BrewDog's Stirling pub on 7 Baker Street

Stirling’s BrewDog pub shuts permanently

1 min read

Stirling’s BrewDog pub on 7 Baker Street closed on Monday (March 2), as the company completed a £33 million sale to US drinks and medical cannabis company, Tilray.

Originally a temporary measure to comply with licensing rules while the company held staff meetings, the closure became permanent late on Monday afternoon.

Alongside Stirling’s branch, 37 other bars will be permanently closed, and 484 staff made redundant.

Eleven UK pubs and 733 jobs were saved as part of the sale.

Three Scottish pubs will remain open, including two in Edinburgh and one in Ellon.

BrewDog announced in mid-February that consultants AlixPartners were being brought in to advise on a potential sale as the pub chain has failed to turn a profit in recent years.

BrewDog, founded in Aberdeenshire in 2007 by co-founders James Watt and Martin Dickie, has been mired by scandals and controversies in recent years.

Originally marketed as a ‘rebellious’ brewery, the firm was censured in 2023 for misleading climate advertising, and wound back its carbon-capture efforts in 2024 while cutting the pay of new staff from the national living wage to the minimum wage.

Allegations of inappropriate behaviour from co-founder and former-CEO James Watt were also the subject of a BBC documentary in 2022, and there had been complaints of toxicity in the workplace. Watt later stepped down as CEO, but remained onboard as ‘captain and co-founder’.

Featured Image Credit: Edward Jewsbury

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