James Arrow, BrewDog

Arrow has been managing director of Boots Opticians since June 2019

Brewdog has appointed James Arrow as its new chief operating officer.

Arrow, who joins from Boots Opticians, would be tasked with “a global role” reporting into CEO and co-founder James Watt, the Scottish brewer and distiller said.

Arrow has been MD of Boots Opticians since June 2019.

Prior to this he spent a decade at Dixons Carphone in a variety of senior roles including e-commerce, trading, operations, sales and transformation.

He has also worked as a regional manager in supply chain for Currys and began his career as a graduate in grocery retail for Asda, working across supply chain and logistics.

“Over the past few years we’ve focused on hiring exceptional new talent into the business and strengthening our leadership team.” said Watt. “James brings an incredible array of experience and is a critical hire as we evolve as a brand, scale globally and importantly drive profitability across our business.”

Arrow added: “I am thrilled to be joining BrewDog. The company has an amazing story and has been one of the standout British success stories over the past 15 years.

“I am looking forward to bringing my experience to the company as it embarks on the next stage of its growth journey. In particular we will aim to profitably capitalise on the huge opportunity of the global bar rollout programme, as well as further taking market share from the majors.”

Arrow’s appointment is the latest in a slew of appointments at senior level for BrewDog. In recent months, the company has hired Chris Fielden as its first chief supply chain officer and John Graham as CEO of its US arm.

C&A chief executive Giny Boer has also recently joined the company’s board as an independent non-executive director.

BrewDog was recently named as a top 100 UK employer in The Sunday Times Best Places to Work. However, the brewer lost its B Corp status last year after a BBC documentary investigated allegations of a toxic workplace culture.