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Rumours that St Petersburg-based entrepreneur Sean Henry might be interested in taking over Arran Brewery are unfounded.
Mr Henry, formerly of Arran and owner and developer of the Douglas Hotel in Brodick, told the Banner he had considered the move but had decided against it.
The brewery, set up at Cladach in 2000 by Richard and Elisabeth Roberts, called in the administrators on May 8.
The deadline for bids for the business was Monday. However, no one at administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) was available for comment about this.
A closed sign has now been put up at the brewery shop door as well as information about the brewery going into administration.
The notice, from Elisabeth Roberts, states that the shop and visitor centre would not be open as previously and that a few staff were being retained.
Sean Henry said this week: ‘I had thought about buying the brewery. It is a very nice premium product but the bottles will be expensive to produce,’ he said.
News that the brewery was in trouble has sparked a lot of interest in the press and in the Publican PwC described it as a ‘niche’ business which would have an appeal to certain people in the licensed sector.
Graham Martin, of PwC, stated that the brewery had been hit with rising bottling, transport and distribution costs and needed a little more capital to take it to the next level. He would take the best offer for the business.
At the time that it went into administration the brewery employed 11. Almost from its opening in 2000 it began winning awards for its hugely popular beers which include Arran Blonde and Arran Dark.
