BrewDog closes 38 bars and axes 484 jobs despite £33 million deal

BrewDog has shuttered almost 40 of its bars and hotels following a £33 million acquisition, making just shy of 500 employees redundant.

The craft beer chain, founded in 2007 by friends Martin Dickie and James Watt, announced American firm Tilray Brands was taking over the brand and brewing operations on Monday (2 March)

The deal saw only 11 of the 49 UK BrewDog bars being retained, meaning 38 would officially be shutting up shop.

484 staff members previously employed in the company’s axed establishments are now being made redundant. This is despite Tilray, which owns alcoholic lifestyle brands along with businesses operating in the medical cannabis sphere, coming to the rescue.

It’s believed that the deal has allowed 733 roles to be preserved. These staff members are set to commence working for Tilray Brands UK ASAP, as per The Independent.

Only 11 of the BrewDog pubs have been retained, including the Peter Street branch in Manchester (Getty Stock Image)

New York-based administrators AlixPartners, who were called in by BrewDog late last month, said that there was no offer received ‘from any prospective bidder which would have preserved BrewDog in its entirety’.

AlixPartners has also confirmed that those enrolled in the drinks business’ ‘Equity for Punks’ scheme will not see a return on their investment.

Those who took part in the scheme would funnel money to help expand the business. It’s understood they raised about £75 million.

“As one would expect over the past two weeks, we have received significant interest in the BrewDog business from prospective buyers across both the trade and investment communities,” Clare Kennedy, a managing director at AlixPartners said.

“In Tilray, we have secured a purchaser with a passion for craft brewing who will be an excellent custodian and sponsor of the business in the months and years ahead.

“Having done so, our priority now is to support, to the fullest extent possible, those people whose roles have been made redundant, and we would ask operators within the UK leisure sector who are in a position to assist to contact us at any time.”

Following BrewDog’s purchase, Irwin D Simon, chief executive of Tilray Brands said its priority is to ‘refocus’ the company on the ‘craft beer excellence that made it beloved in the first place and strategically invest to return the operations to profitable growth’.

The £33 million deal has retained more than 700 roles, as per reports (Getty Stock Image)

“BrewDog’s future is bright, and we are committed to ensuring the brand continues to lead and inspire the global craft beer movement,” he added.

BrewDog being salvaged from the brink of liquidation comes just weeks after it shut down operations at its flagship brewery in Ellon, Scotland.

It also comes after it also shut 10 bars in the UK last October, making numerous staff members redundant.

BrewDog pubs that will remain open under Tilray Brands:

Birmingham, West Midlands

Canary Wharf, London

Paddington, London

Seven Dials, London

Tower Hill, London

Waterloo, London

Peter Street, Manchester

Scotland

DogTap, Ellon

DogHouse Edinburgh

Edinburgh Lothian Road

Ireland

Dublin

It’s understood that Watt, who shifted from CEO to a newly-made ‘captain and co-founder’ role in May 2024, had put in a £10 million bid to save BrewDog.

However, it’s believed that his lifeline was ‘ejected’, with Danish powerhouse Royal Unibrew also being interested in acquiring part of the operations.