SCOTTISH craft brewer and retailer Innis & Gunn has today submitted an application for planning permission for its major new brewery at Heriot-Watt University’s Research Park to the west of Edinburgh.
When completed it will be the first major brewery to be opened in Edinburgh for 150 years.
The partnership is the UK’s first major collaboration of this type between a full-scale brewery and a university and will create a world-centre for brewing studies and applied learning.
The project will create up to 30 new jobs and see the brand’s 45 office-based staff relocate from its head office in Edinburgh’s Randolph Crescent.
The brewery will include a high-speed canning and bottling line and will enable the company to consolidate all currently outsourced production under one roof.
By installing modern equipment and technology the project will reduce Innis & Gunn’s carbon footprint by up to 30%.
Dougal Gunn Sharp, Innis & Gunn’s founder and master brewer said: “I am excited that today we submit our planning application. In normal times we would expect this process to take three or four months. However, because of the COVID-19 situation we are not able to say how long this stage might take.
“Building our own brewery will bring a raft of benefits to the business. It will allow us to take control of our currently outsourced operations, expand our team and grow our production to meet the needs of our customers.
“On top of that, the Heriot-Watt partnership means their International Centre for Brewing & Distilling students will gain hands-on experience across all aspects of brewing operations in a large-scale production brewery.”
