BrewDog announces plans for flagship site at former Eurostar terminal
BrewDog has outlined plans to open a 26,500 sq ft flagship site on the former Eurostar terminal at Waterloo, in what it called one of biggest projects yet.
The Scottish craft brewer said on Monday it will launch a two-floor venue next summer. The site will be kitted out with a pub, pop-up food truck, cocktail bar, bowling alley and slide to get between levels, according to the Evening Standard.
The venue will also be a hub with workspaces and a Grind coffee bar.
The craft brewer’s founder James Watt said the move is “quite simply one of the biggest things we have ever announced”.
It comes as the brewer was slapped on the wrist by the advertising watchdog after falsely claiming competition winners would receive a “solid gold” can.
BrewDog admitted the prize cans in question were 24 carat gold-plated replica cans rather than solid gold as social media posts, that were hastily deleted, had claimed.
Co-founder James Watt has said the brewer was launching a fresh campaign, where punters can win one of ten diamond encrusted cans or the £25k cash equivalent.
BrewDog’s momentum for a market debut in London has appeared to have slowed as the brewing operation eyes 2022 or 2023 for a float.
“Could it be sometime in 2022? Maybe. 23? Maybe,” CEO and co-founder James Watt told The Daily Telegraph recently.
Watt was keen to distance the listing from ex-staffers’ claims of a “culture of fear” at BrewDog. “That happened after we made the decision to push things back,” he told The Telegraph.
In response to the workplace bullying claims, Watt said BrewDog “should have been clearer about the high performance culture.”
Former staff had experienced a “mismatch of expectations” with the “dynamism” of a high growth company but the “steady state, perks and benefits” of a veteran.
After a letter from former staff emerged, Watt said it was “obvious that we failed these people in their journey with us.”