Has BrewDog's bark chased away sales chief?

By: Chris Mercer - 11 August 2010 14:14

Could the departure of BrewDog's Richard McLelland for a near-identical position at a rival Scottish brewer suggest tension over BrewDog's publicity-chasing antics?

McLelland is moving to head up sales at Glasgow-based West Brewery, where he knows the founder, Petra Wetzel.

Nothing too sinister about that, you might say. People move within the drinks industry regularly enough, after all.

Yet, there was something about McLelland's comments in today's announcement (11 August) that suggested all was not sweetness and light at BrewDog HQ.

"This was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made," said McLelland. Already, I'm thinking 'ouch'.

"Just look at the way it goes about its business and its reputation; a nimble outfit that’s not shy of sticking its neck out, but one that’s rooted in integrity, decent values and exacting standards," he added of West Brewery.

Now, I've seen plenty of press releases on appointments and that's a pretty frank way of talking, particularly considering that McLelland has come from a direct rival to West.

Could it be that stunts like this have caused a split at camp BrewDog?

Comments on this blog post

I get the feeling that Brewdog's mummies perhaps didn't give them enough attention back when they were wannabe edgy, trustafarian, try-too-hard, maverick nippers. I couldn't bear to be in the same room as, let alone work for, anybody that self-obsessed.

TF said at 4:01 pm, August 12, 2010