Fountain sale may raise £60m for S&N'

A Scottish newspaper has claimed Scottish & Newcastle could pick up a £60m windfall when it sells its Fountain Brewery site in Edinburgh to developers.

The brewery is set to close next month, a year after S&N revealed it would be switching production to the Caledonian brewery on Slateford Road in the city. The Fountainbridge site comprises eight acres of prime land next to the Union canal, at the centre of a major redevelopment that has already seen new waterside flats, offices and restaurants.

The Edinburgh Evening News reports that local property experts claim the S&N site could be worth up to £60m. Among those reported to be interested in the Fountainbridge site is Edinburgh Quay Limited, a joint venture between Miller Developments and British Waterways, which has created the nearby Edinburgh Quay development.

The closure of Fountainbridge has taken a year because production has moved across in stages to the Caledonian site as investment has taken place to double production.

A spokesman for S&N said: "A skeleton team of 12 remains at Fountainbridge and we estimate the final transfer will occur around the middle of next month.

"Any calculation (of the value of the Fountainbridge site) at this stage is highly speculative. The value of the site will depend on the planning consent that goes with it.

"We are currently in discussions with the Edinburgh Council planning department regarding future options for the site and we cannot even begin a tender process for development until negotiations with the city planners have been concluded."