James Watt, co-founder of beer production company BrewDog, sparked controversy when he described Britain as “one of the least work-oriented countries in the world” and questioned the country’s focus on “work-life balance”.
Instead, the businessman and his fiancée, social media personality Georgia Toffolo, are calling for “work-life integration.”
In a video posted on social media, Watt said, “The whole concept of work-life balance was invented by people who hate what they do. So, if you love what you do, you don’t need work-life balance, you need work-life integration.” Although he deleted the original Instagram post, citing a torrent of offensive messages, Watt later shared new comments suggesting the negative reaction highlights a “low work ethic” in the UK.
Watt pointed to research by the Policy Institute at King’s College London which found that Britons are among the least likely of 24 countries surveyed to say work is central to their lives. He also cited Office for National Statistics statistics indicating that the UK’s hourly output is 13% lower than that of France. “As a nation, we like to joke about the laziness of the French, but the truth is that our output per hour is less than theirs,” Watt noted.
Pointing to the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ conclusion that Britain’s lack of growth in the past 15 years could be attributed to low productivity, Watt said he was puzzled by the hostility towards “someone who shares his approach to hard work”. He said that if the UK could not engage in a civilized conversation about business ethics, it could struggle to “compete on the world stage”.
Watt, who remains a non-executive director at BrewDog despite stepping down as CEO last year, has previously faced scrutiny over BrewDog’s internal culture. Some former employees accused the company of fostering a “culture of fear” in 2021, prompting Watt to issue an apology and explain how the business has changed. Last year, BrewDog decided not to pay new recruits the real living wage, instead opting for the legal minimum wage – a move that sparked further criticism.
While his recent comments were met with backlash on Instagram, Watt noted that the response was more positive on LinkedIn. Georgia Toffolo, who joined Watt in the video, supported his stance on “work-life integration” by describing the “intense obsession” they shared with their projects and businesses.