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Fri, 18 Sep 2026

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 'Insufficient funds' to pay Brewdog creditors after takeover deal

Administrators say about £489,000 was owed for staff wages and holiday pay and £2.4m was owed to HMRC for unpaid VAT.

* Brewdog had over £500m in debts when it was sold to US drinks firm Tilray in a £33m rescue deal.
* Several creditors, including HMRC and staff who were owed wages and holiday pay, will not receive any payment from the administration process.
* The administrators cited "insufficient funds" due to lower than expected sales of Brewdog assets and increased costs during the administration period.
* Staff who were made redundant can claim for unpaid wages through the government's Insolvency Service.
* Unpaid businesses, including West Ham United FC, Lord's Cricket Ground, and Manchester University, are owed £20m in total.
* Private equity backer TSG is set to lose £27.6m, while unsecured creditors are expected to receive less than a penny in the pound of what they are owed.
* The shares of 200,000 crowdfunding investors who invested in Equity for Punks scheme have been rendered worthless.
* Brewdog's founder James Watt said he was "heartbroken" after the collapse and apologised to staff and investors.