Heineken cut nearly 15% of its UK workforce in 2009 as part of efforts to make its business in the country more profitable, the brewer has confirmed.

Heineken cut around 600 jobs in the UK last year, leaving it with a workforce of 3,800 in the country, a spokesperson for the brewer confirmed to just-drinks late Friday (26 February).

Cuts were made as the Netherlands-based brewer sought to integrate the UK business of Scottish & Newcastle (S&N), which Heineken acquired in 2008 as part of a GBP7.8bn (US$12bn) global takeover of S&N with Carlsberg. 

“They came from the winding down of the Berkshire Brewery (will close entirely next month), a restructuring of our UK sales force, closure of the Dunstan brewery and a scaling down of various back office functions (IT, finance),” said the spokesperson.

The moves helped Heineken to improve profitability in a tough UK beer market.

Heineken UK’s like-for-like earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) grew by 35% in the 12 months to the end of December, against the prior year. Synergies, cost cutting and lower purchasing prices boosted income, it said.

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Improvement in profitability in the UK came as Heineken reported that it outperformed the UK market in 2009.

Beer market volumes fell by 4% for the year, but Heineken’s were “only slightly down”, boosted by 2.6% volume growth for Foster’s lager, and the group gained market share, the firm said in its full-year results last week.

Heineken last week reported beer sales by volume down 5% for Western Europe in 2009, with global volume sales also down by 5%. Sluggish demand for beer is set to continue in 2010, it said. 

The brewer is one year in to a global, three-year cost savings programme, named Total Cost Management, and this will be a key focus for the group in 2010, it added.

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