THE owner of Tennent’s Lager has drafted in Scottish brewing and pubs veteran Ralph Findlay as its new chairman.

C&C Group has appointed Mr Findlay, the outgoing chief executive of Marston’s, as director and chair designate.

The Scot will join the board as a non-executive chairman on March 1, before succeeding Stewart Gilliland as chairman following the company’s annual meeting in July.

Mr Findlay has been chief executive of Marston’s since 2001, and will retire from that role in October. He guided the sale of the company’s brewing business into a £780 million joint venture with Carlsberg in May of last year.

He said: “It is an exciting time to be joining C&C and I am very much looking forward to working with the Board and the wider team.

"C&C has iconic brands and a market leading distribution capability in the UK and Ireland. I am pleased to have the opportunity to play a role in driving the future success of the business for all our stakeholders including customers, consumers and shareholders.”