A battle for market share is set to intensify between takeover target Scottish & Newcastle and Dublin-based C&C, as the Irish company appoints a new manager in the UK in an effort to put the fizz back into its Magners brand.

C&C’s rebranding of this fermented apple drink as a trendy, premium-priced, luxury beverage was once seen as a marketing genius stroke. But that was in 2006, after one of the hottest summers on record and the drinking binge that accompanied England’s short-lived push for glory in the football World Cup. Such was its confidence that plans were announced to double capacity at its Clonmel crushing and fermenting factory in County Tipperary.