More than 100 jobs go as Tennent's Lager owner buys Innis & Gunn

At the same time, drinks giant C&C Group announced it had acquired the Innis & Gunn brand and associated global intellectual property from the administrators in a pre-pack deal worth £4.5 million.

C&C had been a small minority shareholder and brewing partner of Innis & Gunn for a number of years. The company has been brewing Innis & Gunn under contract at the Tennent’s Wellpark Brewery in the east end of Glasgow since 2010.

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Dougal Sharp, who founded Innis & Gunn in 2003, said: “Today is a very difficult day, first and foremost for the brilliant people who have worked so hard to build Innis & Gunn over the past 23 years. I’m immensely proud of everything our team achieved together, creating a distinctive Scottish beer brand enjoyed by customers at home and around the world.

 "I’m deeply sorry to everyone affected - particularly my colleagues who have lost their jobs and the shareholders who believed in what we were building. It’s been a bruising process for everyone. 

"While this outcome is not what any of us hoped for, I’m glad the brand has found a home with C&C Group. We’ve worked closely with the team for many years and they have the scale, distribution and experience to take Innis & Gunn forward.

"Despite today’s news, I remain incredibly proud of the brand, the beer and the community that grew around it. I truly hope the next chapter allows Innis & Gunn to fulfil the potential we always believed it had.”

The collapse of Innis & Gunn into administration underlines the struggles of the craft brewing sector in recent years as operating costs for brewers and pubs have soared. Only last month, Mr Sharp declared in The Herald that the “£10 pint will be a fixture of pubs across the country” given the relentless pressure on costs.

Innis & Gunn had gradually reduced its portfolio of taprooms across the country in recent years to three, located in Glasgow and Edinburgh. All 105 staff at the three pubs and the Inveralmond Brewery in Perth, which Innis & Gunn acquired in 2016, have been made redundant.

Mr Sharp, who began his brewing career at Edinburgh’s Caledonian Brewery 40 years ago, said last month: “In my four decades in brewing and pubs, I’ve never known it to be tougher. Hundreds of pubs are being forced to close every year across the UK, taking thousands of jobs with them.

“While this is often dismissed as a consequence of ‘market forces’, the reality is far more damaging. Each closure represents lost connections, lost social interaction, and the erosion of community life.”

The collapse of Innis & Gunn came in the same week fellow Scottish brewer and bar firm BrewDog was acquired out of administration by US firm Tilray for £33m in a pre-pack deal. Some 38 BrewDog bars were closed and 484 staff were made redundant after it fell into administration, with Tilray acquiring just 11 pubs as well as the brewery in Aberdeenshire.

The most recent accounts for Innis & Gunn show the company made a loss before tax of £982,000 in the year ended March 31, 2025, following a loss of £23.68m the year before. Turnover dropped in the period to £23.6m from £29m.

Dublin-based C&C said in a statement that the deal “represents an attractive opportunity for the group to further broaden its branded portfolio with a premium well-established brand”.

“The integration of Innis & Gunn into the group is expected to present a very low execution risk, with the brand being fully absorbed into the group’s existing operational, commercial and supply chain infrastructure,” the statement added. “As a result, the board anticipates a rapid operational transition and minimal disruption to the business.”

Roger White, chief executive of C&C, said: “We have worked with Innis & Gunn for many years and whilst it’s under difficult circumstances, we are delighted to bring the brand fully into our portfolio. This is a compelling and highly synergistic opportunity to save a well-loved brand for which we currently brew most of the product.

“Our existing brewing and route-to-market platform allows us to integrate the brand effectively and quickly, supporting the ongoing supply of products to customers and consumers. We expect this acquisition to make a small positive contribution to our overall financial performance in FY27.”