Scottish craft brewery, BrewDog has been recognised as one of the fastest growing private companies in the UK with its inclusion in the 2017 Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100.
The Fast Track is a league table that ranks Britain's 100 private companies with the fastest-growing sales over their latest three years. BrewDog’s entry marks the sixth consecutive year the Aberdeenshire-based craft brewery has made the cut, a record for any company in the Fast Track’s 21-year history.
What makes BrewDog an exceptional company?
• BrewDog’s UK sales were up 93% year-on-year at the end of September 2017, and this incredible growth follows a banner year in 2016, when the brewery saw a 97% surge in sales.
• The brewery’s flagship beer Punk IPA has been the best-selling craft beer in the UK off-trade for the last three years, and currently, five of the top 10 best-selling craft beers in the UK are BrewDog beers.
• BrewDog’s remarkable growth has been powered by its record-breaking Equity for Punks crowdfunding initiative, which has seen the brewery raise over £47m since 2009.
• In October, the brewery launched its fifth round of Equity for Punks- looking to raise £10million with a stretch goal of up to £50 million, in order to further its global expansion.
• This includes the construction of new breweries in Australia and Asia, the opening of 15 new craft beer venues in the UK, increasing production capacity in its UK brewery, and the creation of a dedicated craft beer TV network.
• Equity for Punks V has so far raised more than 60% of its initial fundraising target, and is scheduled to close in January.
• In the past year, BrewDog has shipped the equivalent of 65 million bottles of craft beer around the world, and released the first beers from its new American brewery in Columbus, Ohio.
• In August this year, the brewery announced that it would be giving away 20% of its future profits as part of its ‘Unicorn Fund’.
• 10% of profits will be distributed equally to all staff, with a further 10% being donated to charitable causes selected by BrewDog’s staff and 50,000-strong Equity Punk community.
Sir Richard Branson of Virgin, the title sponsor of the league table for all 21 years, commented on BrewDog’s accomplishment, “An impressive business to make it on the list for a record sixth time is BrewDog, Scotland’s largest independent brewery. Its co-founders, James Watt and Martin Dickie, share a passion for beer. It shows that loving what you do is an important ingredient of a successful business.”
“Entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of the economy; driving innovation, creating jobs and challenging industry norms. The achievements of the companies on this year’s Fast Track 100 list are fantastic.”
James Watt, BrewDog cofounder said, “Being on the Fast Track for six consecutive years speaks volumes about the thirst for awesome craft beer both in the UK and internationally, and we couldn’t have landed this incredible milestone without the support of our community of craft beer renegades. Our focus for the next 12 months is all about taking our mission truly global with launches into Asia and Australia and beyond, whilst continuing to support the growth of the exciting, eclectic craft beer scene in Europe. All these things and more will help us nail year #7. Roll on 2018.”
Hamish Stevenson, founder and chief executive of Fast Track added, “It is a fantastic achievement for BrewDog to be on our Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 league table for a record sixth time in a row. Sustaining such impressive growth year after year is a testament to the strength of the BrewDog business model and the drive of the founders, James and Martin.”
