Fuller’s appoints interim finance director: London brewer and retailer Fuller’s has appointed Deborah Stevenson as interim finance director with effect from Monday (19 November). As a result James Douglas, who announced in September he would leave the company, has stepped down as finance director and from the board a few weeks earlier than planned. Fuller’s stated: “Deborah Stevenson is a qualified chartered accountant and corporate treasurer with two decades’ experience in senior financial roles, generally at chief financial officer level. She has worked in a broad array of sectors, including global manufacturing, logistics, publishing, asset management and business services. James Douglas announced his decision to step down in September as he and his family are moving to Germany, where his wife, Dr Anke Hoeffler, has been awarded a prestigious Humboldt Professorship. He leaves a well-established and extremely proficient finance team behind him, which will support Deborah in her interim role. James leaves with the board’s best wishes and thanks for his contribution over the past 11 years. The search for a permanent replacement is under way and progressing well. We look forward to updating shareholders in due course.”

Boxpark Wembley signs nine more brands: Boxpark Wembley has signed nine more brands ahead of its launch on Saturday, 8 December. The traders are Boki (artisan coffee), TapaVino (tapas), Wolf (Italian street food), Gabagools (New York-style subs), Oatopia (flapjacks), Bombay Burrito (fusion), Hola Guacamole (Mexican street food), Zucla (noodles) and Mama Jacq’s (Caribbean). It will be a sixth venue for Wolf, which has two outlets in Reading, one each in Chiswick and Leeds and a venue opening in Manchester next week. The company also submitted plans in September to launch a restaurant in Nottingham. Boxpark Wembley will be a second venue for Boki, which operates a coffee shop in Covent Garden, and TapaVino, which offers authentic Iberian tapas at Lincoln Plaza, east London. Gabagools and Oatopia both opened debut sites in Boxpark Croydon, while Bombay Burrito offers Indian/Mexican burritos and bowls at its other venue, in Islington. Hola Guacamole, which launched at Camden Lock Market in 2013, will open its first permanent site, while Zucla focuses on Chinese, Malaysian and Indonesian cuisine from its restaurant near Fleet Street. Mama Jacq’s, which caters at events and offers Caribbean home cooking, will open its first bricks and mortar site. Boxpark retail director Agee Rose said: “The foodie line-up at Boxpark Wembley is nearly complete, with some of the finest offerings on the street food scene housed under one roof.” Boxpark Wembley will also offer 20,000 square feet of dedicated events space.

Innis & Gunn reveals Edinburgh brewery plans: Scottish brewer and retailer Innis & Gunn has revealed plans to build a large-scale brewery in Edinburgh. The growth of Innis & Gunn craft lager has doubled in the past two years, and the strong performance of the brand’s portfolio of IPAs and barrel-aged beers contributed in 2017 to the company’s 14th successive year of double-digit volume growth. The proposed site is likely to be in the Edinburgh area, subject to planning applications. Innis & Gunn’s core range would be produced at the new 400,000-hectolitre facility, while its brewery in Perthshire, which Innis & Gunn acquired when it purchased Inveralmond Brewery in 2016, would continue to brew the Inveralmond range of cask and bottled ale, which following a rebrand has seen 7% volume growth in the past 12 months. It would also focus on small-scale experimentation and limited edition, barrel-aged beer. The new brewery would also enable high-speed canning, bottling and kegging, and streamline several outsourced brewing and packaging sites to one location. It would also feature a taproom and visitors’ centre. Founder and master brewer Dougal Gunn Sharp said: “Building a brewery will cement our Edinburgh heritage and create a focal point for our beer in the capital. It will provide the brewing, packaging and warehousing capacity we need as we continue to strive to meet the surging demand for our lager. For me, putting the brewery in Edinburgh, where we first brewed Innis & Gunn, feels like we have come home as a business.” Innis & Gunn, which was founded in 2003, saw turnover grow 22% to £22.4m in 2017, while gross profit rose 19% to £10.1m and volumes grew 13%. The company aims to achieve turnover of £40m by 2021.