The launch of the BrewDog Blueprint saw founder and chief executive James Watt donate a fifth of his personal stake in BrewDog to staff members to mark the company’s 15th anniversary – worth just under £100m – to each salaried employee over four years.
Alongside the share donation, BrewDog also announced bar and hotel workers to share 50% of venue profits.
The company is set to launch a recruitment programme to fill more than 200 roles for its new flagship bar in Waterloo opening in late summer 2022 – as well as actively recruiting for vacancies in recently opened bars in Bath, Basingstoke, Bournemouth and Cheltenham, and roles across HQ, franchise and production functions.
Setting the standard
BrewDog hospitality managing director James Brown said: “We are thrilled so many people are choosing to apply to progress their careers with us. It’s no secret the market is very competitive for the best talent.
“In launching the Blueprint, which included a major equity share scheme and a revolutionary profit share for our bar teams, we believe we are now setting the standard in the hospitality sector."
The surge in applications follows a successful recruitment drive in 2021, which saw BrewDog add more than 800 new hires as the business slowly recovered from the impact of Covid, invested into its Ellon brewing operations and increase its HR and People & Culture teams as it responded to the issues raised in an open letter last year.
Building benefits
“These new initiatives build on our other benefits, not least pawternity, our sabbatical scheme, mental health support, our safe ride home scheme, sustainable pensions and we are committed to being a real living wage employer. We are confident we can provide varied, fulfilling and long-term careers for our people and very much look forward to welcoming new talent to the company," added Brown.
Under the new Blueprint, launched on 3 May 2022, Watt is donating a 5% stake in the business, worth £100m at BrewDog’s most recent fundraising valuation, to the company’s 750 salaried crew members, representing just over a fifth of his personal stake in the Scottish brewer founded in 2007.
Based on the most recent fundraising valuation of £1.8bn, the giveaway of more than 3.7m shares will be worth around £30,000 a year across four years to each crew member when the scheme begins in June this year.
