US cannabis and drinks firm Tilray, which took over in March, says it will improve beers, pubs and working conditions
BrewDog’s new owner has urged drinkers to give the ailing brand “a second chance” as it invests more than £50m in improving the company’s beers, pubs and working conditions.
The US cannabis and drinks company Tilray bought BrewDog for £33m in March this year, after the company collapsed into administration after five years of losses and a series of controversies relating to the treatment of workers under the founder James Watt.
Some staff accused Watt in 2021 of fostering a “toxic work culture”. He apologised for some of his conduct and left the company in 2024.
Tilray’s chief executive, Irwin Simon, said it was listening to BrewDog’s customers and staff and had increased pay this year.
He said Tilray was working on the launch of new beers while investing in the company’s brewery in Aberdeenshire to improve the quality and reliability of existing lines, adding that more than £1m of beer that did not meet quality standards had been thrown away.
Simon said Tilray was a long-term investor that aimed to grow the company and was also considering buying additional British craft beers for its portfolio. He said Tilray may also consider reviving BrewDog’s closed distillery business if it felt there was a sufficient market in the UK.
Administrators said earlier this month that creditors owed about £190m by the collapsed “punk” brewer would not be paid back in full. However, it is understood that Tilray has picked up the bill on some key suppliers in order to ensure continuity on items such as ingredients.
Its deal in March to buy BrewDog’s brand, intellectual property, UK breweries and 11 bars rendered the shares of more than 200,000 crowdfunding investors worthless.
However, these “equity punks” continue to receive benefits, including discounted beer, and some were invited along to ask questions at a relaunch of the brand on Tuesday.
One asked why BrewDog beers could not be as cheap as a £2 Bud Light in Wetherspoons. Simon said its craft beers would never be that cheap but added: “We deserve a second chance.”
Speaking from BrewDog’s giant bar in Waterloo, central London, with music blaring in the background, the American said: “We are different. We are not a big company like [Budweiser maker] Anheuser-Busch. We are entrepreneurial, nimble and want to connect to consumers.”
March’s deal only included 11 of BrewDog’s chain of bars, with 38 closing and 440 staff losing their jobs. Tilray has since reopened five of those bars and Simon said it was hoping to open more but he said he would only do so in “A locations” and not the “BCD locations” that BrewDog’s owners had previously considered.
He said BrewDog could bounce back from the negative publicity it suffered under Watt’s leadership and return to the annual sales of £350m a year, up from about £225m at present, and become profitable again with the right support. He believes it could be worth as much as £2bn in the future.
“The name of the brand is BrewDog; it is not anyone’s name,” he said. “It is not about one person; it is about a team.”
Before a new ad campaign launching next week based around the slogan “choose craft”, Simon said: “What we have to do is perform. What we have to do is what we’re doing here today. Bringing people together and launching campaigns and doing what we say we’re going to do.”
Last week the new owners launched an ad campaign that appeared to take shots at Watt, with lines including: “No More Cunning Stunts. Just Great Beer” alongside an image of its Punk IPA and “A Little Less Allegation” alongside its Elvis Juice.
Tilray also published a letter outlining its commitment to BrewDog’s future, saying that under its ownership BrewDog would have “sensible working practices, community initiatives and a people-first approach”.
It said: “We’re going to take good care of this beloved Scottish craft beer business.”
The company has also introduced 24 Tilray-owned American craft beers into BrewDog bars and is planning to produce some of those at BrewDog’s brewery in Scotland.
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