Brewdog appoints new CFO

Global craft beer firm BrewDog has appointed Jason Marshall to the newly-created role of chief financial officer.

The Aberdeenshire-based firm said Mr Marshall brings “a great wealth of experience to the role” having served in the Coca-Cola system for 20 years.

At Coca-Cola European Partners he was a key member of the finance leadership team, leaving as VP Finance for Supply Chain.

He was also instrumental in the delivery of business plans for the 2012 London Olympics as well as supporting the recent three-way merger that created Coca-Cola European Partners, the largest independent Coke bottler in the world.

At BrewDog, he will be responsible for enhancing the brewery’s finance function as it prepares for a period of accelerated domestic and international growth in 2018 and beyond.

This will involve the development of business partnership functions to support growth, strategic vision for the global opportunities of the business, personnel development of the expanding finance team, and coordinating plans for the business’ third party suppliers.

At its seventh AGM last month, BrewDog made a slew of announcements including a move into cider, plans for 17 new bars around the world and increased availability of BrewDog beer in the USA as new state distributors were announced.

A third brewing site is currently under construction in Brisbane, Australia to add to its brewing facilities in Columbus, Ohio and its HQ in Ellon, Scotland.

Last year was a banner year for BrewDog, with sales up by 78 per cent and overall revenue up 55 per cent on 2016.

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 off trade are BrewDog products.

BrewDog’s remarkable growth has been powered by its record-breaking Equity for Punks crowdfunding initiative, which has seen the brewery raise over £55million since 2009.

Last October, the brewery launched its fifth round of Equity for Punks, looking to raise a target £10million to further its global expansion.

After reaching the initial target in under 90 days, the brewer announced in January that Equity for Punks V would remain open until 15th October 2018, or until the maximum potential raise of £50 million is reached.

As of today, this latest round of Equity for Punks has raised over £15 million from more than 33,000 investors.

James Watt, BrewDog cofounder said: “Jason’s passion, vision and tenacity is what most excites me about this addition to the BrewDog family. His experience in working in a complex and multinational business is exactly what we need at this juncture in the BrewDog journey. His proven emphasis on fostering a positive team culture aligns with our mission of being the best company to work for. Ever. Jason will play a crucial role amongst our senior team in ensuring we never lose sight of this.”

Mr Marshall added: “You can’t help but be impressed with BrewDog’s track record over the last ten years. The rise of the craft beer scene in the UK owes a great deal to BrewDog’s bold, resourceful and idiosyncratic approach to doing business. I’ve long been impressed by the contagious passion of James and Martin and the company’s socially conscious values, especially its Unicorn Fund. I look forward to joining a world-class team and contributing to the next chapter of BrewDog and the global craft beer movement.”