BrewDog co-founder plans cannabis market dominance in new venture

One of the founders of BrewDog is targeting domestic dominance with a new business, planning to invest £20m into his new medical cannabis company.

Martin Dickie, who founded the alcohol and bars firm with James Watt nearly 20 years ago, now runs Waterside Pharmaceuticals.

A licence was granted by the Home Office last year to cultivate medical cannabis, with the firm describing their set-up as a tech-led vertical farm, with controlled environments and sustainable operations.

The first harvest, from a farm near Newburgh, Aberdeenshire, is expected to yield up to 9kg of medical cannabis – but plans are to expand that to 200kg this year, with ambitions to continually scale-up and grow the business over the coming years.

“Our aim is to become the UK market leader in medical cannabis,” Mr Dickie said. “We have ambitious plans to expand the business, creating up to 100 new jobs in the local economy and investing around £20 million over the next five years.

“Our longer-term ambitions involve building a second facility co-located with a renewable energy source, minimising our environmental impact, creating jobs and diversifying the rural economy.”

Doctors in the UK have been allowed to prescribe cannabis-based medicines since 2018, for some conditions. The company estimates 50,000 to 60,000 patients benefit from them, with the number growing yearly.

Plants in the controlled environment are subject to 12 hours of artificial light and 12 hours of darkness, for optimal growth. Waterside plan to open a second facility over the longer term.

Chief operating officer Morag Thomas, who also previously worked at BrewDog, claimed Waterside had a “premium product” in part through no use of pesticides and fungicides, the Times reported.

Mr Dickie reportedly retains ownership of around 20 per cent of BrewDog. Waterside did not respond to a request for comment over expansion plans and industry challenges.