ScotCo HQ moves
Scottish Courage, the UK brewing arm of Scottish & Newcastle, is moving out of its Fountain House headquarters near Fountainbridge, Edinburgh. The 200 staff will move to the company's Broadway Park office at South Gyle on the western outskirts of the city. Buyers for the 46,000sq ft Fountain House which could be worth up to £12m will be sought in the new year, an S&N spokesman said. Interbrew growth The largest brewery group in Germany will be created following the takeover by Interbrew of the Munich-based Spaten Brewery. The operation will give the new group an 11% share of the German beer market. An Interbrew spokesperson said it was too early to determine the impact of the deal on the group's UK business. Inn's a wine winner The Inn at Whitewell, Clitheroe, is the toast of UK drinkers after winning the Trophee Gosset Celebris for its outstanding wine lists. The Lancashire pub was praised for its excellent range and quality of Champagne. Another Lancashire pub, the Red Cat in Crank, came second. Honeycombe rise Pub operator Honeycombe Leisure had a "solid" start to the financial year, according to its AGM statement. Chairman Sandy Anderson said like-for-like sales for the first 20 weeks of 2003 were more than 3% up on last year, which included the weeks around the World Cup. Pugh joins Adnams Adnams, the Suffolk-basedpub and hotel group, has announced the appointment of Stephen Pugh as finance director. Pugh, who comes from finance magazine The Economist, joined the board on 9 September and will take over day-to-day running of the finance department from27 October. All Smiles Bristol-based brewer Smiles cut its losses by 43% to £176,000 for the year to 2 May. Turnover rose almost 8% to £1.6m, with sales volumes at 8,330 barrels "marginally ahead" of last year, the company said. Smiles' chairman Quentin Williams said the average gross margins, at 36%, had improved helped by reduced duty for small breweries across the whole year. BII backs Diageo The British Institute of Innkeeping has granted approval to Diageo to train hosts for the National Certificate for Licensees. From the end of September, the company will offer one-day courses, costing £140 plus VAT, at its new headquarters in London. Diageo's own NCL-qualified instructors will run the courses.
