Dear BrewDog Haters, I am addressing this open letter not to everyone who has said critical things about BrewDog over the years, but to the small group of individuals who seem to have made it their life’s work to take down our company. For over two years now, you have attacked every aspect of our company and my leadership. It hurt. A lot. Our amazing team have poured their heart and soul into building a brilliant business and to have that subjected to a vicious campaign of lies is hard to take. So much of what you have claimed about our business is untrue, unfair or grossly distorted. It all nearly killed us. But not quite. In fact, it may have made us stronger. Today, I am writing to share some news. This is one of the most important moments in our history. BrewDog has been judged as one of the Sunday Times Best Places To Work in the UK. These awards are judged exclusively on the views of the fantastic people who work from BrewDog. It is based on an anonymous companywide employee survey which is conducted anonymously by the Sunday Times’s partners WorkL, who are experts in employee experience. The survey covers empowerment, reward and recognition, job satisfaction, information sharing, wellbeing and instilling pride. To qualify, at least 50 per cent of the workforce need to complete the survey. We may not have always been perfect. Like any company we don’t always get things right and a fast-paced high growth company is definitely not an environment for everyone. But we have always been fully committed to trying to always doing the best we can by our people, from payingour commitment to the Real Living Wage to our unique companywide profit share scheme; and from the £100m of equity that I gave to our team to amazing signature benefits like pawternity leave. And we We continue to invest in our governance, our team’s development, mental health support, progression opportunities and our employee ownership program. We are determined to continue to improve every element of what we do. But as for today, I could not be prouder of the 3000 crew members across our offices, breweries and bars. They make BrewDog what it is today – a business that is continuing to grow, continuing to expand into new markets, continuing to challenge the giants of the beer industry, continuing to make people passionate about craft beer. And a business that is determined to be the best employer it possibly can be – today is a significant step in our journey towards that ambition.
do awards like these count when you have to *pay* to enter? 😂 but anyway - this isn't really the statement you think it is. they aren't "brewdog haters", they aren't people who have "tried to take down your company" they are... 👉 female bartenders who have been made to feel uncomfortable and powerless 👉 female bartenders advised on how to avoid YOUR unwelcome attention 👉 managers trying to schedule certain female staff to be off to avoid YOUR visits alongside that, you have created... 👉 a culture of fear SO bad that over one HUNDRED staff signed an open letter detailing the toxicity but hey, you won a meaningless award and completely disregarded the feelings and experiences of ex-employees and safety of women! congrats mate 🤝
I’m an ex-employee who loved my time in the International team, has no bad feelings about my role, management, or my redundancy which was handled effectively. Having BrewDog & the experiences I gained there on my CV has helped me start my agency. I 100% agree with you - the fast paced environment isn’t for everyone. And that’s ok! Great news on the award. And I also loved the Stephen Bartlet interview 🫶🏼
That's validation right there James, very well done. Although in no way at all a hater I did fall out of love a bit with BD when that other open letter, this time from your staff, came out. But since the hands were held up, and more importantly actions were done to rectify, this is what happens, you get to a strong place. Quite possibly you wouldn't have got into this list if that employee open letter didn't come out and things carried out as per normal. Nothing like stepping up in the right way and showing those that are against you wrong. Very well done to you and your team, bravo 🤛
I spoke to one of your people recently. He doesn't want to leave, but for family reasons he must relocate. His experience is that working for BrewDog is tough and the pace unrelenting - BUT.... It's taught him so much. He's better equipped to make quick decisions and understand if it worked, or didn't, and move from there. He knows BrewDog took a chance on him. It's always challenged him, but he's very grateful for the experience and knows it will stand him in good stead. I know he's a sample of just one. I don't think every day was a joy, but it was never wasted either. His loyalty was powerful. The way he spoke, I suspect his experience was something shared in your organisation. I thought you'd like to know.
Will there be some form of celebratory beer tie in to mark this occasion?
Resilience at it's best! Winston Churchill said - "Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense"
Building a business is tough enough but when your business grows at the speed your one does, no wonder you get so many differing opinions. Building a business you are proud of will never come easy, the people who join on your journey will need attributes to help with this. The ones that care and have the attributes to be on team brewdog clearly answered your WorkL survey with the same feelings as you have for your business. Well done James Watt from Alto another company recognised in Sunday Times best places to work 2023 list. PS there are 2 other businesses in the North East that made the list and were highly commended for diversity in the workplace Sheryl Newman - SharePoint Appetite for Business Microsoft 365 provider Donna McWilliams Electra Learning | Change Management and Learning Specialists #goaberdeenshire #goaberdeen #proud #bestplacestowork2023 #celebrate
Great post and if you ask me, an example of true authentic leadership. It is inspiring to see the BrewDog journey but even more inspiring to see how you listened to your employees and your critics and took action to overcome those challenges - not every company or business leader does so for that, I applaud you and congratulations on the award and recognition 🌟👏
Managing Consultant at Wigginton International Consulting
2yI never understood why everybody had such a problem with you James or Brewdog. The fact is you interrupted a market that at the time was dominated by poor quality highly chemical beers with good quality real ales. Yes, you've made some mistakes but building a company from a garage to the company today, it is always likely that something would go wrong. But every time something has happen you have OWNED YOUR MISTAKES rather than shifting the blame. Good Luck in the Future AND OPEN A BAR IN TORONTO!!!!!!!