BrewDog Hiring: Jobs Available After Sale & Restructuring | UK Pubs & Breweries

Workers at Brewdog’s Merchant City bar in Glasgow were emailed this week inviting them to reapply for their jobs, a move condemned by a union as a “fire and rehire” scheme. The email, sent by Brewdog’s head of operations Steven Hill, followed the acquisition of Brewdog’s UK brewing operations and 11 pubs by US firm Tilray after the company went into administration.

The email, seen by BBC Scotland News, acknowledged the difficulties faced by staff in recent weeks and stated that the company respected their feelings about the situation. It explained that former staff were being contacted due to their “previous connection with the bar” and invited to apply for positions including general manager and kitchen crew. A similar email was also reported to have been sent to staff at Brewdog’s Castlegate venue in Aberdeen.

Unite the union has strongly criticised the move, describing it as a “blatant attempt to strip workers of their rights” and calling on Tilray to reconsider. Bryan Simpson, Unite’s national lead on hospitality, stated that the action was “morally reprehensible and, in our view, unlawful.” The union plans to accept legal action, arguing that the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 should protect workers’ positions when venues reopen in the same location.

Brewdog, founded in 2007 by James Watt and Martin Dickie, had breweries and pubs globally, including approximately 60 in the UK. The sale to Tilray followed a period where Brewdog appointed consultants AlixPartners, who subsequently acted as administrators. AlixPartners reported “significant interest” in the company but stated that no offer had been received which would have preserved Brewdog in its entirety. The deal with Tilray saw 38 pubs close and 484 staff made redundant.

Simpson further asserted that workers had “built these venues” and that being dismissed only to be invited back on potentially worse terms constituted an “abuse of power.” He called for the immediate reinstatement of workers with their full rights intact.