BrewDog appoints new COO
James Arrow joins BrewDog from Boots Opticians, part of the wider international division of Walgreens Boots Alliance where he is currently managing director
BrewDog has appointed James Arrow as its new chief operating officer in a global role reporting to CEO and co-founder James Watt.
Arrow joins BrewDog from Boots Opticians, one of the leading opticians in the UK with over 500 stores and part of the wider international division of Walgreens Boots Alliance where he is currently managing director. Under his leadership, profits for Boots Opticians almost doubled and in 2022 he led a team which launched a new brand identity alongside a prominent public health campaign.
Prior to joining Boots Opticians in 2019, Arrow spent over a decade at Dixons Carphone in a variety of senior roles including eCommerce, trading, operations, sales, and transformation. During the merger of Dixons and Carphone Warehouse, he was part of the senior leadership integration team.
He also previously held several other operational roles in his career, including as a regional manager in supply chain for Currys. He began his career as a graduate in grocery retail for Asda, working across all elements of the supply chain and logistics functions.
Commenting on his appointment, Arrow said: “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 fifteen 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 roll-out programme, as well as further taking market share from the majors.”
Arrow’s appointment follows the appointment of Chris Fielden as BrewDog’s first chief supply chain officer, John Graham as CEO of BrewDog USA and the announcement that C&A chief executive Giny Boer has joined the company’s board as an independent non-executive director.
Watt said: “Over the past few years we’ve focused on hiring exceptional new talent into the business and strengthening our leadership team. 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.
“BrewDog is passionate about its people, beer and our planet. James shares those passions and I’m looking forward to welcoming him to our fantastic crew”.
