BrewDog is to launch a bar franchise offer in the UK, as part of its BrewDog Blueprint of 30 initiatives to drive growth over the next decade.
The Scottish brewer and operator of over 70 craft beer bars announced this morning that it would offer its Equity for Punks crowdfunders the chance to set up their own bars, starting with a trial of up to 10 locations. Potential locations include Ayr, North Berwick, Oban, Kirkwall, St Ives, Swansea, Northampton, Huddersfield, Newquay, Stoke on Trent. A franchise open day will be held next month.
The group also announced in the blueprint that it will introduce two guest lines into each of its bar to promote local brewers. It will also offer free beer schools across it bars estate from January.
New seven-day payment terms will also be introduced, which BrewDog said would help smaller suppliers.
The blueprint also reveals a number of new product and distribution innovations the brewery has been working on. First of these is The Hop Hub, its new distribution centre near Glasgow which is set to be Europe’s first fully refrigerated beer warehouse.
It unveils the BrewDog Foundation, a £1m annual fund that will be donated to charitable causes chosen by the brewery’s team and Equity Punks.
The blueprint also reveals that the BrewDog’s Development Fund is relaunching, with up to £200,000 available each year to help small craft breweries and start-ups get established.
BrewDog’s first Development Fund partner is Dope & Dank, a US-based initiative on a mission to bring craft beer to a more diverse audience in the US and around the world.
Meanwhile, it will also start producing some of its classic beers in cask, as well as reviving recipes from the past decade as voted for by its community.
BrewDog co-founder James Watt said: “This is our manifesto for the next decade of dog. A public declaration of how we are going to progress our unerring mission of making other people as passionate about great craft beer as we are. We are determined to show that craft beer can be a force for good in the world, and we’ll continue to build a completely new type of business, with our community firmly at the helm.
“There is nothing more important to us than our beer and our people, which includes not only our amazing team but also the global community we have built. This Blueprint showcases how we will fight tooth and nail for what we believe in, as we aim to make a meaningful impact on both the world of beer and the world of business.”
The manifesto details BrewDog’s upcoming bar openings:
Edinburgh Airport – November 2018
Union Square, Aberdeen – November 2018
Budapest – December 2018
Dalston - December 2018
Carlisle – February 2019
Hop Hub Taproom – February 2019
Peterhead – February 2019
St Gallen, Switzerland – Early 2019
Tampere – Early 2019
Inverurie – March 2019
Hull – April 2019
Cincinnati – Mid 2019
Helsingborg – Mid 2019
Manchester Airport – Mid 2019
Berlin Kurfürstendamm – June 2019
Dublin - June 2019
Brisbane – August 2019
Paris Outpost – September 2019
Precis
BrewDog is to launch a bar franchise offer in the UK, as part of its BrewDog Blueprint of 30 initiatives to drive growth over the next decade. The Scottish brewer and operator of over 70 craft beer bars announced this morning that it would offer its Equity for Punks crowdfunders the chance to set up their own bars, starting with a trial of up to 10 locations. Potential locations include Ayr, North Berwick, Oban, Kirkwall, St Ives, Swansea, Northampton, Huddersfield, Newquay, Stoke on Trent. A franchise open day will be held next month.
