BrewDog appoints 'blue-chip reputation' chairman

Beer and spirits company BrewDog - hit by criticism from former employees earlier this year - has appointed a chairman with a blue-chip reputation.

Allan Leighton was chief executive of Asda and Pandora. He is chairman of the Co-op, and was chairman at Royal Mail.

He joins the Aberdeenshire brewing firm to stabilise it ahead of a stock exchange float, and as mentor to its chief executive, James Watt.

BrewDog has just closed a world record equity crowdfunding round.

It raised £30.2m from 78,000 "equity punks".

The ex staffers' letter in June complained of a "culture of fear" and a "toxic" atmosphere at BrewDog.

It claimed a significant number of former staff suffered mental health problems as a result of working there.

Mr Watt apologised at the time, and started a series of reforms to address the criticism.

Investor interest slowed after the publicity around the ex-staffers' letter, according to the chief executive, but came back more strongly in the closing weeks.

The tranche of funding is to lower BrewDog's climate changing emissions, with an anaerobic digester at the Ellon brewery and a battery-operated vehicle fleet.

A consultancy that advises and researches on corporate culture, Wiser, has been hired and is to produce a report by the end of this year, which is to be made public.

Pay has been increased by 3%, following delays to planned pay rises. About 100 more staff have been hired, partly to reduce pressure on those already in the company.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Leighton said: "BrewDog has built an incredible market position and brand in a short space of time.

"It continues to grow quickly all over the world, has a fantastic team of people, and an outstanding sustainability story to tell. I look forward to playing my role in ensuring the company has the right governance in place to capitalise on the opportunities ahead."

In an interview with BBC Scotland, Mr Watt - who co-founded Brewdog 14 years ago - said: "It's going to be fantastic for me personally to have such an experienced business leader acting as a mentor to myself. Before this, I was working on a North Atlantic fishing boat. This is my first CEO role."

He explained that an interim chairwoman, Blythe Jack, had not been able to continue in that role, as she represents the private equity company that is BrewDog's biggest investor, and that would break stock exchange rules. She takes the role of deputy chairperson of the board.

Asked about the reputational damage done to the company in June, Mr Watt said: "We definitely took a hit. The coverage of the letter from former staff in the media was widespread. Pretty much everyone saw it, and it didn't make pleasant or positive reading.

"It damaged our reputation to a certain extent. All we can do is respond to it the best way we possibly can - which is by working with our team, doing an independent review, making changes in our company, and being open and transparent."

He added: "We've got a great open dialogue with our consumers, customers and our community, to be upfront about what we're doing. We can build from that. We can build an even better company. For us, it's about finding an opportunity in a challenging time".

The timing of the float, or Initial Public Offering, has not been announced. BrewDog has hired Rothschild to advise on it, having previously postponed plans for a 2020 float because of the pandemic.