David McDowall joins BrewDog as MD of bars

BrewDog, Scotland’s largest independent brewery has appointed David McDowall as its managing director of bars to support the rapid growth of this division of the company. He will be responsible for overseeing the strategic growth and management of the BrewDog bar estate.

McDowall joins BrewDog from G1 Group, where he held the position of group operations director for six years, managing over 50 sites in Scotland and heading up a team of over 2,000 employees.

In this new role, David’s primary focus will be growing the UK bar division, which currently consists of 18 sites.

BrewDog also has seven international bars in Tokyo, São Paulo, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Florence, Bologna and Helsinki. BrewDog launched a total of 10 bars in 2014, and plans to accelerate that growth this year. In the coming months it will be launching new bars in Brighton, Dalston, Glasgow Merchant City, Barcelona, and Berlin.

James Watt, co-founder of BrewDog comments: “It’s great to welcome such a powerhouse of the Scottish hospitality industry into the BrewDog fold. David has a killer business head and awesome strategic experience of growing a hugely successful bar division. We want to ensure that we can satisfy the thirst of our loyal craft beer community by opening more kickass bars, and ensuring that each and every one delivers an amazing BrewDog experience every time.”

McDowall adds: “I have witnessed BrewDog’s phenomenal growth over the last few years and I’m thrilled to be joining such a vibrant business that is committed to doing things differently. The whole team lives and breathes craft beer, and their dedication and passion to the craft beer revolution is infectious. I can’t wait to get cracking and to grow this unique bar division.”

12 January 2015 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor