SCOTTISH & Newcastle, the brewer behind Foster's and Kronenbourg 1664, is expected to cut a number of jobs in a major restructuring of its UK sales team.
The brewer, which was bought by Heineken last January in a £3.6bn deal, employs about 500 staff in its on-trade team who sell into bars, clubs and restaurants.
A spokesman said that the changes were being carried out to ensure that the firm has t
he right structure in place to respond to the "changing dynamics of the UK marketplace in 2009 and beyond".
The news comes at a crippling time for the UK brewing industry. Beer margins in the UK market are at their lowest level for years, with some analysts speculating about the onset of a price war.
This month Britain's biggest high-street pub chain, JD Wetherspoon, announced it would cut the price of a pint of beer to levels not seen since 1989. It now sells a pint of Greene King IPA and a bottle of San Miguel premium lager for just 99p.
The British Beer & Pub Association, representing pub companies, claims pub closures are running at 36 a week. Next month S&N will increase its wholesale beer prices by 5.74% as a result of "unprecedented" hikes in production and material costs.
The spokesman for S&N said the new structure, if implemented, would result in fewer posts than was currently the case but that new jobs in the customer service area would be created.
He said: "We can confirm that we have carried out a review of S&N's on-trade business to ensure that we have the right structure in place to respond to the changing dynamics of the UK marketplace in 2009 and beyond.
"As a result of this review, a number of changes to S&N's on-trade structure have been proposed and briefed to our employees today and a consultation process will now begin.
"It is very much business as usual and these changes will not affect our customers in any way."
