BrewDog founder James Watt has said British people are “bitter” towards successful businessmen as he hit out at a lack of entrepreneurial spirit in the United Kingdom.
Mr Watt, who co-founded craft beer giant BrewDog in Aberdeenshire in 2007, has stoked controversy again after complaining about Britons prioritising a work-life balance.
He told LBC: “I spend a lot of time in the US and in the US, if someone’s successful, you find people cheering them on, you find people celebrating that success because they’re so inculcated with the American dream is they’re thinking ‘that could be me’,” he said.
“Whereas in the UK we don’t have that. So there tends to be a kind of inbuilt cynicism, bitterness sometimes, a kind of resentment towards people who are successful - because people don’t believe they can go out and do that themselves.”
In the same interview, he pointed towards the reported spike in millionaires leaving the UK since Labour took office claiming Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet lacked business acumen.
On departing millionaires, he said: “These are the people that drive economic opportunity. Like I said, they pay a disproportionate high share of tax.
“So the more friendly we can make the UK to people who are... building businesses, who are creating jobs, I think the better society we can build here overall.”
It came as the Scottish businessman announced plans for a new reality show with the largest cash prize in UK TV history.
Mr Watt is seeking entrepreneurs to take part in House Of Unicorns, in which they will have a chance of winning £2m to help grow their businesses, with the aim of seeing them grow to be worth £1bn or more.
The entrepreneur will invest £1m of his own cash into the winning business, with another £1m from Founders Capital, Europe’s largest founder investor community.
Mr Watt departed his position leading BrewDog last year, though holds a non-executive role of “captain and co-founder”.
Before his departure there had been several issues among employees, with a section reporting a “toxic” workplace environment and a “cult of personality”, a signed letter claimed.
