Pring: S&N deal is good for pubs

Sad though it is to lose Britain's last home-grown global brewer, there are many positives to be drawn from the takeover last week of Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) by Heineken and Carlsberg.

Number one is that beer and Britain are not dirty words in the minds of two great rival brewers and their shareholders.

In this country, we've got so used to hearing only negative things about beer in recent times - declining market, old-fashioned image, commodity pricing, and so on - that it's highly refreshing to see giant brewers desperate to get hold of S&N's portfolio.

And all the more surprising given the credit crunch has halted many other major deals dead in their tracks.

Admittedly, much of S&N's attraction lay in its Russian joint venture, Baltic Beverages Holding.

But Heineken, which will now run S&N's UK business, is convinced there is much to play for in our pubs and is relishing the opportunity to bring the combined strengths of the two teams together and grow market share.

Mature market​

To Heineken, "mature market", which the UK obviously is, does not mean "dying market", which has for so long been the view of many commentators.

Of course, Heineken's own brands will be at the forefront of its push. The progress to date of its higher-strength imported beers has been steady and will accelerate dramatically.

But the old S&N portfolio of brands will also receive a boost, and licensees can look forward to much promotional support as Heineken sets about its new task.

All eyes will be on Kronenbourg, a rival surely to Heineken's leading brand, which is now to be leased from Carlsberg for 50 years and handled alongside its new lagers. How this pans out, we shall just have to wait and see. Similar patience will be necessary before we learn how Heineken treats WaverleyTBS, and what it does with cider.

Licensees, still reeling from the current round of beer price rises, will be looking to Heineken to help them put some real value back into beer. S&N was always highly rated by its customers, so Heineken has a great platform to build on. And if beer's sinking figures are to be halted, build they must.

St George's Day​

St George's Day is just over 11 weeks away but it's never too soon to start planning for making this one of the biggest pub days of the year. Just imagine how a clever and cheeky marketing campaign could really put smiles on the faces of down-in-the-dumps consumers, fed up with the miseries of modern Britain. The MA is determined to make 23 April as big as 17 March. Let's go for it.