BrewDog announced the immediate closure of six bars on Tuesday due to soaring energy costs with 3 closures in Scotland and 3 in London. The Scottish bars are the Hop and Anchor in Aberdeen, BrewDog Peterhead and the Hop Hub in Motherwell. The company has said that staff working in the affected sites have been offered positions elsewhere in the company.
James Brown, BrewDog’s managing director of bars, “We can confirm that six of our smaller bars are now closed. All staff at these locations are being kept in continuous employment at other Brewdog bars nearby. There will be no job losses.
“This is part of a regular review of our portfolio. With rapidly increasing costs, including spiralling energy bills, these bars were a substantial distance from being viable to operate.”
Following the announcement co-founder James Watt posted on LinkedIn lambasting the government saying, “2 weeks ago we celebrated the opening of our biggest ever bar – BrewDog Waterloo. From a personal perspective, it was an incredible week, and getting to share the opening night with nearly a thousand Equity Punks was a real privilege…. but it’s important the success of Waterloo doesn’t blind us all to the reality we as a sector are facing, nor to the sheer ‘rabbit in the headlights’ paralysis of this zombie government, still intent on this bizarre leadership farce, instead of getting to grips with the kind of challenges that will result in more business causalities than the pandemic did.
“Industry experts estimate that up to a staggering 70% of the UK’s bars, pubs and restaurants could be forced to close due to soaring energy prices and huge cost price increases and unfortunately, we are not exempt from these headwinds.
“Last night we confirmed we were to close 6 bars around the UK and it is heart-breaking to lose these locations. I warned a few weeks ago, costs are rising to such a degree, with no prospect of any help from a clueless government, that these very difficult decisions have to be made.
“It was going to be simply impossible to get these bars even close to financial viability in the foreseeable future. We had no choice but to close them. I am so, so happy that due to the strength in other parts of our bar estate, every single person has been offered a role in a separate bar nearby, so there will be no job losses. But I pray this is not a sign of things to come.
“Reality in the hospitality space is starting to bite and bite hard. And the government needs to get a grip, now.
“If nothing happens the UK looks set to lose half of its pubs and bars and all the millions of jobs these locations provide, as well as the vital role they play in local communities.”