Kmflett's Blog

Will new Brewdog Chair Allan Leighton see the recognition of a union?

Allan Leighton is a name well known to those who follow what goes on at the top of British industry. He has held a succession of roles, currently being Chairman of the Co-Op.

He has now also been appointed Chair of Brewdog. He probably wont be devoting too much time to the Company but it will be interesting to see what impact he has.

Leighton was one of New Labour’s favourite businessmen (not particularly a recommendation btw but certainly better than being the equivalent for Boris Johnson). He was Chairman of the Royal Mail from 2002-2008 (prior to its privatisation by Vince Cable) and brokered agreements with the CWU to resolve disputes.

The key thing to understand here is that he saw dealing with unions and reaching agreements with them as a way of providing an industrial relations framework that could keep companies going without disputes. That doesn’t mean that the deals he brokered were particularly favourable to employees. Rather there was a mechanism where they could raise issues and see how they were dealt with.

It will be interesting to see whether Leighton suggests that Brewdog deal with its well-publicised employee relations issues by recognising a union

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-58536240

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Leighton