BrewDog CEO James Watt has hit out at the “ridiculous levels of criticism” as he doubled down on the company’s decision with withdraw from the Real Living Wage.
Watt said it had been “incredibly tough week” following a barrage of criticism in the national press for the decision to withdraw from the scheme.
It comes as a petition from the Unite union to reverse the move reaches nearly 20,000 signatures.
In a new LinkedIn post, Watt insisted that contrary to media suggestions of a pay cut, not a single person in the business has seen their pay reduced.
He hailed the 80.3% of bar profits which go to bar teams via a profit share program, which remains in place going forward.
Since 2022, BrewDog’s national bar team’s wages will have increased by 20.4% by April, he said.
Meanwhile he claimed BrewDog’s starting packages was “better than those of 90% of our competitors”.
He said: “Business is incredibly hard, especially when the UK economy is in such poor health, and sometimes you have to make incredibly difficult decisions.
“The controversy last week was because we have only increased our nationwide bar team wages 20.4% since March 2022 and not the 26% that would have been required to retain a Real Living Wage status. No nationwide companies in hospitality that have this status, to the best of our knowledge.
“I would love nothing more than to give everyone in our business a huge pay increase, but we simply have to balance our books, offer fair value to our customers and ensure the long-term viability of our business. And ultimately, protect jobs.
“More bars and restaurants closed in 2023 than any other year on record - hospitality is in crisis.
“We are working as hard as we can to protect jobs and keep all of our bars open whilst offering market leading packages to our brilliant people.
“Yet we have been subject to ridiculous levels of criticism. Most of all I feel terrible for all our fantastic team members. The abuse they have been subjected to is unprecedented.
“However, we simply must push on from here, more resolute than ever to build the best business we can for all our fantastic team members and our brilliant community.”
Despite his defence, the decision has continued to generate controversy in the press and public, with growing support for Unite’s petition
A Unite spokesperson said: “BrewDog’s decision to withdraw the real Living Wage for bar workers during the most acute cost of living crisis in a generation is outrageous.
“The real Living Wage has been a cornerstone of BrewDog’s public identity since 2014. Scrapping the company’s pledge is a shocking blow for bar workers.
“The real-terms pay cut for hard-working front line staff is directly opposed to BrewDog’s previous claim that “our crew are our most important resource - and giving them fair pay for the work they do is one of our core beliefs.”
“BrewDog management and multi-millionaire CEO James Watt must reverse this awful decision and do the right thing by the workers who have made the company’s millions.”
