BrewDog claims to set business standards with reward schemes

This comes as the craft beer ​brewers last week announced new initiatives​ for its salaried staff, including co-founder James Watt distributing 20% of his shares among the companies some 1,500 staff members.

Speaking at BrewDog​, Canary Wharf, London, on Friday 6 May, Dickie said: “James has always been super focused on the team, all the best things we've done in the past, like making sure we are a living wage employer, the unicorn fund, paternity leave, if you get a dog you get some time off work, the BrewDog sabbatical, which is every five working years, you get a month off extra to go and do something fun.

Sharing profits 

“All these things have been James's ideas, so he's always had that focus on the team and the people and how we can make it feel like a great family.”

BrewDog​ has recently added two schemes to its employee initiatives, including Watt ​putting 20% of his stake holdings, equating to 5% of the business and around £30,000 per person (pro-rata dependant) according to Dickie, into an employee trust, with the team eventually able to own those shares as well as trade them when the business goes into Initial Public Offering (IPOs).

Additionally, the company also offers Hop Stock, which is for all its salaried staff and enables them to receive a share of the profits twice a year.

Setting standards 

Dickie added: “The beauty of Hop Stock is that it really is a tangible way for our team to become owners of the business too, and that's a great way to incentivize people.

“It'd be nice for other businesses to do something similar.

“It’s hard to say what anyone else will do, but hopefully it starts to set standards of how businesses should be run.”