Brewdog staff and charities to share 20pc of brewer’s profits
CRAFT brewer Brewdog is aiming to give away 20pc of its profits to staff and charities as part of its new Unicorn Fund.
The unlisted Scottish business, which was valued at £1bn earlier this year after private equity house TSG Partners ploughed more than £200m into the company, said it would split the share of its profits equally between staff and a group of charities chosen by its 1,000-strong workforce and its 57,000 retail investors, whom it dubs “equity punks”.
James Watt, the co-founder, said if the brewer hit its projected profit targets this year, its giveaway would be in excess of £45m in the next five years alone. The company delivered £7.1m in profits in 2016.
Mr Watt said the remainder of its profits would be invested in the business, which recently opened a brewery in Columbus, Ohio, and has plans to expand into Asia.
Brewdog added it wanted to encourage other businesses to follow suit in a bid to accelerate the nation’s corporate social responsibility.
Mr Watt said he wanted to build a “radically new type of business”.
“Outdated corporate social responsibility policies have zero consideration for their real-world impact, existing merely for the purpose of an oversized cheque and an awkward photo shoot,” Mr Watt added.
The move comes just months after Mr Watt and his co-founder Martin Dickie shared a windfall of up to £100m on the back of TSG’S investment in the company. The deal meant Mr Watt’s stake dropped from 35pc to 25pc of the company, though he remains the largest shareholder. Mr Dickie’s share fell from 30pc to 22pc.