Brewdog

[Squirrelhumper]

Good to see despatches tonight show them up for being the utter fraud that they are. 

[Ally Bongo]

Flatty will be on shortly to apologise for all the free advertising he gives them

That being said - the BBC investigating a Scottish company

Are they pro Independence ?

Edited January 24, 2022 by Ally Bongo

[scotlad]

9 minutes ago, Ally Bongo said:

Flatty will be on shortly to apologise for all the free advertising he gives them

That being said - the BBC investigating a Scottish company

Are they pro Independence ?

They are indeed (or they were in 2014 anyway).

I'm ambivalent about BrewDog; their bars I feel are slightly overrated and while their beer is good there are better craft beers on the market.  But I can't help feeling the Beeb are going after low hanging fruit here.

I've heard allegations of staff being treated like shite too - which disgusts me - but even if that's true they're unfortunately far from alone in the hospitality industry. I don't see anyone going after the likes of McDonald's.

[Squirrelhumper]

42 minutes ago, Ally Bongo said:

Flatty will be on shortly to apologise for all the free advertising he gives them

That being said - the BBC investigating a Scottish company

Are they pro Independence ?

Not everything has to be about independence. If even half that is true then they are fucked.

[chaff]

I've been suspicious about brewdog for years the whole equity for punks thing always got on my goat.

 

[ParisInAKilt]

1 hour ago, Ally Bongo said:

Flatty will be on shortly to apologise for all the free advertising he gives them

That being said - the BBC investigating a Scottish company

Are they pro Independence ?

😂😂 because that’s the most important thing 

[ParisInAKilt]

I’ve been taken in by them in the past and they did brew good beers but they’ve always been something about them. Did they not try and taken legal action a pub in England for using punk in the name?

[kumnio]

The sexual issues are a new low for this Watt character, there have been plenty of dubious stories before, but these are the most damning. They do seem to be a company without morals.

[scotlad]

1 hour ago, Squirrelhumper said:

Not everything has to be about independence. If even half that is true then they are fucked.

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

This is the second time in quick succession that BBC Scotland have ran stories criticising successful Scottish pub chains (they ran an item on the MacMerry group on Reporting Scotland last week).

Is that just a coincidence? Maybe. Maybe both companies are bad yins and of all the hospitality chains operating in Scotland they are the worst, and it is just unfortunate that they were founded here. In which case, more power to the BBC for bringing it to the public's attention. I suppose it depends on whether you believe in coincidences.

[aaid]

1 hour ago, chaff said:

I've been suspicious about brewdog for years the whole equity for punks thing always got on my goat.

 

In 2016 there was a really good exhibition in the British Library in London on 40 years of Punk Rock, which I went to  

They had a pop up shop selling a load of various bits of punk and new wave merchandise, including some cans of Punk IPA. That day, the two founders had been awarded MBEs.  A couple who looked like they’d be original punks were about to pick up some when I pointed that out and said “that’s not very punk is it?”  They went Nah it’s not and put them back.

If you like the beer, fair enough, I think it’s reasonable but wouldn’t be my first choice, but don’t be conned by the supposed ethos, it’s been evident for some time that they’re not all they would like people to think they are. 

[vanderark14]

7 hours ago, kumnio said:

The sexual issues are a new low for this Watt character, there have been plenty of dubious stories before, but these are the most damning. They do seem to be a company without morals.

Watt has always been a prick. His rags to riches story is a fabrication, his father is minted and Watt had a berth on a large purser boat in the fishing industry. Even before he became a z list celeb, he was an arrogant wanker. 

 

[Lamia]

8 hours ago, kumnio said:

The sexual issues are a new low for this Watt character, there have been plenty of dubious stories before, but these are the most damning. They do seem to be a company without morals.

This is the only thing that stands out for me. The rest was simply not news. Anyone who has paid even the slightest attention would know how they operate. It isn't like they have kept it a secret in fact quite the opposite. Thought it was all pretty much so what, to be honest (except the above).

I did find it odd that it was all about the US operation though.

I am also quite suspicious of the BBC's motives - they don't pick their targets by accident. James Watt has always been an @rse though so I don't have any sympathy for him either. I do however feel there is an agenda of some sort here which is more than just truth seeking. I am not sure I trusted some of those being interviewed.

[aaid]

1 hour ago, Lamia said:

This is the only thing that stands out for me. The rest was simply not news. Anyone who has paid even the slightest attention would know how they operate. It isn't like they have kept it a secret in fact quite the opposite. Thought it was all pretty much so what, to be honest (except the above).

I did find it odd that it was all about the US operation though.

I am also quite suspicious of the BBC's motives - they don't pick their targets by accident. James Watt has always been an @rse though so I don't have any sympathy for him either. I do however feel there is an agenda of some sort here which is more than just truth seeking. I am not sure I trusted some of those being interviewed.

Shouldn’t you be declaring an interest here?

[Squirrelhumper]

11 hours ago, scotlad said:

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

This is the second time in quick succession that BBC Scotland have ran stories criticising successful Scottish pub chains (they ran an item on the MacMerry group on Reporting Scotland last week).

Is that just a coincidence? Maybe. Maybe both companies are bad yins and of all the hospitality chains operating in Scotland they are the worst, and it is just unfortunate that they were founded here. In which case, more power to the BBC for bringing it to the public's attention. I suppose it depends on whether you believe in coincidences.

Maybe they are just owned by cunts? Plenty of them in Scotland unfortunately. Unless all these current and ex employees are lying. The full company is built on lies. The Heineken shares hahaha, they have been taking folk for mugs for years.

The SG was feeding the programme info so not sure why folk think it was a hatchet job just cos it wee a Scottish company.

 

Edited January 25, 2022 by Squirrelhumper

[Lamia]

1 hour ago, Squirrelhumper said:

Maybe they are just owned by cunts? Plenty of them in Scotland unfortunately. Unless all these current and ex employees are lying. The full company is built on lies. The Heineken shares hahaha, they have been taking folk for mugs for years.

 

Is this really news. Didn’t everyone already know that

[scotlad]

1 hour ago, Squirrelhumper said:

Maybe they are just owned by cunts? Plenty of them in Scotland unfortunately. Unless all these current and ex employees are lying. The full company is built on lies. The Heineken shares hahaha, they have been taking folk for mugs for years.

The SG was feeding the programme info so not sure why folk think it was a hatchet job just cos it wee a Scottish company.

 

I'm prepared to believe there is some truth in what these ex-employees are saying. The catering and hospitality industries have treated a well deserved reputation for treating staff like shite, I know that from grim experience. It was one of the main reasons that made me to join a trade union back when I started my first "proper" job. You live, you learn. But are the experiences of these staff a result of behaviours at the top of the tree or due to the actions of local management?

Like Lamia said, the BBC don't pick their targets by accident.  BrewDog will be far from the only company in their industry where employees have been treated shoddily (if the allegations are true). 

As for the SG "feeding" the BBC info, I would guess the BBC got the info via FoI requests and have just baked that into their stories. Don't forget that the SG, beneath the veneer, is still an arm of the UK civil service.

[Ally Bongo]

 

Neil Drysdale

 

@NeilDrysdale

·

15h

 

Got no sympathy for Brewdog: never bought their products and never will. But I wish the BBC had put the same energy into finding out what happened to the £37bn for Serco test and trace or explaining the unfolding chaos in Dover as they’ve done in trashing a Scottish brewer!

[Lamia]

The whole style of the programme was odd too!

[ron.]

this was a total non story,and i hate brewdog

might get shut down and banned for life after not really brewing the beer on a plane 😀

[Squirrelhumper]

5 hours ago, scotlad said:

I'm prepared to believe there is some truth in what these ex-employees are saying. The catering and hospitality industries have treated a well deserved reputation for treating staff like shite, I know that from grim experience. It was one of the main reasons that made me to join a trade union back when I started my first "proper" job. You live, you learn. But are the experiences of these staff a result of behaviours at the top of the tree or due to the actions of local management?

Like Lamia said, the BBC don't pick their targets by accident.  BrewDog will be far from the only company in their industry where employees have been treated shoddily (if the allegations are true). 

As for the SG "feeding" the BBC info, I would guess the BBC got the info via FoI requests and have just baked that into their stories. Don't forget that the SG, beneath the veneer, is still an arm of the UK civil service.

Same reporter did a hatchet job on the huns too. Funnily enough those moaning about this were lapping up Daly's exclusives back then. 

[Squirrelhumper]

5 hours ago, Lamia said:

Is this really news. Didn’t everyone already know that

Never seen the Heineken shares mentioned before and whilst i've seen plenty on him being a prick to work for, i've not seen allegations of sexual misconduct before either. Nor the lying to get imports approved. 

That said, it might have been widely known and i've not paid much attention as i can't stand their full bullshit ponzi style business model. 

[Lamia]

4 minutes ago, Squirrelhumper said:

Never seen the Heineken shares mentioned before and whilst i've seen plenty on him being a prick to work for, i've not seen allegations of sexual misconduct before either. Nor the lying to get imports approved. 

That said, it might have been widely known and i've not paid much attention as i can't stand their full bullshit ponzi style business model. 

I wasn’t meaning the specifics. But non of if was anything different, surprising or earth shattering and I already said the sexual misconduct allegations were an exception. 
 

I just laughed most of the way through it especially the Heineken shares bit. It was such a weak “hatchet job”

Edited January 25, 2022 by Lamia

[kumnio]

Hand up, I haven't watched this, and have no intention to.

But the worst BBC Scotland investigation was when they investigated Romanov trying to expose him, it was comically bad and they really should have binned it at the production stage. Their main points were that he was abusing the loan system, yeah big surprise BBC, and that his business practices were poor as he took advantage of manufacturing in poorer countries, and selling in rich countries to make a lot of money, well done BBC.

 

[scotlad]

2 hours ago, Squirrelhumper said:

Same reporter did a hatchet job on the huns too. Funnily enough those moaning about this were lapping up Daly's exclusives back then. 

He's not all bad then.  😉

Seriously, he'll be working to a brief.  If he was a proper investigative journalist there are far bigger and better targets than fecking BrewDog - or Rangers FC, come to that!

26 minutes ago, kumnio said:

Hand up, I haven't watched this, and have no intention to.

But the worst BBC Scotland investigation was when they investigated Romanov trying to expose him, it was comically bad and they really should have binned it at the production stage. Their main points were that he was abusing the loan system, yeah big surprise BBC, and that his business practices were poor as he took advantage of manufacturing in poorer countries, and selling in rich countries to make a lot of money, well done BBC.

 

Like most manufacturing businesses then?  😂

Speaking of which, I wonder if we'll ever see a Dispatches episode about Baroness Mone and her business practices (I wouldn't advise anyone hold their breath).

[kumnio]

 

Never miss an opportunity, never.