MIKE FOSTER must have a soft spot for Scottish & Newcastle. More than 14 years after his involvement in a failed bid for the brewer, he has returned.

Mr Foster was the UK face of Australian brewer Elders IXL, which counted Fosters among its beers.

As managing director of Elder's UK section Courage, he featured in the £1.6bn takeover attempt.

Interestingly, there was a belief in 1989 that a successful takeover by Courage would strengthen the long-term prospects of the Tyne Brewery. At the time, Courage proposed to move its northern headquarters to Newcastle.

Now, if analysts at Credit Suisse First Boston are to be believed, the brewery has a two-in-five chance of facing the axe after it predicted Edinburgh-based S&N would be forced to find cost savings.

Mr Foster had moved on before S&N turned the tables on the events of 1989 and bought Courage in 1995.

But news that Scottish Courage, S&N's UK operating division, had teamed up with Carlsberg-Tetley, brings Mr Foster's name back into the tale.

The two brewers launched a joint venture which they say will enable trouble-free pint-pulling for publicans.

They have created a one-stop shop for equipment used to transfer beer from cellar to pump, and with it, they have created a way for Mr Foster to rekindle his interest in S&N.

Because it is Foster, along with former Courage executive Nick Bryant, who will run the new independent company, Serviced Dispense Equipment, responsible for operating the new service.

Published: 03/02/2004