Innis & Gunn strengthens board

Scottish brewer Innis & Gunn has boosted its leadership team, after receiving a £15 million cash injection from private equity group L Catterton.

UK director of sales Crawford Sinclair has been promoted to Innis & Gunn’s board of directors

The company has promoted its UK director of sales Crawford Sinclair to the board of directors, and appointed two of the L Catterton team, partner Jean-Philippe Barade and investment director Caroline Folleas.

Sinclair, who has been with the company since 2010, after joining as European Director of sales, from Marstons Beer, said he was excited by the company’s ‘hugely exciting” ambition to grow the business and his goal was to strengthen the brewery’s position in the UK market, which already accounted for around half of Innis & Gunn global sales.

Meanwhile, Barade and Folleas are set to boost the international sales of the company, Tony Hunt, chairman of Innis & Gunn said.

“Jean-Philippe and Caroline bring to our board L Catterton’s enormous experience of successfully building consumer brands, in the UK and overseas and their expertise will help us to accelerate the growth of the brand internationally,” he said.

It follows a £15 million deal last month, which saw L Catterton secure a 27.9% stake in the business.

Founder and master brewer Dougal Gunn Sharp, who remains the largest shareholder, said the deal marked a pivotal time for the business and would bring L Catterton’s “unparalleled expertise in brand building and understanding of global consumer markets” to the table.

“This is a huge opportunity at the right time for us to build strongly on the solid foundations that have been laid to double our 2015 turnover by 2018,” he said. “Innovation and quality have been at the heart of Innis & Gunn’s success since day one, and this continues to drive us forward as we look to 2018 and beyond.”

Earlier this year, the brewery reported it was expanding eastward, having signed a distribution deal with Dxcel International to export its beers to China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. It is also expanding its craft-beer based restaurant brand, Beer Kitchens, from four (in Edinburgh, Dundee, St Andrews and Glasgow) with plans to roll these out across cites in the UK as well as internationally.

In August, the Scottish brewer announced profits rose by 22% in 2016, following an “outstanding” year, confirming it is on track to meet its turnover goal of around £25 million by 2018.

The group raised £2.5 million in an equity crowdfunding campaign in November 2016, bringing in over 2,000 new shareholders.