BrewDog: Leeds, York and Sheffield sites to shut down as company announces string of closures
BrewDog has announced that it will close three venues in Yorkshire as part of a string of closures across England and Scotland.
The firm confirmed that it would be closing its Sheffield, York and Leeds North Street bars in Yorkshire, along with seven other sites including its flagship Aberdeen location.
Brewdog said that despite its “best efforts”, it had been unable to make the locations commercially viable.
The company did not confirm if or how many redundancies would be made as part of the move, but said it was “working hard to minimise the impact on our people”.
A spokesperson for BrewDog said: “We can confirm that following a review of our bars business we have made the difficult decision to close 10 bars – which reflects a more focused strategy and a rationalisation of our bar footprint.
“Despite our best efforts, and the hard work of our teams, it has simply not been possible to make these bars commercially viable.
“This decision is not simply a response to the challenging UK hospitality market, but a proactive decision to redefine the bar division’s focus for long-term and profitable growth – accounting for ongoing industry challenges, including rising costs, increased regulation, and economic pressures.”
The hospitality arm of Unite Union claimed that BrewDog is set to close its bars as soon as Friday.
The company did not confirm the timescale of the closures, but said: “Regarding the notice period, we are going through a meaningful and appropriate consultation process with all affected staff. It will last a minimum of 14 days, there will be one to one meetings for every member of staff who is at risk of redundancy and every effort will be made to redeploy as many members of staff as possible.
“A full range of wellbeing and outplacement support will be available to all affected employees.”
BrewDog is also set to close its Brighton, Camden, Dundee, Oxford, Shepherds Bush and Shoreditch locations.
The company said the move forms part of its long-term strategy, which will see BrewDog switch to being an “experience-led” brand. It said it would now focus on large-format destination hubs – such as its Waterloo and Las Vegas sites – and smaller community bars.