Inside the toxic world of drinks giant BrewDog as CEO addresses its ‘culture of fear’ and claims of sexism and bullying
WITH his hipster flat cap and goatee beard, BrewDog boss James Watt resembled a thoroughly modern millennial businessman.
The driving force behind the craft beer-brewing upstart used a punk ethos to create a company worth almost £2billion, opening trendy bars across the globe.
It lauded itself as a caring woke employer with a mission statement that declared: “Our long-term destiny is determined by how well we look after our amazing people.”
Meanwhile, its recruitment web page boasts of its apparent green credentials, saying: “We REALLY care about the planet, and we’ve got a smashing sense of humour. And we love dogs.”
It even said it would offer time off to staff if they got a new pet, dubbed “pawrental leave”.
Yet, according to former staff, BrewDog wasn’t built on a new-style enlightened management culture at all — but rather old-school bullying “built on a cult of personality”.
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The firm, whose numerous beers are now at supermarkets and in pubs, has been under pressure since a group of ex-employees calling them-selves Punks With Purpose accused it of having a “culture of fear”.
They say co-founder Watt fostered a toxic culture and that staff were “treated like objects”.
In an open letter, the group alleged: “Growth, at all costs, has always been perceived as the number one focus for the company. Being treated like a human being was sadly not always a given for those working at BrewDog.”
It went on: “By placing personalities at the centre of your messaging, you have inflated egos and fostered a culture within craft beer that deifies founders and gives weight to sexist and misogynistic brewers.”
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Now Watt, 38, has admitted his behaviour has been abrasive and said he does not challenge any claims in the letter.
The former fishing boat captain said this week: “It’s completely fair to say, at times in the journey, I have been too intense. I have been too demanding, I have set standards for the team which I would set for myself, and for a lot of the team members that is unattainable.
“I pushed for such high standards, unrealistic deadlines — it’s because I was so focused on ‘let’s build the thing, let’s create more jobs, let’s deliver more value for customers’.”
The king of craft beer told businessman Steven Bartlett’s Diary Of A CEO podcast: “I think I might have some kind of light-level autism in the mix that would explain some of the social cue thing, some of the mindset thing. So I’m working with a specialist to see if there’s a diagnosis there or not.”
But some observers smell a cop out.
Lawyer Dr Ann Olivarius tweeted yesterday that the comments were “an absolute insult”, adding: “Autistic people are more likely to be bullied than bully.”
Addressing the open letter, posted last year, described it as “so upsetting, but so important”.
He added: “Our focus now is not on contradicting or contesting the details but to listen, learn and act.”
has also faced other claims, made by BBC Scotland’s Disclosure programme, where female workers said they had felt “uncomfortable” when Watt visited the bars they worked in.
It was also alleged women were advised on how to avoid unwelcome attention from Watt.
It’s completely fair to say at times I have been too intense. I have been too demanding. I have set standards for the team which I would set for myself, and for a lot of the team that is unattainable.
James Watt
The CEO has denied the claims and complained to Ofcom about the show’s contents.
Watt’s sheer drive and determination has turned a two-men-and-a-dog start-up into a global beer behemoth.
An only child growing in Aberdeenshire fishing communities, Gardenstown and Peterhead, Watt knew at school he wanted to be his own boss.
He said: “I’ve always had big issues with authority. I think I’d have been a very bad employee.”
The brewing boss — whose millionaire father James had a stake in a fishing firm, while mum Anne was a teacher — was bullied at school for having a speech impediment.
Watt, who studied law and economics at Edinburgh University, started BrewDog with best friend Martin Dickie, 38, — who had studied brewing — in 2006 with £50,000 mostly borrowed from the bank.
The two began brewing with secondhand equipment in a shed in Fraserburgh listening to punk music.
Their first product was Punk IPA but local Scottish pubs weren’t ready for the craft beer revolution.
Watt recalled: “It was so demoralising. Nobody wanted to know.”
The cash ran out and the pair moved back in with their parents, with Watt working as a fisherman in his spare time.
He believes his tough management style may owe some-thing to his life on the North Sea trawlers.
Earlier this year he said:. “People think my management style is intense, [but] if they were a week in a fishing boat under some of the captains I’ve sailed with [they might understand me better].
BrewDog took off in 2008 when its beer won a Tesco-sponsored home-brewing competition with the super-market agreeing to stock its product.
Meteoric rise
As well as becoming an independent brewing giant, BrewDog opened bars across the globe including on the Las Vegas Strip.
Next month its biggest bar will open in London’s Waterloo with a micro-brewery and bowling alleys covering 27,500 sq ft
The meteoric rise was achieved with Watts’s abrasive management style, which he outlined in his book Business For Punks. One chapter was headlined: “Being reasonable is for ambitionless wimps.”
Marketing stunts included employing someone with dwarfism to stand outside Parliament for a week in 2010 holding a sign to protest against the law which stated beer could only be served in third, half or full pint measures.
BrewDog called it “the world’s smallest protest”.
Watt — who has two daughters — is divorced from their mother, Scottish illustrator Johanna Basford.
He said recently: “Outside my two amazing daughters, this business is by far the most important thing in my life. The amount I work is probably unhealthy.
"If I don’t have the kids, I work every weekend.”
He says he has an ice bath in the mornings to help him understand that “any other challenge today is going to be less intense than sitting in this thing for 90 seconds”.
The furore following the Punks With Purpose letter last year has led to a reappraisal in management style.
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Earlier this year, pledged to give £100million in shares to his staff, saying: “I fully accept that I’ve been too intense, too demanding as a manager.”
He added: “Have I pushed too hard? Yes. Have we always been the best employer? No.”
