James Brown has stepped down as operations director of Wasabi, the sushi and bento chain led by Dong Hyun Kim, to join former G1 Group colleague David McDowall at BrewDog, M&C has learnt.
Brown, left G1 earlier this year after 11 years with the Scotland-based hospitality business, including 10 years as head of operations and a further year as director of business development, to join Wasabi.
He rejoins McDowall as operations director for BrewDog’s bars division, with openings this week lined up in Aberdeen and London’s Clerkenwell.
At G1 Group, Brown also developed and launched the group’s own booking/enquiry and customer relation management system called Sliced Bread.
Brown also joins David Tracey, former director of brands and standards at G1 Group, at BrewDog
Tracey left G1 earlier this year after six years with the company to become head of retail development at BrewDog as it looks to open 12 new bars in the UK this year as part of plans to operate 100 sites over the next few years.
Tracey is aiding the expansion of the group’s bars and also with the further ramping up of its food and coffee offer.
BrewDog currently operates 28 bars in the UK and has lined up further openings in Dalston, Norwich and York.
