Eye on Drinks Trade ON CLOUD WINE

WORKING in the drinks industry is something Martin McAuley always wanted to do.

In a career spanning 47 years (and counting), he’s seen it, done it and worn the proverbial t-shirt – on many occasions in fact and usually with a popular drinks logo emblazoned on the front!

As Managing Director of County Armagh-based wholesaler United Wines, a subsidiary of Heineken Ireland, Martin runs what is now one of the biggest drinks distributors on the island of Ireland.

However, this wasn’t always the case. United Wines was founded in 1985 as a team of five people, operating out of Elmwood Avenue in South Belfast with just one brand on its books – the Trinidad rum VAT 19.

Now, with McAuley in the driving seat, the company handles the sales, marketing and distribution for well over 1,000 product lines spread across more than 300 brands from countries all around the world, including Holland, Italy, Argentina, Chile, Spain, Italy, France, Australia, New Zealand and the USA.

Operating from an 80,000 square foot warehouse in Craigavon, with 55 staff on its books, United Wines distributes an extensive portfolio of beers, wines, spirits and soft drinks to more than 1,000 bars, restaurants, hotels, off licenses, cash & carries, regional wholesalers and national multiples throughout the country.

Business Eye took a trip to Craigavon to meet with Martin McAuley and find out how this incredible success story evolved.

Early career

Born in Larne in 1959, McAuley’s journey in the drinks business began at the tender age of just 13 when, as a pupil of St Comgall’s Secondary School, he got a job working in the bar of The Halfway House Hotel in Ballygally, which is now owned, coincidentally, by Martin’s younger brother and former IBF World Flyweight boxing champion, Dave ‘Boy’ McAuley.

“I loved working in that bar,” recalls Martin. “It was a meeting place for publicans and drinks reps in the area, who would come in very well dressed with seemingly loads of money. To me, at that age, it all appeared so exciting and glamorous, so I pretty much decided that this was the industry I wanted to work in, and the rest as they say is history.”

Martin describes himself as a ‘grafter’ and it certainly required years of hard graft to make the transition from helping hand at the Halfway House to boss of United Wines.

The first significant milestone on this journey came in 1977 when Martin was invited by his uncle Jim O’Neill, then Managing Director of Belfast-based drinks company Hollywood & Donnelly, to move to the ‘big city’ and work in the company’s bottling hall on the Boucher Road.

For the next two years, Martin really immersed himself in his work, eagerly carrying out every job imaginable before being made a trainee sales rep.

In 1980, aged 21, he married his wife Isobel and his sales career began in earnest, hitting the road to sell popular brands like MacArthur’s Whisky and Kulov Vodka in his newly acquired ‘territories’ which included West Belfast, Antrim Road and Banbridge.

In the five years that followed, Martin’s sales prowess was nothing short of remarkable – growing volumes by no less than 700 per cent across his region.

So, it came as no surprise in 1985, when Jim O’Neill left Hollywood & Donnelly and founded United Wines, that his nephew and star performer would make the move with him.

United we stand

“Those were such exciting times,” said Martin. “Leaving Hollywood & Donnelly was a very brave move to make and of course we were naturally nervous that we were doing the right thing.

“However, we knew we had the skills,