Small investors turn on James Watt after BrewDog co-founder admits ‘many mistakes’
The co-founder of BrewDog, James Watt, met with short shrift from small investors who have been left empty-handed by the company’s sale for just £33m, after he admitted to “many mistakes”.Watt issued a mea culpa via the professional social networking site LinkedIn, a platform he has regularly used to espouse political views, including complaints about the level of tax he is asked to pay.The multimillionaire and self-styled punk apologised to more than 200,000 “equity punks”, who invested £75m in the business through multiple crowdfunding rounds but received nothing from its sale to the US cannabis and drinks company Tilray Brands.They lost out partly owing to the terms of an earlier 22% investment by the private equity group TSG, which involved Watt and his co-founder Martin Dickie cashing out to the tune of £100m but left crowdfunding investors with little chance of a return.Watt also said he was “heartbroken” for the 484 staff who lost their jobs in the deal, after Tilray opted to buy only 11 of BrewDog’s bars, leaving 38 having to close their doors.
“During my 17 years in charge there were highs, lows, successes, failures, huge gambles and many mistakes along the way,” said Watt,“Ultimately, the mistakes hurt far more than the successes console,” he added,“I would have loved to save every single job and every single equity punk investment,Ultimately, I couldn’t,That will stay with me.
”Unite, the trade union, has already criticised the “national disgrace” of the sale, conducted via a pre-pack administration that involved the administrators, Alix Partners, agreeing a sale to Tilray before declaring insolvency, at a cost of nearly 500 jobs.On Wednesday, one LinkedIn user, Fraser Campbell, said Watt had “walked away with £50m from the TSG deal, while everyone who gave you their money is now left with nothing but the taste of sour beer in their mouths”.Another, John Allison wrote: “Are you ‘heartbroken’ you gave the institutional investor preference over the equity punks, James?”Another LinkedIn user, Cathal Morrow, questioned Watt’s description of himself, in his LinkedIn profile, as a “punk”.“Genuine comment – do you think it’s still appropriate to have the word ‘punk’ in your bio,” he said.“Rather insulting at this point I’d say”Others were kinder.
“As one of the early equity punks, I never bought shares expecting to get rich,” said Fraser Reid.“I bought them because I loved the beer, the attitude, and what BrewDog represented at the time.Building something from a garage to a global brand is no small feat.”The £33m sale, a fraction of the £2bn value that BrewDog once targeted when it hoped to float on the stock market, comes less than a month after the firm put itself up for sale.BrewDog’s decline from its all-conquering peak was cemented by five years of losses and a string of brand-damaging controversies relating to the company’s culture and treatment of staff, particularly under Watt’s tenure.
Watt later apologised for what some staff described as a “culture of fear”.Watt also hired private investigators to look into people who took part in a BBC documentary about the allegations.
Shadow of Iraq war lies over Westminster as MPs consider US-Israeli attack on Iran
Calvin Bailey keeps his Iraq medal, issued to members of the British armed forces who served as part of Operation Telic, safe in a drawer in his home. It features a clasp, given to personnel who were part of the very first wave of flights to leave British bases to invade Iraq in March 2003.So when the Labour MP for Leyton and Wanstead spoke at a meeting between Labour MPs and the prime minister on Monday evening, people listened. “I was exposed to and aware of all the things that were happening in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq: the groupthink, the sense of unstoppable momentum,” he said on Tuesday. “If you look at what is happening right now, it’s materially different to 2003, but I think I can speak with adequate weight and credibility
‘It’s no news just when we wanted some’: bosses react to spring statement
Amid global volatility, Rachel Reeves tried to project calm with a low-key forecast. But business owners have their doubtsRachel Reeves gave a deliberately low-key spring forecast on Tuesday, in an attempt to project calm amid volatility abroad and after repeated tax rising budgets.But for some business owners struggling with rising costs, a lack of policy announcements this time around was a disappointment.Changes to the business rates system are set to go ahead on 1 April, while Reeves offered little relief for companies still reeling from increases to employment costs last year. Nor was there clarity on the long-delayed defence investment plan, a key part of promises to increase spending
Reeves’s spring statement? The economy is great, don’t worry about the Middle East
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UK considering sending warship to Cyprus; government to charter flight from Oman ‘in the coming days’– as it happened
You can now read the full story on our earlier reports in the blog that the government is considering sending warship HMS Duncan to Cyprus, here:John Healey, the defence secretary, is considering sending a Royal Navy destroyer to Cyprus to help defend British bases there after several apparently hostile drones targeted RAF Akrotiri on the island.Defence sources said a deployment of HMS Duncan, currently in Portsmouth, was under discussion as a way to better protect the base in Cyprus – though another said it was possible one of two other destroyers might be sent as an alternative.HMS Duncan is specialised in counter-drone operations and last month was engaged on a test exercise off the coast of Wales facing swarms of drones, before hosting a family day on Friday. It is not clear how ready it is to set sail.John Healey, the defence secretary, is considering sending a Royal Navy destroyer to Cyprus to help defend British bases there after several apparently hostile drones targeted RAF Akrotiri on the island
Starmer vows to avoid ‘mistakes of Iraq’ that have haunted Labour for decades
Tony Blair’s support for the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 has long loomed like a spectre over the Labour party.It was present in 2013 when Ed Miliband as opposition leader voted to block UK military action against the Syrian regime.And it was there again on Monday when Keir Starmer assured MPs that the government remembered the “mistakes of Iraq” and would always operate on a “lawful basis” and with a “viable thought-through plan”to the crisis erupting in the Middle East.The implication from the prime minister was clear: he does not think the initial US and Israeli strikes against Iran were either legal or considered. “This government does not believe in regime change from the skies,” he told the Commons
After failing to win the peace prize, Trump turns his focus to Nobel prize for war | John Crace
Maybe we should have just had done with it back in December. Instead of offering a polite reservation, every western country should have sent a full, state delegation to Norway. Begging, imploring the Nobel Committee to award Donald Trump the peace prize. We could all have chipped in a couple of billion just to make it even more worth winning.And if that wasn’t enough, we could have twisted the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, to upgrade his “Peaceiest Ever President” award to the “Makes Jesus Look Second Rate” prize
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