Revenue rise of almost a third for BrewDog bars

The business released its annual report and achieved revenue of £286m in 2021 and £215m in 2019.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciated and amortisation (EBITDA) was £14.2m against £7.9m in 2020.

While the group continued to generate a loss over the period, it had improved by almost a fifth (19%) to an operating loss of £5.5m from £6.8m in 2020.

BrewDog now has more than 100 bars globally and in 2021, opened two hotels in Manchester and Edinburgh.

This was in addition to expanding sites​ with openings in Plymouth, Exeter, Ealing, New Albany, Bath and Cleveland.

Company expansion

Sites have also been secured in Waterloo, central London and Las Vegas where venues will be opening in the next 12 months.

Currently, the business has 55 venues in England, 18 in Scotland, two in Wales. Outside of the UK, it has 20 across Europe, four in Asia, seven in American and one in Australia, totalling 107 sites plus four breweries and five hotels​.

Chair Allan Leighton also wrote how the business was addressing concerns raised in an open letter​ by former employees in June 2021.

He said: “We have taken and continue to take many actions to be the best employer we can be, to ensure our people and their welfare are central to everything we do.

“Core to the response to the open letter was the decision to conduct an independent review into our culture overseen by the deputy chair Blythe Jack."

Chair comment

He continued: “The review was completed as promised before the end of the year and findings were published on our website in December. The review highlighted that despite the criticism at the time of the open letter, the vast majority of our crew enjoy working at BrewDog.

“It showed we have moved on a long way in terms of how we look after our people, and we now have an outstanding leadership team in place, as well as a much stronger and more supportive culture.”

He went on to say how the review also highlighted some areas to consider when it comes to looking after teams.

Leighton added: “But it also made clear there were areas for improvement – in particular around ensuring our teams are given the development and training they need, as well as ensuring a clear pathway to progression is made available to all crew members and putting in place greater resource throughout the business.

“Those initiatives are ongoing and we will announce further exciting new initiatives during the year.”