The niche brewery known as Brewdog has faced a raft of allegations recently detailed in an open letter post on social media by former employees.
Approximately 60 staff either put their name or initials to the letter. A full copy of the letter can be found here.
The allegations range from potential whistleblowing allegations (such as “Being told to ignore health and safety guidelines? Don’t. Someone’s demanding you send beer to an event in the USA by bypassing customs? Nope.”) which relate to the “toxic culture” created by management.
The letter also has specific paragraphs which refer and are directed to the well-known founder and CEO of Brewdog, James Watt. The relevant paragraphs read “It is with you that the responsibility for this rotten culture lies. Your attitude and actions are at the heart of the way Brewdog is perceived, from both inside and out. By valuing growth, speed and action above all else, your company has achieved incredible things, but at the expense of those who delivered your dreams”.
The letter continues to say “In the wake of your success are people left burnt out, afraid and miserable. The true culture of Brewdog is, and seemingly always has been, fear. You go on LinkedIn and claim the buck stops with you, but do you have the guts to look at the team you have built around you and admit that the overwhelming majority of them are quietly afraid that their next mistake could be their last at Brewdog? In the last few weeks, the silence has been deafening – this is not the time to try and quietly wait things out.” Harsh words no matter how they are construed.
Just when things seemed like they could not get any worse for Mr Watt, the following has subsequently appeared on social media. If true – these are screenshots of an email allegedly sent round to all current employees of Brewdog from Mr Watt encouraging them to sign a letter to disagree with the comments of the former employees.
I’m sure this story will develop over the next few days and we will update the story as and when that happens but I think this story might be in the media for a little while.
*UPDATE – 14/06/21*
Following the recent allegations made by Punks With Purpose regarding the culture and treatment of staff at Brewdog, co-founder James Watt has published his response and apology. Mr Watt stated that while the company has “always tried to the best by our team” the recent open letter from Punks With Purpose “proved that on many occasions we haven’t got it right.”
Mr Watt explained that while there are thousands of employees with positive stories to share about Brewdog, he accepts that change is necessary. “We are committed to doing better, not just as a reaction to this but always…But most of all, right now, we are sorry.” The full response can be read below:
Martin Dickie, a co-founder of Brewdog also keyed his response to apologise and has offered to engage with any of the current or former members of staff in order to understand their stories and determine how they can “learn and be better, fairer employers going forward and make sure they are living up to the “high standards” they set themselves. Martin’s invitation for engagement included his email so he can discuss any concerns of employees and the full apology can be found here.
According to an article recently published by the Guardian, Dickie’s words have been met more favourably by former staff than Watt’s due to the earlier note on the staff’s forum as noted above; more specially it appears to be Watt’s description that the company’s “fast paced and intense environment is definitely not for everyone” that has caused the most backlash.
Punks With Purpose have since responded to James Watt’s apology and made reference to this particular passage, stating that it was “grotesque” to suggest that staff who voiced concerns were underperforming at the company and could not handle the culture in place. They also made note of the fact that Watt had allegedly previously apologised and promised change “several times” previous to the more public apology.
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The niche brewery known as Brewdog has faced a raft of allegations recently detailed in an open letter post on social media by former employees. Approximately 60 staff either put their name or initials to the letter. A full copy of the letter can be found here. The allegations range from potential whistleblowing allegations…
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