BrewDog co-founder and chief executive James Watt is stepping down after 17 years at the tipple business.
It is understood that Watt told the board of beer brand, which has a chain of bars and a range of products on UK supermarket shelves, of his plan to step back last year, The Guardian reported.
BrewDog chief operating officer James Arrow will take over as CEO in a move that Watt said comes as the brand “pushes forward into our next phase of growth”.
Watt, who still owns 21% of the business, will remain as a non-executive director advising on strategy under a new title of ‘captain and co-founder’.
In the LinkedIn post, he said: “During my time at the helm of BrewDog, there have been highs and lows, up and downs, crazy successes and incredibly hard challenges.
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“As for BrewDog going forward, I am really excited to see the next phase of our growth. We have great momentum in our most important sales channels and our team, at all levels of the business, is in incredibly good shape.”
It comes amid a turbulent few years for the firm following a string of controversies.
In 2021, former workers accused Watt and the company of fostering a “culture of fear”. At the time, he apologised to staff and claimed BrewDog had made changes.
The following year, the company lost its B Corp status less than two years after joining the scheme following the previous allegations from former staff.
While last year, Watt revealed he had to pay out almost £500,000 to winners of its misleading “solid gold” beer can promotion which offered customers the chance to find a solid gold can hidden in cases in 2021.
At the time, he said he “misunderstood the process” of how the cans were made, adding that it was a “silly mistake” telling customers in initial promotional tweets that the cans were “solid gold”.
