Dunsmore looking ahead at possibility of new range

JOHN DUNSMORE was chief executive of Scottish & Newcastle until the joint acquisition by Heineken and Carlsberg in April.

He was chief executive since 2007, but from 1996 he held a variety of senior posts in Britain and other parts of western Europe.

In his briefing with the Irish press yesterday, Mr Dunsmore opened up the possibility of creating a market beyond cider for C&C, observing also that the group has a good spirits division that’s performing well.

But he also attempted to present a bigger picture.

Mr Dunsmore is already thinking of the possibility of a new product range in between cider and wine that offered in his view significant potential in the long term.

While Britain and Ireland are more identified with cider he thought that specific cities across Europe, rather than countries as such, offered good long-term potential for a new range of products.

He thought C&C unlucky with the weather in the case of its efforts to establish Magners in Britain. However, he argued that other ciders owned by S&N were not weather dependent, suggesting cider can be moved beyond the season perception that some have of it.

In that sense, Mr Dunsmore believes a bigger game plan exists for C&C over time for cider and associated products to be developed.

Having worked in Europe for a number of years he thinks the gap in between the cider and wine drinker offers the possibility of new drinks that can be developed over time.

Having spoken to C&C’s chairman over the past few weeks while the deal was being negotiated, Mr Dunsmore said that there exists within C&C “a lot of good ideas waiting to bubble up”.

Given the takeover of S&N and his being out of a job he said an “exceptional combination of circumstances” has resulted in his and his former colleagues taking on the helm at C&C.

Together they have invested €1.5m in the business and have stressed the long haul nature of the project.

Those who buy the shares hoping for a quick kill may be disappointed.