Beamish ‘to keep Cork base’

CORK brewery Beamish & Crawford, which employs 120 people, is likely to escape the latest cost-cutting drive by British parent Scottish & Newcastle.

The company declined to comment on British media reports yesterday that it planned to close two of its five British breweries, at Edinburgh and Newcastle, with the loss of 340 jobs.

Analyst Anthony Geard of Investec Securities in London said Beamish & Crawford was unlikely to be affected.

While the Cork plant is smaller than the two breweries short-listed for closure, Mr Geard said most of its output stayed within the Irish market.

Mr Geard said closing breweries to centralise production only made sense if distribution costs did not increase. Servicing the Irish market from a British base would be more expensive than the group’s current arrangements.

Beamish & Crawford saw a fresh €7 million investment in a new bottling facility in Cork last year.

It has also seen growth in a number of its brands, including Miller and Foster’s beers, while sales of its core Beamish stout have held up against a backdrop of an overall decline in alcohol sales in Irish pubs.

Mr Geard said the market expected some movement from the group on its cost base, but said there was little scope to strip out manufacturing capacity.

Scottish & Newcastle’s production is already near full-capacity in Britain, producing approximately 16 million hectolitres of beer each year. Total capacity is 17 million hectolitres.

The group could either outsource some of its production requirements, or close plants and reinvest in its remaining British operations in Yorkshire, Reading and Manchester.

Scottish & Newcastle management is scheduled to meet union representatives today to discuss future plans for the group, which was founded over 250 years ago. The group sold its British pubs division late last year for £2.5 billion (€3.6bn) following a decision to concentrate on its core brewing business. It recorded pre-tax profits of £316.3 million in the six months to October.