Staff at BrewDog’s Merchant City bar who were axed in mass lay-offs have been asked to reapply for their jobs.
Sacked workers at the brand’s former flagship Glasgow pub received emails giving them the “opportunity to apply” for their old jobs.
The self-styled "punk" Scottish beer giant, which once attained a unicorn valuation of £2billion, was sold off for parts at the beginning of the month.
The brand was acquired for £33million by a U.S. cannabis firm in a takeover deal that closed 38 pubs across the country and cut 484 jobs.
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One email to the bar’s ex-manager read: “We appreciate that you may have strong feelings about what has happened and we fully respect that you may not wish to engage further.”
But it continued: “Given your previous connection to the bar, we wanted to ensure you were aware of the opportunity to apply for a role, should you wish to be considered.”
The former bartender said: “My exact reaction was: ‘why on earth would I want to work for you again after you made me redundant?’”
They added that several former colleagues were “up in arms” about the company’s “fire and rehire tactics”.
They replied to the email, saying: “Why on earth would anyone want to work for you again?
“People are struggling financially because of the company’s failings and inability to actually pay people what they are owed.
“Thanks, but no thanks.”
They also questioned the new owner’s strategy in buying up assets, saying: “Where is this money coming from? It seems like they’ve had the money and just didn’t know what they were buying or what they were selling.”
After the takeover by Tilray, the firm struck a deal to buy BrewDog’s Australian business as well as some of its US assets.
“It’s quite horrible to see, you’re buying back assets yet you couldn’t save nearly 500 people’s jobs in the UK where your biggest market is.”
They added: “It’s quite difficult to read and talk about.”
Staff let go by the new owners in the recent takeover deal were offered one week’s pay for every year of employment but some say they have struggled to claim the money.
One bartender from the Duke of Hammersmith pub in London said that staff were given just 25-minutes notice before being invited on to a Zoom call bloodbath which left just 11 locations standing.
As CEO James Taylor hosted the call, redundant workers reportedly denounced company higher-ups as “p****s and c***s” while threatening legal action.
The staff member added that “everyone was absolutely distraught at the pub”.
