Unite fury at BrewDog’s treatment of staff as 38 bars close and 484 jobs are lost amidst company sale

Hundreds of people have been made redundant and dozens of bars have closed after craft beer company BrewDog went into administration on Monday.

US beverage and medical cannabis company Tilray has bought the company’s UK brewing operations, brand and 11 pubs in a £33m deal.

Administrators said the sale had preserved 733 jobs – but that 484 jobs had been lost and 38 bars had closed after they were not included in the rescue deal.

Aberdeenshire-based Brewdog announced last month that consultants AlixPartners had been brought in after the firm failed to make a profit in recent years. On Monday, they were appointed as administrators.

AlixPartners said there had been “significant interest” in the company but that it had not received any offer which would have preserved Brewdog in its entirety.

All BrewDog bars were closed on Monday to enable staff to attend staff meetings, and online sales were temporarily suspended.

Unite, which represents thousands of hospitality workers, said it was was a “devastating day” and pledged to secure “legal and financial justice” for its members. The union, which represents thousands of hospitality workers including many BrewDog workers, has reacted with anger to the manner in which workers have been treated, as a result of the company’s “rescue” sale to Tilray.

No warning

The workers were informed on a hastily arranged conference call that the sale would result in 38 bars closing and the loss of 484 jobs, some with immediate effect. To add insult to injury Tillray and the media were informed of the sale and job cuts before the workers were told.

Workers deserved respect says Unite General Secretary

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said:

This is a devastating day for BrewDog workers. Nearly 500 lost livelihoods while yet another corporate deal is stitched together behind closed doors.

BrewDog workers built this brand. They deserved respect. Instead, they were treated as disposable pawns. Unite will not rest until our members have legal and financial justice.

A Unite Press Release continued: “Companies have a legal duty to consult their workers on redundancies. Giving workers a 25-minute warning of a conference call where vital questions about pay and redundancies were not answered, is not consultation. Unite will be demanding urgent answers from both Brew Dog and Tilray on unpaid wages, full transparency around the sale process, and it will be seeking the best possible redundancy terms for every affected worker.”

Immediate job cuts

Unite national lead for hospitality Bryan Simpson said:

The way in which senior management have conducted themselves throughout this sales process has been nothing short of a national disgrace – with workers being given no information about the company’s plans or their futures.

For the CEO to tell workers that they were redundant with immediate effect, on a conference call with only 25 minutes notice, has echoes of P&O and is deplorable. Unite will be ensuring that our members receive everything they are legally entitled to.

Tilray will take control of Brewdog facilities including its brewery in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, and The Hop Hub, a national distribution centre in Motherwell, Lanarkshire.

As part of the buy out, Tilray acquired 11 of BrewDog bars: Birmingham, Canary Wharf, DogTap Ellon, DogHouse Edinburgh, Edinburgh Lothian Road, Manchester Peter Street, Paddington, Seven Dials, Tower Hill, Waterloo and Dublin.

The following bars closed immediately as a result of not being part of the agreement: Castlegate, DogHouse Merchant City, DogHouse Manchester, Soho, Aberdeen Union Square, Basingstoke, Bath, Bournemouth, Bristol, Bristol Harbourside, Cambridge, Camden Road, Cardiff, Carlisle, Chancery Lane, Cheltenham, Clerkenwell, Ealing, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Hammersmith, Inverurie, Liverpool, Manchester Outpost, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Norwich, Nottingham, Perth, Plymouth, Reading, Seething Lane, Southampton, St Andrews, Stirling, Tower Bridge and Wandsworth.