BrewDog expands pub estate

United Kingdom | While other pub chains announced plans to close some venues and warned over job cuts, BrewDog has confirmed that it seeks to open 20 new bars across the UK and internationally. There are already more than 100 bars in its estate.

In the UK, BrewDog says it is opening venues in Ellon in Scotland, Plymouth, Exeter, Manchester, Chelmsford, Basingstoke, Cleveland, Bath, Ealing, Belfast, Headingley, Huddersfield, Bradford and Lincoln.

Internationally it is opening venues in Shanghai, two in Paris, one each in Mumbai and Bangalore, as well as one in Wiesbaden and Frankfurt, Germany. The new bars will employ 400 people.

BrewDog signs franchise deal

In order to speedily roll out new bars, in September, BrewDog signed a franchise contract with Bruton Capital for Germany: ten bars are set to open in in the metropolitan areas of Berlin and Frankfurt over the next three years. The first franchise bar is scheduled to open in Wiesbaden in early 2021.

Marcus Thieme, CEO of BrewDog Germany said: “Bruton has a strong record in real estate investment. We are very happy to have found a professional partner to expand our network of BrewDog Bars.”

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Frankfurt, Bruton Capital is a privately held investment advisor, specialising in commercial real estate in Germany and western Europe. The company advises a number of clients, including family offices and private family trusts, with more than EUR 300 million (USD 356 million) of assets under management.

As part of this cooperation, Bruton Capital will also take over the BrewDog Bar in Berlin Mitte, BrewDog’s first in Germany (November 2016). It has since acquired Stone’s brewery in Berlin (April 2019) and opened a bar in St. Pauli, Hamburg (June 2019).

Ever ambitious, BrewDog hopes to attract more franchisees to add 40 bars in Germany and Austria over the next few years.