James Watt offers £10k reward to help find Second Best bar sites

New venture: James Watt offers £10k reward to find bar sites
New venture: James Watt offers £10k reward to find bar sites (James Watt via Instagram)

James Watt is offering a £10,000 reward to anyone who helps secure a site for one of five planned Second Best bars ahead of the beer brand’s launch next year.

Second Best, Watt’s new beer business co-owned by former BrewDog Equity Punks, is due to launch in early 2027.

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The business plans to open just five bars and is asking consumers to suggest both locations and specific available sites.

Watt said the company would aim to open bars in the three most requested locations, while anyone who introduces a site that subsequently opens as a Second Best bar will receive £10,000 and a 50% lifetime discount at that venue.

Five site rollout

Writing on social media, Watt said: “With BrewDog, we opened more than 150 craft beer bars together. With Second Best, we are opening just five.

“That means every single one needs to be truly exceptional, so we want to enlist the people who will actually drink in them.”

Consumers have been asked to nominate cities, or specific areas in London, as well as available bar, restaurant or retail units.

Watt added: “No agents. No middlemen. Just rewarding the community that helps us build this thing.”

Second Best growth

Second Best was first unveiled earlier this year, with former BrewDog Equity Punks offered the opportunity to claim a free equity stake in the new venture.

By September, Watt said 57% of the shares allocated to former Equity Punks had been claimed.

The launch follows a period of significant change at BrewDog, which was acquired by Tilray Brands in a £33m deal earlier this year.

Tilray subsequently invested around £50m into the brewer and has outlined plans to develop the BrewDog business and pub estate under its ownership.

Watt has meanwhile continued to develop Second Best as a separate beer business, with the first bars expected to open from early 2027.