BrewDog was founded as a self-styled brewery disruptor, bringing exciting new craft beer to the people, but over the years, as the company grew and grew, it began to lose its way and collapse was almost inevitable.
Simon’s company, Tilray, a consumer good business with fingers in legalised and medicinal cannabis along with a good chunk of the US craft beer sector, appeared almost out of nowhere to take the UK brewing scene by surprise when they swooped in to pull the remains of BrewDog out of administration for the bargain price of £33m.
And while most of the sector might have been unaware of Tilray, its CEO was certainly well aware of BrewDog. “In 2020, before Covid, I did meet James and Martin, and they wanted to do something with us, and I got to know the brand.
“They wanted us to become a partner, I always loved the brand, but it was not my strategy at the time, and their valuation, well, they were in the hemisphere while we were still on the ground. You can love something, but it’s just not affordable.”
He also admitted Tilray had taken a look at buying the business pre-Christmas 2025 as well and even put a bid in “for the sake of putting a bid in - it was a lot higher than I ended up paying and they laughed at me”.
“I’m somebody who’s done maybe close to 100 deals, I don’t normally buy something on future earnings, it’s what’s there today. I always say in life, the best deals I did are some of the ones I didn’t do.”
But that process helped to give him a better understanding of the business, and the UK market, which was good, because the mad scramble to purchase the operation out of administration did not leave him much room for due diligence.
“I’ve never done a deal coming out of administration - that was over my pay grade and over my head. But because it was BrewDog - I’ve always wanted to own it.”
He said it was a manic time: “For two weeks we did a lot. It was not like there was a real big data room, it’s not like I could talk to the management teams. It’s not like I could come and do site tours, and if you looked at the numbers, and saw the losses, it would be, don’t walk, run!”
And he said, the mood music around the business and the wider hospitality market in the UK was less than upbeat: “Everytime you would hear about the James Watt saga, the pubs saga and everything you would read would be bad news - people aren’t drinking, pubs are closing - there were no good stories out there!
“It was a crazy process, it was like walking in and buying a used car, no warranty, here’s the keys and driving off the lot! But I knew what was at the end of the rainbow here, and it was getting hold of what I thought was one of the greatest brands out there.”
And for the tidy sum of just £33m, for a business that just a few years ago had been valued at £2bn, he’s achieved his dream and now has the global operations of BrewDog to add to his brand portfolio.
He’s now acquired the global operations for BrewDog, and says people are already reaching out to him, asking about franchise operations, primarily on the strength of the brand. However, he is adamant that the UK remains a key market.
“This is the foundation of the brand, this is where it started, it’s no different to Guinness starting in Ireland, if you can’t get it right here, you can’t get it right anywhere.”
So with the purchase done, and five more additional bars added into the mix taking the estate to 16, what’s the plan for the immediate future?
“The strategy right now is stabilisation. What people have been through, it’s unbelievable. The uncertainty has been tremendous, but the passion really shows you that people really care about this brand.”
He said they need a period of time to steady the ship, settle the teams, and get out and talk to customers and suppliers to get people “comfortable”, Simon says. “And we’ve got to spend money on marketing and infrastructure, and ensuring our suppliers are comfortable they’re going to get paid. At the end of the day - looking me in the white of my eyes and understanding that what we say is what we mean.”
He said the company is going to put its money where its mouth is and start investing into the brand and it’s going to take some time to turn things round.
“Are we cool today? We’re not that cool today, we’re not gonna believe our own bullshit, we’re not gonna make numbers up, but if I’m sitting here from you, one year from today, and I’m still talking about stabilisation, then you can write all the negative things about me you like.
“What I’m happy about, from what I’ve seen so far with the issues, they all can be fixed.”
With regard to stocking other brands, such as Carlsberg or Guinness in Brewdog pubs, a move that would never have been considered under the old regime, Simon remains bullish. “How can I get a Carlsberg or Guinness drinker to switch over unless they taste my beer, and where’s the best place to get them to taste my beer?”
“I may not get everyone, that’s what competition is, and I’m getting consumers in here to try my beer and buy my food, it’s a great way to bring consumers in here.”
He said the business was under review and they were going through a SKU rationalisation, but added there was no target in mind - but if a beer isn’t selling, he’s “taking it out and putting a new one in”.
He also sees plenty of scope to synergies from his existing business into the BrewDog fold, which will give him wriggle room on pricing. “I can buy better - I’m banking on economies of scale and efficiencies, and not having 100 SKUs if they’re not selling.”
He also doesn’t rule out contract brewing: “I’ve got a big brewery up in Ellon, if somebody comes to me and says listen, can you make our beer, why not? If I can create more jobs and get more efficiency.”
While they’re looking to invest into the remaining sites they hold, it’s unlikely that the sector will be seeing any new BrewDog bars soon, but Simon said he is interested in what he describes as “pop ups” - putting sites into retailers like Selfridges and transport hubs are a consideration. “I’d love to have one in Heathrow airport, love to have brewpubs in airports.”
Of course, it’s not been plain sailing from the start - almost immediately after the deal was done, it was announced BrewDog was losing the contract for Lords, but Simon remains philosophical. “I’m disappointed in that, but on the other hand, financially it was a money losing contract for us, so yes, it got consumers drinking our beer, but that money we will save there, I can spend on marketing and help drive a lot of other consumers to try our products.”
And looming in the background is the issue around the punk investors, the BrewDog fans that invested during the various crowdfunding rounds.
Simon remains sympathetic, but is unlikely to shift position. “They’re great, great ambassadors, and we’ll absolutely honour any perk they had before. I think they knew they’d lost the money the day they wrote the cheque. There was never a way to get them their money back.”
He points out that the bulk were small investors, who will have benefited from the discounts and deals. “We’re going to continue, and if there’s other opportunities to do something with them, we can get out there and there’s great PR for us, there’s value. But I just can’t return their equity.”
And of course, Simon will have to deal with the original founders, with James Watt already launching attacks on the new owner over the issues of equity punks retaining their stake.
Is there any way back to reconcile with Watts and Dickie?
“I like peace not war, you’re never going to hear me say one thing bad about either of them. They built the company here, they gave me the opportunity, I say thank you to them!”
“I’ve met them, spent more time with Martin than James, but they built something here that’s unique.
“Founders move on - I’m a founder, I’m sympathetic, I’ve started two or three different companies. If they ever did come back and want a relationship, that’s fine, but it’s not about James Watt or Martin Dickie, it’s about the brand and the people that work here, and that’s the most important thing. It’s not about an individual.
“I absolutely want a friendly relationship. The vision they had is incredible, really have to give them credit. But the founders were very much figure heads towards the end, and the shots were being called by the private equity folks, the money guys.
“There’s a lot of lessons to be learnt from their [BrewDog’s] relationship to private equity,” he added.