The rise and fall of James Watt: How the pioneering BrewDog boss brought craft beer to the masses and hobnobbed with stars while dating Georgia Toffolo - but saw his success overshadowed by claims of inappropriate behaviour and abuse of power

When James Watt first set up a brewery in his humble Aberdeen garage in 2007, even he may have struggled to believe how much it would change his life.

This is the man credited with bringing craft beer to the masses - with his BrewDog brand now impossible to escape in pubs and supermarkets up and down the land.

Needless to say that success has brought him enormous wealth, and upgraded his social status, to the point where he now dates Georgia Toffolo - a certified Queen of the Jungle.

The retired fishing boat captain has since been spotted hobnobbing with celebrities, including recently at Nigel Farage's star-studded 60th birthday bash - a far cry from his humble beginnings.

But as Mr Watt steps down as CEO of BrewDog after 17 years today, his legacy is marred by a string of controversies, including allegations of inappropriate behaviour.

Mr Watt will hand over the reins to chief operating officer James Arrow, but will remain with the group as a non-executive director on the board and continue to advise them on strategy.

The group said it had put in place succession plans after Mr Watt first told the board last year he wanted to step away to focus on his other projects and interests.

Mr Watt will take on the newly created non-executive role of 'captain and co-founder' and retains his 21 per cent shareholding in the firm.

In a Linkedin post, Mr Watt said: 'After 17 fantastic years as chief executive, I have decided to transition into a new role in the business, one of 'captain and co-Founder' - and James Arrow will pick up the reins as chief executive as our business pushes forward into our next phase of growth.

'In my new role I will remain as a board member, a director and I will also be part time strategic adviser to the business and our to leadership team.'

BrewDog chairman Allan Leighton said: 'James Watt, alongside Martin Dickie, created this great business from a garage in Fraserburgh.

'Few have accomplished what he has.

'From very humble beginnings under his leadership, BrewDog has grown to become the world's leading craft brewer, employing 2,530 people across its head office, four breweries and over 120 bars.

'I am especially pleased he will continue to offer his insight, creative genius and energy to the board.'

The Aberdeen-born founders of BrewDog Mr Watt and Mr Dickie started up their own brewery at the age of 24 on an industrial estate in 2007. They decided on the name because Mr Watt's father Jim had recently got a puppy.

Mr Watt comes from a family of fishermen and used to help his father on his fishing boat in the North Sea. On his LinkedIn profile he claims to be a 'fully qualified deep sea captain'.

He graduated from Edinburgh University with a degree in law and economics. After landing a job as a trainee solicitor he quit after two weeks - branding 'conforming' as 'painful at best - and, three years later, started BrewDog with Mr Dickie.

The business struggled at first but took off when, after around six months, Tesco placed an order to sell its beer across the country.

In 2014, Mr Watt won Great British Entrepreneur of the Year, and in 2016 both he and Mr Dickie were awarded an MBE.

Mr Dickie, married and a father-of-three, has kept a quieter public profile than his business partner - though he did ride an Abbott 433 tank through Camden in north London to mark the opening of their first bar in England.

The pair grew up as best friends and became flatmates when they both lived in Edinburgh.

Mr Watt, who is divorced with two daughters, has very much been the face of the company since its inception. 

But Mr Watt's tenure has been marred by controversy in recent years, with the firm accused by former workers in an open letter in 2021 of having a 'culture of fear' within the business, with 'toxic attitudes' towards junior staff.

He later admitted to being 'too intense and demanding' amid a workplace culture row where he was accused of inappropriate behaviour and abusing his power. 

Speaking with Steven Bartlett on the Diary of a CEO podcast about his leadership at the company, he admitted to previously pushing people 'too far' because of his 'high standards.'

But the CEO - whose company has been accused of having a 'rotten culture' - said that his actions were done with '100 per cent good intentions.'

Mr Watt revealed: 'It's completely fair to say at times in the journey I have been too intense.

'I have been too demanding, that I have set standards for the team which I would set for myself, and for a lot of the team members that is unattainable.

'I just pushed for such high standards, unrealistic deadlines, it's because I was so focused on 'let's build the thing, let's create more jobs, let's deliver more value for our customers.'

'The intention was 100 per cent good and because I was so bought in and so focused on that, I did push people too far.'

More than 15 ex-staff previously spoke out against Mr Watt with some claiming he made female bartenders feel 'uncomfortable' and 'powerless'.

They were even advised by colleagues on how to avoid unwelcome attention from Mr Watt, according to an investigation by BBC Scotland's Disclosure programme.

Katelynn Ising, who worked at a BrewDog bar in Ohio, US, said female staff would dress down when they knew Mr Watt would be in their bars.

Other former staff claim Mr Watt was witnessed by staff kissing an intoxicated customer on a roof terrace at another US bar.

Mr Watt has said the allegations are false and denies behaving inappropriately.

Last year, Watts' disgruntled former employees shared a scathing open letter slamming the company for its 'toxic attitudes' and accusing it of fostering a 'culture of fear' among staff.

Penned by a group called 'Punks With Purpose', the letter featured a list of 63 names of people who used to work for the firm, and takes aim at the Scotland-based brewery's founders James Watt and Martin Dickie.

It claimed the company is 'built on a cult of personality' and alleged that it left some staff feeling 'burnt out, afraid and miserable', adding that 'a significant number of people have admitted they have suffered mental illness' as a result of working there.

It went so far as to claim being treated like a human being 'was sadly not always a given' for those employed by BrewDog - trashing the image of the hipster company which offers 'pawternity leave' if a staff member gets a dog and pays employees £500 to quit if they don't feel they're a good fit.

'BrewDog was, and is, built on a cult of personality,' it read. 'Since day one, you have sought to exploit publicity, both good and bad (and usually with the faces of James and Martin front and centre) to further your own business goals.'

It went on: 'We felt that no matter how these were raised, the likelihood was we would be met with some variation on 'that's just the way things are',' it argues.

The letter also alleged that some senior staff members 'belittled' others beneath them and 'pressured them into working beyond their capacity' to the point where they eventually felt 'forced out of the business'.

It claimed the single biggest shared experience of former staff is 'a residual feeling of fear', both of the atmosphere and the repercussions if they were to speak out. It claimed 'many' felt unable to sign the letter because doing so would 'leave them feeling extremely vulnerable'.

The letter then personally accused Mr Watt for being responsible for the company's 'rotten culture', claiming in the wake of his success are people 'left burnt out, afraid and miserable'. It ends by demanding a 'genuine apology' for the people who felt they were 'harassed, assaulted, belittled, insulted or gaslighted'.

In response at the time, Mr Watt said: 'At BrewDog our people are our main priority, which is why the open letter we saw on Twitter was so upsetting, but so important,' it said.

'Our focus now is not on contradicting or contesting the details of that letter, but to listen, learn and act.

'At BrewDog we are focussed on building the best business we can. We have always tried to do the best by our team — we do have many thousands of employees with positive stories to tell as a result. But the tweet we saw last night proves that on many occasions we haven't got it right. We are committed to doing better, not just as a reaction to this, but always; and we are going to reach out to our entire team past and present to learn more.

'But most of all, right now, we are sorry. It's hard to hear those comments, but it must have been harder to say them. We appreciate that and we will endeavour to honour that effort and courage with the real change it deserves.

'We aren't going to make excuses, we're going to take action. From our commitment to sustainability to our passion for beer, BrewDog has always been defined by taking responsibility and continually improving. This is no exception.'

Earlier that year, it was revealed that the BrewDog boss was privately prosecuting a woman he claimed provided false information about people behind 'malicious' comments made about him online.

Last year, it was reported he sought specialist help after he was described as 'semi-autistic' in the wake of allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards staff.

He was diagnosed with ADHD - which causes people to be restless and impulsive - and Asperger syndrome, a form of autism.

Mr Watt is dating former Made in Chelsea star Georgia Toffolo, 29, with the pair getting together over the summer after being set up on a blind date by a friend.