Caledonian Brewery to close

There was sad news this morning that the last brewery in Edinburgh is set to close with the loss of 30 jobs. This would mean that there will be no brewers in Edinburgh pending the construction of the proposed new Innis and Gunn brewery at Heriot-Watt.

Commenting on the announcement local MP Joanna Cherry QC said:

"I am shocked to hear of these proposals by Heineken and the loss of skilled brewing jobs for the city is greatly concerning. Retaining brands by outsourcing production under licence to Bellhaven/Green King in East Lothian is no substitute for the loss of jobs and the heritage of brewing in Edinburgh. I am calling on the company to think again. Edinburgh has a proud history of brewing and a fantastic stream of highly qualified graduates from Heriot-Watt's international centre for Brewing and Distilling."

Heineken announced that they plan to close the Caledonian Brewery in Slateford with the potential loss of 30 jobs. The brewer has announced that they will enter a 30-day consultation on redundancies with staff and their trade union representatives. I have been in touch with Unite to offer my support and contacted Skills Development Scotland to ensure that early support from PACE will be offered. 

Heineken intends to enter into an agreement with Green King to brew their Caledonian brands, Deuchars, Coast to Coast and Maltsmiths IPA and Lager under licence at the Green King Belhaven brewery in Dunbar, East Lothian. 

The Heineken announcement explained that over the last decade, production of cask beer at Caledonian Brewery has steadily declined as they have evolved their portfolio and that the Victorian Caledonian brewery has significant inefficiencies and costs associated with operating the site, especially when the brewery is operating at lower capacity. To modernise the brewing operations, and meet their sustainability commitments would require considerable ongoing investment, and makes operating the brewery economically unviable.

The company go on to say that they have not taken the decision lightly and have spent considerable time exploring a number of options to address the challenges faced and to keep the brewery in operation, including looking for a buyer to take over the site and to continue to operate it as a brewery. But have been unable to find a viable option to sell the brewery as a going concern and the proposal now is to close the brewery.