{"id":631408,"date":"2026-09-29T20:24:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T20:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/631408\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T20:24:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T20:24:11","slug":"give-brewdog-second-chance-says-new-owner-as-it-invests-50m-brewdog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/631408\/","title":{"rendered":"Give BrewDog \u2018second chance\u2019 says new owner as it invests \u00a350m | BrewDog"},"content":{"rendered":"

BrewDog\u2019s new owner has urged drinkers to give the ailing brand \u201ca second chance\u201d as it invests more than \u00a350m in improving the company\u2019s beers, pubs and working conditions.<\/p>\n

The US cannabis and drinks company Tilray bought BrewDog for \u00a333m in March<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Some staff accused Watt in 2021 of fostering a \u201ctoxic work culture<\/a>\u201d. He apologised for some of his conduct and left the company in 2024.<\/p>\n

Tilray\u2019s chief executive, Irwin Simon, said it was listening to BrewDog\u2019s customers and staff and had increased pay this year.<\/p>\n

He said Tilray was working on the launch of new beers while investing in the company\u2019s brewery in Aberdeenshire to improve the quality and reliability of existing lines, adding that more than \u00a31m of beer that did not meet quality standards had been thrown away.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s closed distillery business if it felt there was a sufficient market in the UK.<\/p>\n

Administrators said earlier this month that creditors owed about \u00a3190m by the collapsed \u201cpunk\u201d brewer would not be paid back in full<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n

Its deal in March to buy BrewDog\u2019s brand, intellectual property, UK breweries and 11 bars rendered the shares of more than 200,000 crowdfunding investors worthless<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, these \u201cequity punks\u201d continue to receive benefits, including discounted beer, and some were invited along to ask questions at a relaunch of the brand on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

One asked why BrewDog beers could not be as cheap as a \u00a32 Bud Light in Wetherspoons. Simon said its craft beers would never be that cheap but added: \u201cWe deserve a second chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking from BrewDog\u2019s giant bar in Waterloo, central London, with music blaring in the background, the American said: \u201cWe are different. We are not a big company like [Budweiser maker] Anheuser-Busch. We are entrepreneurial, nimble and want to connect to consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n

March\u2019s deal only included 11 of BrewDog\u2019s 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 \u201cA locations\u201d and not the \u201cBCD locations\u201d that BrewDog\u2019s owners had previously considered.<\/p>\n

He said BrewDog could bounce back from the negative publicity it suffered under Watt\u2019s leadership and return to the annual sales of \u00a3350m a year, up from about \u00a3225m at present, and become profitable again with the right support. He believes it could be worth as much as \u00a32bn in the future.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe name of the brand is BrewDog; it is not anyone\u2019s name,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is not about one person; it is about a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before a new ad campaign launching next week based around the slogan \u201cchoose craft\u201d, Simon said: \u201cWhat we have to do is perform. What we have to do is what we\u2019re doing here today. Bringing people together and launching campaigns and doing what we say we\u2019re going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week the new owners launched an ad campaign that appeared to take shots at Watt, with lines including: \u201cNo More Cunning Stunts. Just Great Beer\u201d alongside an image of its Punk IPA and \u201cA Little Less Allegation\u201d alongside its Elvis Juice.<\/p>\n

Tilray also published a letter outlining its commitment to BrewDog\u2019s future, saying that under its ownership BrewDog would have \u201csensible working practices, community initiatives and a people-first approach\u201d.<\/p>\n

It said: \u201cWe\u2019re going to take good care of this beloved Scottish craft beer business.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company has also introduced 24 Tilray-owned American craft beers into BrewDog bars and is planning to produce some of those at BrewDog\u2019s brewery in Scotland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BrewDog\u2019s new owner has urged drinkers to give the ailing brand \u201ca second chance\u201d as it invests more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[114,85,46],"class_list":["post-631408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}