jobs. S&N will also have to invest £15m in its other breweries, in order to increase production.
Once these costs have been absorbed, the UK brewer expects to make long-term savings of £13m a year, which will “enable it to remain competitive within the UK market”. The brewery will be shut by 2010.

Fionnuala Synnott, 13/02/08