Ex staff speak out on work culture at north-east firm
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Former staff at Brewdog have alleged a "culture of fear"across the Ellon headquartered brewer's firm.
In an open letter, signatories said a "significant number" of former staff had "suffered mental illness as a result of working at BrewDog".
They claimed that the firm was built around a "cult of personality" of founders James Watt and Martin Dickie.
The letter was posted at https://twitter.com/PunksWPurpose
With former staff making a number of allegations which include a culture where staff were afraid to speak out about concerns at a business which chased "growth, at all costs".
Critically it added: "You spent years claiming you wanted to be the best employer in the world, presumably to help you to recruit top talent, but ask former staff what they think of those claims, and you'll most likely be laughed at.
"Being treated like a human being was sadly not always a given for those working at BrewDog.
"Put bluntly, the single biggest shared experience of former staff is a residual feeling of fear.
"Fear to speak out about the atmosphere we were immersed in, and fear of repercussions even after we have left,"
In initial response, James Watt Mr Watt said Brewdog was "sorry" and that it would not contest the letter, but "listen, learn and act".
Mr Watt said: "At Brewdog we are focussed on building the best business we can, which is why the open letter we saw on Twitter was so upsetting, but so important.
"Our focus now is not on contradicting or contesting the details of that letter, but to listen, learn and act."
