BrewDog co-founder has responded to a Guardian story saying he hired private investigators to gather evidence of an alleged smear campaign against him.
As reported yesterday, The Guardian said investigators from a private company called Integritas tracked down a former colleague of whistle-blower Rob MacKay, who appeared in a BBC documentary, The Truth About BrewDog. That programme alleged there was a toxic workplace culture at the brewery. It also interviewed several US BrewDog employees who accused Watt of unacceptable behaviour towards women.
On his LinkedIn account, Watt responds that these stories and the attacks on himself and the business are a distraction. He adds:
“Despite that, we remain hugely committed and excited about the opportunities ahead of us. I am absolutely passionate about making sure we are the best employer we possibly can be, and to that end we are making some significant announcements shortly.
“However, you all deserve a bit more of an explanation as to what is actually going on here. I regret having to comment on this publicly, but it’s clear that the attacks on us are not going to stop.
“I have been subject to a two-year-long co-ordinated criminal campaign of online harassment, defamation, blackmail, significant fraud, and malicious communications. This campaign began when appalling lies about me were sent by third parties, operating through troll accounts, to a large number of my social media connections. In their own words they have been working together on ‘a plot to bring James down’.
“We subsequently engaged the services of digital investigative specialists to seek to identify the source of these damaging and false allegations and identify the individuals who defrauded me. As a direct result of those actions, and following a court order obtained from the High Court based on written evidence, we were able to identify individuals involved.
Criminal prosecution
“I have a duty to act in the best interests of the company, our employees, and investors: this duty extends to protecting the business from malicious individuals who wish to cause us harm.
“The objective of our enquiries was to understand the extent of the campaign against us and to take appropriate legal action to bring it to an end. A criminal prosecution for serious fraud and malicious communications is now under way in a court in London. There are related civil proceedings underway in The Court of Session in Scotland. Furthermore, there is a separate police complaint against a PwP founder for blackmail. Given that there are criminal proceedings, I am obviously not allowed to comment further.
“Criticism of our business is fine and often warranted — I fully accept that. Colluding in illegal activity to damage me or the business is not.
“Whilst the last few months have been tough, I’ve never been more motivated to support and lead the continued development of this amazing business and our fantastic people.
“This was never about money for myself or Martin. Ever. We could have cashed out years ago, never bought the Lost Forest, never signed off a further £70m-plus investment this year alone. It’s about doing something different and building a business we are proud of, and I’m sorry that there are a handful of people on a criminal mission to bring us down.
“However, I remain excited about what we can build as a team over the remainder of 2022 and beyond.”
