Innis & Gunn has acquired the Inveralmond Brewery in Perth, Scotland, and has also secured a Glasgow site for its next Beer Kitchen.
The acquisition, funded by the company’s £3.1m Beer Bond, will be followed by investment to create a brewing and maturation facility for Innis & Gunn. The facility will be renamed the Innis & Gunn Inveralmond Brewery.
Meanwhile, the company is gearing up to open its third Beer Kitchen. It already operates the concept in Edinburgh and Dundee, through a joint venture with G1 Group, and MCA understands the companies have now reached an agreement on a Glasgow venue. One more Scottish opening is planned this year before Innis & Gunn rolls the concept out nationally from next year.
The Inveralmond brewing team will remain unaffected by the acquisition.
Dougal Gunn Sharp, founder and master brewer at Innis & Gunn, said: “As we searched for a site for our new brewery, it became clear there was an opportunity to combine the strengths of both businesses and for us to acquire their brewery and brands. Taking over an already fantastic brewery gives us a rolling start in the development of our new state-of-the-art equipment and processes, meaning we can grow much faster than if we started from scratch. It means we’ve avoided a lot of the red tape and planning issues around building a site from the ground up and we can concentrate on what we do best – brewing beer.”
Fergus Clark, founder and managing director at Inveralmond, said: “To me this feels like a real win-win. Our Inveralmond beers will gain access to a sales and distribution infrastructure that will massively accelerate the growth of our beers both at home and Internationally, while at the same time Innis & Gunn gets the brewery they want 18 months earlier than if they had to build it themselves. We are really looking forward to starting to brew Innis & Gunn beers on site and seeing where this exciting stage of our combined development will lead.”
