BrewDog co-founder and CEO James Watt announced he will step down as chief executive officer and move to a new role as “Captain & Co-Founder” — with chief operating officer James Arrow becoming the firm’s new CEO.

Watt said he will remain a BrewDog board member, a director, and will also be “part time strategic advisor to the business and our to leadership team.”

Watt will also retain his large BrewDog shareholding.

The BrewDog co-founder said he will take some time off for travelling and adventures, spend more time with family and loved ones, continue to nurture start-up firms, and start a few new ventures of his own.

In a social media post, Watt wrote: “17 years ago, Martin and I founded BrewDog in Martin’s mum’s garage.

“With two humans and one dog we set out on a bold mission to make other people as passionate about great beer as we are.

“Little could I have imagined that this journey would see us build the world’s leading craft beer business, operate in over 70 countries, create a unicorn, ship over 1 billion cans of beer and be fortunate enough to work with such amazing people every single day.

“As a team we have won gold medals at the world beer cup, opened showstopping locations all over the planet, turned the beer industry on its head, continually taken a stand for the things we believe in, created thousands of jobs, broken crowdfunding records and continually strived to build the best company we possibly could.

“For almost two decades pretty much every second of my waking existence has been focussed on this amazing business. Being able to co-found and then lead BrewDog and our fantastic team has been the greatest privilege and the best adventure I could ever have wished for.

“After 17 fantastic years as CEO, I have decided to transition into a new role in the business, one of ‘Captain & Co-Founder’ – and James Arrow will pick up the reins as CEO 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 advisor to the business and our to leadership team.

“Furthermore, I will retain my BrewDog shareholding and my Hop Stock initiative whereby I give 20% of my BrewDog shares to the team will remain in place.

“During my time at the helm of BrewDog, there have been highs and lows, up and downs, crazy successes and incredibly hard challenges. When I look back on the last 17 years (119 Dog Years) my overwhelming feeling is one of gratitude.

“Gratitude to have been able to build the world’s leading craft beer brand, from scratch. Gratitude to have been able to work with such amazing people all over our business including our fantastic community.

“I am eternally thankful for all the brilliant beers, all the standout batches of Jack Hammer and all the wild adventures we have been on as a team.

“I am also grateful for the tough times too, for the learnings they provided, the resolve they instilled and the perspective they offered.

“In terms of the next chapter for myself, I wanted to share with you my plans going forward:

·     Continuing to help BrewDog build an amazing business.
·     Some time off for travelling & adventures.
·     Spending more time with family & loved ones.
·     Continuing to help nurture fantastic start-ups.
·     Becoming a football manager.
·     And in due course, starting a few new ventures of my own.
(one of these is a lie)

“As for BrewDog going forward, I am really excited to see the next phase of our growth. We have great momentum in our most important sales channels and our team, at all levels of the business, is in incredibly good shape.

“Hold Fast.”