In the market for premium wines
Blue Glass has potential to grow
Vin Van Cymru is the latest wine
The Blue Glass in Bedford is up for sale,
merchant to join the steadily growing
and, for the right buyer, there’s plenty of
ranks of Welsh indies.
scope for the business to grow.
Owner Sara Hobday launched the shop
Currently turning a profit on its three-
in the newly reopened Newport Market in
day week, it would be fair to say that the
March, following the success of the online
hybrid shop and bar has not yet reached its
and events business she started two years
full potential.
ago.
Owner Kevin Kavanagh says he is selling
Hobday says that her original plan didn’t
really involve retail. “I was hosting pop-up
Welsh wine tastings and then the pandemic hit, so I went back to the drawing board
and that’s where the online side of things
because he has plans to live life to the full. Sarah Hobday of Vin Van Cymru
came from,” she explains.
Lambert’s portfolio.
to open a physical space, where I can see
“The Welsh wine range has expanded
“But I like talking to people and having a
conversation, so that’s why I’ve been keen people.”
Previously the business had been
operating solely from The Bridge Studios
in Cardiff, a creative workspace consisting of upcycled shipping containers, which
Hobday used mostly for storage and as a delivery hub.
While she says it would never have
been suitable as a retail venue, she
admits it works very well as an outside
bar. “Flowerhorn Brewery is based at the Studios,” she says. “They moved in just
after I did. They built a taproom on site and we shared the space. I’m definitely keeping the unit there and will be reopening the
The recent move into retail has allowed
Hobday to increase her wine selection.
since moving into the shop and that will continue to grow,” she says.
“I also want to work on the German
section. I want to get more variety; I want to try different things all the time. “During the pandemic I was
concentrating on quality, affordable wines and now I think people are happier to
spend more on a nice sparkling instead of Prosecco from Tesco. So I’m trying
to expand the higher-end wines, which I wasn’t able to do before, and that is exciting for me.”
“I’m turning 70 next year and I don’t
want to be morbid, but if I live until I’m
90, I’ve got another 10 years where I’ll be
reasonably active and there’s lots of other
things I want to do – like travel. If I was 50 years old I wouldn’t be selling it at all.”
The wine shop and bar has seating for 64
people plus an additional 18 outside. It’s priced at £125,000, which includes nine
years of the 12-year renewable lease, and all fixtures, fittings and equipment.
“What’s important to me is that I sell it to
someone who is ready to take it to the next stage,” says Kavanagh.
“There may be someone in the team who
might want to buy it, so we’ll see. It’s only been on the market for six weeks so it’s very early days.
“I live here in town and in my old age I
want to be able to go there and have a glass of wine.”
wine bar in April. As soon as the weather
improves, it’s going to be buzzing. I’ve had people messaging me saying, ‘I’ve had to
drink gin and tonic for months, when are you reopening the bar?’”
Hobday is working with ABS, Vintage
Roots and Berkmann, who she says have all been “really supportive”. She sources most of her Welsh wines direct from
the vineyards and she’s also hoping to
add a few more Welsh gems from Daniel
The premises can seat 64 people inside and 18 outside
THE WINE MERCHANT april 2022 4
