BrewDog to ‘draw line’ under toxic workplace claims

 Earlier this year the Scottish brewer and bar operator was accused by a group of former and current staff of fostering a toxic culture.

There were also allegations of sexist and misogynistic behaviour towards female staff.

In an open letter, a group called Punks with Purpose described workers as feeling “burnt out, afraid and miserable”.

Last night, recently appointed chairman Allan Leighton, and deputy chairman Blythe Jack, issued a joint message to the businesses 2,300 staff following the completion of the review.

It said: “Having read the review, we don’t subscribe to the characterisation of the company set out in the open letter and we know from having spoken to numerous crew members, neither do many of you.

“But it is also clear that BrewDog has made mistakes and the key now is to learn from them, address them and be better.”

The review comprised an online survey of close to 1,000 present and former employees and one-to-one interviews with more than 400.

The pair said BrewDog had “not always got it right” and that, at time, it had had a negative impact on its culture. “We draw a line under that today”.

In July, BrewDog announced that it had hired consultancy Wiser,​​ which has worked with the likes of Nike, Pret and the BBC, to conduct a full independent review of the company’s culture.

It also announced the creation of an employee representation group and for team members that had joined the business before 1 January 2021 – a 3% pay rise.