BrewDog, the Scottish brewer and bar operator, expects to grow to a 100-strong estate of bars operating across a number of different concepts over the next four years, whilst also opening up to 75 international sites in that time, M&C Report has learnt.
David McDowall, the group’s new managing director for its bars division, told M&C Report that food and coffee were the two big projects for the company over the next 12 months.
It is currently working on a project to rollout a coffee offer across its existing UK estate and hopes to open at couple of more food-led sites by the end of this year.
The company, which this morning reported that its annual turnover increased by 64% to over £29.6m in 2014, has hired Stuart Wilson, former group executive chef at G1 Group, as its new head of food to oversee its food strategy with the view of launch one or two food-led concepts.
Meanwhile, David Tracey, who recently also joined the company from G1 as it head of retail development, is overseeing its coffee project.
The expansion of the group’s core estate to 100 sites will be separate from the rollout of its Bottle Shop format.
McDowall said: “We recognise that for the development of the brand we need to innovate and push it in different directions. Food and coffee are two big projects for us this year. We have to make sure we do both in an incredible, innovate and BrewDog way before we come to market with them. We are working quite hard on both.
“Internationally we believe we can get to 50-75 bars open over the next four years. We think that’s any achievable target. We will double our international estate by the end of this year. We are driving the international expansion just as hard as the UK rollout.
“We are building a great team operationally and on the property side. We now have four people dedicated to the growth of our international business.”
McDowall said the company was pretty close to launching in Islington, where it had been mooted that the company would launch a food-led concept under the name Dog Eat Dog.
He said that company wanted to make sure it did “something special there”.
The company, which topped the AlixPartners Profit Tracker for the second time in three years, saw profit during 2014 increase by 69% to £4.9m. During the year, the group launched a total of 12 new bars, taking its global bar count to 26.
Since the year, end, the company has launched its first bar in Spain, with BrewDog Barcelona, with more bars launches planned in the UK and overseas, including openings in Brighton, Norwich, Leicester, Berlin and Rome. The group now exports to 55 countries around the world and employs 360 people.
James Watt, co-founder of BrewDog, said: “2014 was an epic year for BrewDog and the craft beer industry as a whole. For 2015 we have mammoth plans that will really set the world alight. You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
