James Watt, the controversial boss of BrewDog, has hired private enquiry agents to investigate people he believes are badmouthing him.
The Guardian newspaper reports that Watt hired the agents to approach people to gather evidence on people Watt believes are out to besmirch his reputation.
Watt has previously been accused by numerous employees past and present of creating a culture of fear at BrewDog, the hyperbolic brewing company, which is infamous for its publicity stunts.
punks with purpose is gonna turn out to be a brewdog PR stunt isn't it
— Joe (@goulcher) June 10, 2021
Recently, the BBC aired a documentary called “The Truth About BrewDog” that according to the Scottish edition of the Sun newspaper prompted Watt to lodge an official complaint about the broadcaster to Ofcom, the industry watchdog.
The BBC has broadcast the documentary more than once, making eight corrections in the second broadcast after Watt complained; however, it was also reported that Watt put pressure on current employees of BrewDog not to appear in the BBC documentary.
A spokesperson for BrewDog confirmed that investigators had been hired to get to the bottom of what it claimed were false allegations.
“As a result of those investigations, our lawyers are pursuing a private criminal prosecution for fraud and malicious communications in a court in London, there are related civil proceedings underway in Scotland and other matters have been reported to the police. These proceedings also relate to individuals directly involved in the leadership of the Punks With Purpose movement,” a statement from the company said.
We're expecting to see a response from BrewDog imminently. We currently understand this will be an open letter, which staff are being strongly urged to make a quick decision on signing. Some are already refusing. The current draft is here; sorry we only have images at present. pic.twitter.com/pDR3rRiQo2
— Punks With Purpose (@PunksWPurpose) June 10, 2021
Punks With Purpose is the name of the group that went public with its concerns over the workplace culture at BrewDog.
“We will no longer allow blatant lies to be told about our business or our people. Where those lies are told, we are duty-bound to set the record straight and will expect retractions where required. We hope that by taking this action now, we can bring this deeply distressing campaign to an end,” BrewDog’s statement continued.