Brewdog: major UK beer chain closing 38 bars and pubs 'immediately' despite Tilray sale - full closures list
Hundreds of staff have been made redundant by the craft beer brand, reportedly with just 25 minutes’ notice 🍺
- BrewDog has closed 38 bars across the UK with 'immediate effect', resulting in 484 job losses
- US firm Tilray Brands has acquired ‘key assents’ in a £33 million deal, saving 733 jobs
- Yorkshire bars are unaffected this time, but past closures have included York, Sheffield, and Leeds
- Crowdfund investors from BrewDog’s ‘Equity for Punks’ scheme will be left empty-handed
- Tilray takes control of Brewdog’s Ellon brewery and 11 UK and Ireland pubs
A major bar chain has shut 38 of its locations across the UK “with immediate effect”, despite being rescued in a £33 million takeover.
Scottish craft beer giant Brewdog, famous for brews like Punk IPA and Elvis Juice, fell into administration on Monday (March 2) before confirming a deal to sell key assets to US-based Tilray Brands, better known for producing medicinal cannabis alongside craft beer.
Administrators confirmed that while Tilray has acquired the BrewDog brand and a number of assets, most of the company’s directly operated bars will close, resulting in hundreds of redundancies.
The deal sees Tilray take ownership of BrewDog’s global brand and intellectual property, its UK brewing operations, and 11 pub venues across the UK and Ireland.
It will also assume control of the brewery in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, and the Hop Hub national distribution centre in Motherwell, Lanarkshire.
In total, 733 UK jobs will be preserved and transferred to Tilray. But 484 roles linked to the 38 closing bars have been be lost.
The closures follow weeks of uncertainty after consultants AlixPartners were brought in in February to oversee a strategic review and sale process. Insolvency specialists from the same firm were formally appointed as administrators earlier this week.
The scale of the job losses has drawn criticism, with Harriet Cross, MP for Gordon and Buchan, where BrewDog is headquartered, describing the closures as “disastrous”.
She said: “My immediate thoughts go to the hardworking staff who have been impacted by this through no fault of their own.”
“Tilray has told me, in its words, that brewing operations in Ellon remain central to the business and the company has no plans to relocate production from Scotland.”
Unite the union has also pledged to seek answers over unpaid wages and transparency during the sales process.
Unite national lead for hospitality Bryan Simpson criticised the way staff were informed, claiming workers were told they were redundant with immediate effect during a conference call with just 25 minutes’ notice.
The move also leaves thousands of small investors facing losses. BrewDog ran a series of crowdfunding drives under its high-profile “Equity for Punks” scheme up to 2021.
Administrators have confirmed that equity holders, including crowdfund investors, will receive no returns from the Tilray deal.
Which Brewdog pubs and bars are closing?
BrewDog’s 18 franchise bars, both in the UK and internationally, will continue trading.
For Yorkshire drinkers, there is a small mercy. There are no Yorkshire sites in the latest closure list, but the region has already felt the impact of BrewDog’s troubles.
In 2025 the company confirmed the closure of 10 UK bars, including branches in York, Sheffield and Leeds, as part of a major restructuring of its bar division. The only remaining Yorkshire venue, in Hull, is unaffected by this latest round of cuts.
Here is a list of the BrewDog bars that have closed “with immediate effect”:
England and Wales
- Basingstoke, Hampshire
- Bath, Somerset
- Bournemouth, Dorset
- Bristol – Baldwin Street
- Bristol – Harbourside
- Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
- Cardiff, Wales
- Carlisle, Cumbria
- Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
- Exeter, Devon
- London – Soho
- London – Camden Road
- London – Chancery Lane
- London – Clerkenwell
- London – Ealing
- London – Hammersmith
- London – Seething Lane
- London – Tower Bridge
- London – Wandsworth
- Liverpool, Merseyside
- Manchester – DogHouse Manchester
- Manchester – Manchester Outpost
- Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
- Newcastle, Tyne and Wear
- Norwich, Norfolk
- Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
- Plymouth, Devon
- Reading, Berkshire
- Southampton, Hampshire
Scotland
- Aberdeen – Castlegate
- Aberdeen – Union Square
- Edinburgh – Cowgate
- Glasgow – Merchant City
- Glasgow – Argyle Street
- Inverurie
- Perth
- St Andrews
- Stirling
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