ONE of BrewDog’s top bosses has quit the company just months after the Scottish beer giant was sold to the US-based Tilray Brands in the latest blow to the faltering firm.
BrewDog’s CEO James Taylor’s exit comes after the Ellon-based firm fell into administration in March owing, £500m to a raft of companies including brewers, hospitality firms and sports organisations.
Tilray, which owns several craft breweries in the US, took over BrewDog in the same month, but closed 38 bars across the UK, leading to 484 redundancies.
Taylor oversaw BrewDog’s operations during what the company described as a difficult transition period following the change of ownership.
Recent documents filed to Companies House show that Taylor has resigned from his position.
A BrewDog spokesperson said: “BrewDog now sits under Tilray International and, within this structure, there is no requirement for a full-time chief executive.
“James successfully led BrewDog through its ownership transition.
“We thank him for his contributions and wish him every success in the future.”
Tilray’s chief executive revealed last week that he’s poured more than £50m into the business since taking it over in a bid to stabilise it.
According to filings in September, the business recorded a £37m loss in an update to shareholders.
Irwin Simon told The Times that BrewDog is “in a good place” but conceded that there’s “still a lot of work to do”.
He said: ““It’s four months into it and I am real happy we acquired this. It’s a phenomenal brand, phenomenal assets, phenomenal opportunities,” Simon told The Times.
“We probably put another £50m back into this business from a cash flow and an investment standpoint.
“We were the ones funding payroll and inventories, ingredients and stuff like that. It’s in a good place, but there’s still a lot of work to do.”
He also shared plans to re-open the firm's distillery, which closed in January along with the shuttering of all of its spirit brands.
“We’re sitting with 1700 barrels of whisky. The good news is it’s one of the few products in the world where age is OK,” Simon said.
“I am very much looking for what is the right opportunity to get back into that business.”
