BrewDog to shut 38 bars with loss of 500 jobs despite being rescued by US cannabis firm

BrewDog is shutting 38 bars with the loss of nearly 500 jobs – despite being rescued by an American brewer and cannabis firm.

The Scottish company has been snapped up by Tilray Brands in a £33million deal that includes its UK brewing operations and 11 pubs in Britain and Ireland.

But 38 bars will close with the loss of 484 jobs in the latest blow to British hospitality.

The deal came after BrewDog crashed into administration and leaves the brand’s investors empty-handed.

More than 200,000 people who ploughed money into the firm’s ‘equity for punks’ scheme will receive no return.

But Tilray – which produces medical cannabis products including craft beer and hemp foods – will preserve 733 jobs in the UK. 

It will take control of BrewDog facilities including its brewery in Aberdeenshire, which produces beers including Punk IPA and Elvis Juice.

Tilray has also bought The Hop Hub – a distribution centre in Motherwell.

The brewer closed its pubs yesterday as administrators at AlixPartners sought to confirm a takeover.

Irwin D. Simon, chairman and chief executive of Tilray Brands, said the firm’s priority was to ‘refocus’ the business on ‘the craft beer excellence that made it beloved in the first place and strategically invest to return the operations to profitable growth’.

BrewDog was founded in 2007 by James Watt and Martin Dickie, but it has faced mounting losses in recent years and has closed a string of bars and axed chunks of its workforce.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘This is a devastating day for BrewDog workers, [who] built this brand.

‘They deserved respect. Instead, they were treated as disposable pawns.’