Lorimer & Clark Ltd Round Enamel

Lorimer & Clark Ltd enamel tray dating from the 1910s.

Origins of the Caledonian Brewery

In 1869 George Lorimer formed a partnership with brewer Robert Clark, and established the Caledonian Brewery on Slateford Road in Edinburgh.
In 1892 the brewery was rebuilt and maltings were installed.
Although the firm sold its beers and stouts throughout Scotland it most popular ale was Lorimer's Best Scotch which was sold predominantly in the north-east of England.
The Company expanded into West Scotland and North Eastern England and entered into a trading agreement with C.Vaux & Sons Ltd in 1919.
The Company was registered as Lorimer & Clark Ltd in 1920. C.Vaux & Sons Ltd held a two-thirds majority shareholding of the Company.

Vaux & Associated Breweries Ltd Takeover

When George Lorimer died in 1946, the Company was acquired outright by Vaux & Associated Breweries Ltd which chose to continue brewing at the site.
Vaux acquired Steel, Coulson & Co. Ltd of Glasgow and Edinburgh, and Thomas Usher & Son Ltd Park Brewery of Edinburgh in 1959, and John Wright & Co. Ltd of Perth in 1961.
Production was concentrated at the Caledonian Brewery and the Park Brewery.
When Vaux Breweries Ltd transferred all production to Sunderland in 1985, brewing ceased at the Caledonian Brewery.

The Modern Era

Under the threat of closure, the brewhouse was purchased by the Caledonian Brewery Co. Ltd, a management buy-out led by Head Brewer Russell Sharp in 1987.
Brewing recommenced in the old buildings but the new Company faced serious challenges when, in 1994, fire destroyed the original maltings, and in 1998 another fire destroyed the roof of the building.
In 2004 Scottish & Newcastle Breweries Ltd purchased a 30% share of the Company.
S&N contracted out its brewing to a newly reconstructed Caledonian Brewery Co. Ltd, at the Slateford Road site.
By 2008 S&N owned 100% of the business.
Heineken UK Ltd acquired Scottish & Newcastle Breweries Ltd in 2008. It continued to operate the Caledonian Brewery until 2022 when the last remaining Victorian Brewery was closed.

The manufacturer's mark states - Hancor Mitcham