End of an era as Heineken ditches famous S&N name

ONE of Edinburgh's most famous names in brewing is to be consigned to history.

Edinburgh-based Scottish & Newcastle UK is to be renamed as Heineken UK, its Dutch owner has confirmed.

The name S&N was used since 1960, when Scottish Brewers merged with Newcastle Breweries.

It went on to become Britain's biggest independent brewer but its brewing presence in Edinburgh declined, with the Fountain Brewery closing its doors in 2005. Heineken bought S&N early last year and initially renamed it S&N UK.

The change to Heineken UK will not impact its 1,000 staff in the Lothians and its UK headquarters will remain at South Gyle, where about 800 staff are based.

Stefan Orlowski, S&N UK's managing director, said: "Over the past 18 months we've been working together to integrate S&N UK into the wider Heineken business. What was clear is that the two businesses shared very similar values and beliefs.

"Now that we have successfully completed our integration, we would like our name to reflect our vision of working together and to embrace our position within the wider Heineken Group."