S&N marketing boss tipped for top role after takeover

Heineken NV, the brewer taking over Scottish & Newcastle, is tipped to appoint S&N UK marketing director Sarah Warby to the same role at the enlarged group.

Heineken and Carlsberg completed a joint takeover of the British brewer earlier this month.

The news will not come as a surprise to industry ex­perts, who have described the acquisition as a “reverse takeover” in the UK as S&N, with 27% market share, is much bigger than Heineken, which has just 1%.

It has already announced that S&N UK managing director Jeremy Blood will take on the same role at the merged business (MW.co.uk, April 29).

Blood will be based in Edinburgh, where Heineken has decided to locate its UK operating headquarters. He will report to Heineken’s regional president of Western Europe, Didier Debrosse.

The positions of the current Heineken UK marketing director Ian Newell and managing director David Forde remain unclear.

The appointment of Blood and Warby will mark the first phase of integration of the S&N business – which includes brands such as Bulmers, Kronenbourg 1664, Fosters and Strongbow – with Heineken.

Blood, who joined S&N in 1988 as a graduate trainee, has been managing director of the brewer since December 2007. Warby was made UK marketing director last summer and has been with the brewer since 2004. She was previously innovations director and replaced Tim Seager, who became managing director at S&N France.

S&N could not confirm the appointment of Warby.