COMINGS AND GOINGS

Butlers decamps to Kemp Town

Butlers Wine Cellar in Brighton has reluctantly closed the doors of the shop it has called home since 1979 and retrenched to its smaller Kemp Town branch in the city.

Henry Butler and Cassie Gould believe the landlord of the original premises wants to convert the building to residential use.

Although Gould says they were sad to leave the Queen’s Park Road shop, there are upsides to the move. “It wasn’t our choice,” she says. “But it’s worked out all right.

“We are thinking how we can make the most of the space we have in Kemp Town. It’s a good site for us and we like it here. People know us here.

“The shop is pretty rammed, so we’re looking at possibly changing the layout.”

The duo have been weighing up the possibility of moving Butlers to a bigger site, such as an old pub, where drinking-in could be added to their retail, e-commerce and wholesale revenue streams.

“That would be the dream,” says Gould. “Somewhere that we could offer bigger tastings and more events. Obviously, with the way things have turned out over the last couple of years, it would probably be silly to invest in somewhere that was predominantly events-based.”

No staff have been lost as a result of the

cap

Level 3 and is now running her own shop and bar in the Castle Quarter area. She’s working with suppliers including Enotria&Coe, North South Wines and Alliance. “I’m going for things that I like but I’m also looking for unusual wines and things that will interest will my customers,” she says. “I’m very organic and vegan-friendly and I like those styles of wine.” About 20% of the range consists of Emily Wilson has a Spanish wine specialism at the new store Spanish wines and Wilson says she’s looking forward to downsizing, though Gould admits that not growing that with the help of Alliance. all Butlers’ Queen’s Park Road customers Platters of Spanish cheese and meat are have migrated to Kemp Town for their offered, and she’s managed to source a wine requirements. Spanish vegan option too.

“Some have switched to online ordering, Wilson says having the bar area in the but quite a few we have lost. People are shop, which seats 20, encourages the creatures of habit. It’s a 15-minute walk customers try the wines in store by the between the two shops, really. glass and will allow her to hold tastings,

“We’re on Deliveroo now, which is new beginning with a chocolate and wine event for us and gives us a bit of exposure.” earlier this month.

Macclesfield’s new indie opens

La Dulce Vendimia opened in Macclesfield last month.

Owner Emily Wilson previously owned a tea room, but her growing interest in wine saw her sell her business to take a role as a pastry chef and tour guide at Holmfirth Vineyards in Yorkshire.

Since then, she has gained her WSET • John Greenwold’s latest Wine-Boutique branch has opened in Sudbury, Suffolk. The hybrid shop and bar, which charges a £7 corkage fee for drinking on the premises, was officially opened by the town’s mayor. There are already Wine-Boutique branches in Felixstowe, Dereham and Frinton.

• The owners of Edinburgh’s Dreadnought pub have bought The Wee Leith Shop, which they plan to transform into “Edinburgh’s tiniest offie”.

Landlord is far from co-operative

Since the Co-op purchased the building occupied by Brighton’s Seven Cellars, merchant Louise Oliver has been facing uncertainty over the future of her business.

“I had an email from their representative who explained that they are planning to whittle down my lease and at the end they will be able to ask me to leave and cite redevelopment as the reason,” says Oliver. “The Co-op have actually said they don’t want to discuss it for the next 18 months. They sent architects and structural engineers to my shop and started measuring up, so they are able to plan but they won’t afford me the same privilege. It’s infuriating.”

Oliver’s lease will naturally expire in 2025 and with the Co-op making its intentions clear, it seems her relocation is inevitable. As she reports that they are “refusing” to communicate with her, she is unable to make plan to move to a new site, even though a couple of retail units have become available in the sought-after area. The Co-op currently has a shop opposite Seven Cellars and a second one “just a twominute walk away”. The prospect of a third branch in the Seven Dials neighbourhood has not gone down well with residents.

“We have received extraordinary support from the locals, which in itself is a wonderful story,” reports Oliver.

“People are gearing up for marching outside with placards and making banners to drape across the Dials. It’s amazing.

“I love the Seven Dials residents, they are wonderful. Given that a group once lived in the much-loved tree on the roundabout and had coffee and sandwiches winched up rather than see it get chopped down, I think the Co-op might have more of a battle on their hands than they’ve reckoned for. I

Louise Oliver is unable to relocate her Seven Cellars business in the short term

certainly hope so, anyway.” A spokesperson for the Co-op said: “Coop is committed to serving and supporting the local community, including popular local independent businesses.

“We have had discussions with our neighbours who have leases in place, which run until late 2025, and these will be honoured. At this stage we do not have any confirmed plans to extend our Co-op store.”

The company also added “subsequent planning application submitted to build flats on top of the two neighbouring units is not connected to the Co-op in any way.”

Stoic, stubborn, and still allowed to get pissed

Graham Sims is selling his New Forest Wines business in Ringwood due to ill health.

“It’s stage 4B cancer,” he says. “I’m back on chemotherapy but there won’t be an operation now. It’s spread from my bowel to my liver and my lungs. It’s now palliative care, so life extending rather than curative.”

But Graham is remarkably stoic. “I lost a friend of mind to a brain tumour when he was 18,” he says. “At least I’ve had a life. It’s a cruel thing. But my head’s in the right place.

“I go into hospital and meet people in similar situations and I think it’s therapeutic to have a chat.

“I’d rather get on with it. So it’s about making memories and doing nice stuff … and seeing if I can spend the children’s inheritance.”

Graham expects to sell the business to Daniel Read, who joined the team just over a year ago (see Rising Stars, page 22).

“Daniel is doing a good job,” says Graham. “He’s trying to raise the cash. He’s my preferred buyer because he’s been very good to me. He’s had the best training in the wine industry. Really he’s running the show all the way.”

On the day that he spoke to The Wine Merchant, Graham had loaded the van four times and driven deliveries to various corners of the New Forest.

“I am allowed to lift stuff but it will be too much for me to work in the shop,” he says. “It feels like I’ve got a proper business now, because I’m not working in the shop all the time. I’m actually paying myself money for not doing very much.”

But his priority is enjoying quality time with his wife and sons, aged 20 and 11.

Luckily, wine appreciation is still a pleasure that can be indulged. “They test your blood for absolutely everything to make sure you’re fit enough for the chemotherapy,” he says.

“One of them is liver function. I’ve got cancer all over my liver – but they told me my liver function is perfect. I’m allowed to get pissed and fall over!”

Wines made by women, judged by women

Hannah and Sadie Wilkins’s inaugural Wine of the Times event will be the first of many celebrating industry unsung heroes

Last month Hannah and Sadie Wilkins of Vineyards of Sherborne, in Dorset, held the first in a series of events that will concentrate on underrepresented producers within the wine industry.

Wine of the Times 2022 was focused on more than 200 wines from female winemakers.

“It was a unique opportunity to try, side by side, wines all made by women,” says Sadie.

The judges were all women too, but their backgrounds within the trade were diverse and both Sadie and Hannah say that this made for very interesting discussion points.

“As indies, we’re used to looking at wines in a retail context, so it was fascinating to hear first-hand, within our teams, how people in their particular context view wines when they sample them,” says Sadie.

“There were importers, buyers, people from restaurants and people who had experience working in wineries. Some had just finished their Diplomas – everyone had some kind of connection to the wine trade.

“There was lots of debate, particularly around value for money, and also how commercial a style of wine was. Whereas Hannah and I will quite often judge a wine with too much of a commercial appeal as not really being for us, other people in the room were saying, ‘that’s got a really commercial palate, we need that on our list’.”

The results will see a winner and a runner-up from each category as well as an overall winning red, white and a sparkling from the day. All the information will be presented in a brochure, which the Vineyards team are happy to share with fellow indies.

“We need to keep the noise going, share the information and showcase the wines that were there,” adds Sadie. “These events are great, and we all feel lovely, but it has to do something.”

Judges bought into the concept and were enthused by the event. “It still can feel like a male-dominated industry,” says one judge, “but seeing that many intelligent, knowledgeable, inspiring women in one place was really incredible. And tasting that many wines that are made by women was also incredible.” Another adds: “I reckon that the same event but held 15 years ago would have been very sparse, both in terms of finding female winemakers and in terms of finding females working in the UK industry.

“It’s amazing that that is changing. But I would like to see more in the way of diversity generally in the industry. More events that bring people together who can feel overlooked in the industry.

“[This was] an opportunity to celebrate how incredible we all are and what an amazing job women in wine are doing – and to know that we are not alone.”

So, what’s the theme of the next event? “It’s about championing an underdog,” says Sadie, “whether it’s grape-based, wine-based, the diversity of the winemaker, the winery or region. It’s going to be an annual series on underrepresentation, so we’d welcome any ideas that anyone wants to share with us for the next one.”

Now let the workers have a go

The Secret Cellar, with four branches in Kent and Sussex, is now in the hands of its staff following the creation of an Employee Ownership Trust. Former owner John Winchester explains why the deal was a better solution than a traditional sale

Why is John Winchester selling up? A heart attack two years ago persuaded him to re-evaluate his priorities. “I’ve achieved so much and, aged 60, I was driving four vans full of wine each week. I started to think my race is done, I’m ready to relax, play a bit more golf and enjoy life,” he says.

Selling the company seemed an obvious option, but Winchester worried what a buyer might do with the different strands of the business, and the implications there would be for staff.

“Would the buyer have the money for the transaction in the first place, in this environment, and equally, which piece would they want?” he says. “Do they want actual wines, because we’ve got a bonded warehouse of 100,000 square feet under the Berkshire countryside? Is it the people they want? Is it one of the shops they want, the products, the suppliers?

“It started to become uncertain in my own head: would there be an independent long-term future for the company, or would someone take an action on day two that you might not agree with?”

How did the idea of an EOT emerge? “I was reading an article about [hi-fi retailer] Richer Sounds and it said that this chap had put 60% into an Employee Ownership Trust,” says Winchester. “I’d never heard that expression before. So I did some research to find out about it. The legislation was only created in 2014 and it allowed the government to provide incentives to get a broader employee ownership of companies. It seems like a radical idea, and not one that is widely known.”

What are the advantages of an EOT? From the seller’s perspective, the deal is tax-free. “And for the employees in the future, instead of the profits going to the ugly capitalist – that’s been me for the last 15 years – in the future they will go into a company profit share scheme,” says Winchester. “Those bonuses, up to £3,600 a year, are tax-free for the employees.

“The more I read about it, I just became comfortable with the idea that it would be nice for people I’ve worked with for a long time, who have created the success of the company, to be able to own a business without actually having to pay for it.”

How does the money change hands? After an independent valuation process, a figure was agreed and Winchester and his wife (and fellow director) Mary Rose agreed a five-year loan. The law allows a term of up to 10 years, and it’s up to the parties concerned what interest rate, if any, will apply. Winchester is not revealing such details publicly.

What kind of structure does the business now have? “There’s an independent trustee who we found in the open market, and there’s an employee trustee as well,” Winchester explains. “You still have your traditional management structure, as with any company, but management teams report into a trustees’ body, because it’s the trustees that own the shares of the company moving forward.”

Adam Clarke is managing director of the Secret Cellar business, with its four retail shops in Kent and Sussex, while Debbie Kerr heads up the Milton Sandford wholesale division.

“I’m a trustee so I’ll still be there in the background,” says Winchester.

Will the day-to-day operation of the two divisions change? Winchester says not. “They trade as they did last year, in exactly the same fashion. I’ve delegated the day-to-day management but equally the day-to-day strategy, the creation of the business plans. Whereas I’ve created those with Debbie and Adam in the past, now it’s really for them to create,

bring them to the trustees’ board and for the trustees to agree the business plans.”

Will employees get bonuses or dividends in the next five years, or is this unlikely until the loan is repaid? Winchester says it’s possible that dividends could be paid, or salaries increased, as a way of sharing the profits. But he thinks it’s more likely that employees will award themselves the tax-free bonuses of up to £3,600.

“It really becomes valuable when some sort of when a trigger event happens, like if someone came in wanting to buy all or some of the company,” Winchester says. “Instead of that money coming to me, as it would have done in the past, it would be divided equally among the employees.

“So the share ownership comes into play if some sort of compelling event takes place, but in the meantime, the profits grow and you can distribute them through different means.

“The trustees hold the shares on behalf of all the employees and if there’s a trigger action, that’s when they’d divide them out.”

Could the business make decisions such as selling off individual shops, or making acquisitions? Both options are available to the management team, as they would be with any company.

“You’d go to the trustee board and say, ‘we’ve had this offer, would it be beneficial for all the employees?’ And it works the other way too, if we wanted to buy another company to include in the EOT.

“The funding could come from any investor, it could come from me, an employee or from outside the company, through equity or loan. The trustee body must have 51%, but you could get 49% of the value to help finance.”

Is there a financial risk for staff? “There’s no money that any employee has put in,” says Winchester. “The person at risk, if any, is me.

“Like with any company, it’s a limited company, it has a chance to trade successfully or badly. I think you’d be foolish as an owner to do this if you felt the future was doom and gloom, or you’ve got a hidden secret, because you won’t get your money back – you’d go into liquidation. “If you are confident in the future of the company and the people then an EOT is a useful vehicle to consider.”

How have staff reacted? At a time when many retail and hospitality business struggle to retain staff, the EOT is seen as a way of encouraging loyalty.

“The fact that they won’t see me so often is probably also motivating to them,” Winchester jokes. “And equally there’s the concept of ‘I’m going to do what I did yesterday but if we carry on doing what we do, which is make profit, I get a bonus as well.’

“I think there’s a general feeling of liking the idea that they own the business now. I have seen the difference in people. There are more Facebook and Instagram posts than there were before, and you just think, good – they feel part of it.”

Adam Clarke (left) with John Winchester

We are looking for a knowledgeable and enthusiastic Branch Manager to lead the team in our busy Tufnell Park store in north London, growing sales and providing a warm welcome and personable service for our customers. In this position, you will be responsible for:

• creating initiatives to maintain business and develop new business

• maintaining the highest standards of customer service

• managing stock and placing orders

• leading and motivating a small and dynamic team

• engaging with wider sales and marketing initiatives

• promoting our popular programme of tastings

This is an excellent opportunity for a wine retail professional looking to develop their sales skills and product knowledge. In this role, you will experience every element of the wine industry, from buying to selling, imports and logistics to customer tastings and events. You will be a key point of contact in our growing retail business, with further opportunities available as we continue to expand. Salary based on experience.

If this sounds like the right challenge for you, find out more at theatreofwine.com/vacancies or email trade@theatreofwine.com to apply.

NOT YOU AGAIN! customers we could do without 35. Martyn Daelgleish

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Busy busy busy and I expect you are too … oh, you know that lovely Chinon you introduced us to at your wine-tasting night … the one we both loved and which we’ve been happily knocking back ever since? Domaine de whatsit … fabulous wines, perfect with Sunday roast … my brother-in-law is a bit of a wine snob but even he couldn’t believe how good it was at that price and asked us to get him a few bottles … anyway, we took the motorhome to France over the Easter break and stopped off at one of those big wine places they have there and we saw boxes of the stuff stacked on the floor … six euros a bottle! I said to Margaret, we should stock up, so I think we cleaned them out … four and a half cases! We’re planning another jaunt soon, maybe down Sussex way … what’s the name of that wonderful English fizz you’ve recently got in? We’ll stop by at the winery and grab ourselves a few boxes … email me if it’s easier ... oh blimey, what did I come in for? Oh yes, I’ve temporarily parked in your loading bay while I run across the road for some milk … hope you don’t mind …

Supplier of wine boxes and literature

• 12 Bottle carrier box with dividers • 6 Bottle carrier box with dividers • 12 Bottle mailing box with dividers • 6 Bottle mailing box with dividers • 4 Bottle mailing box with dividers • 3 Bottle mailing box with dividers • 1 Bottle mailing box with dividers

01323 728338 • sales@eastprint.co.uk • www.eastprint.co.uk Congratulations to the five Wine Merchant reader survey respondents whose names were drawn at random and who each win a Coravin, courtesy of ANAGRAM TIME our partner Hatch Mansfield. Can you unscramble these wine brands of yesteryear? If so, you win a square of Augustus Barnett carpet. Peter Fawcett, Field & Fawcett, York Anthony Borges, 1. Heroin Dell The Wine Centre, 2. Bowel Track Great Horkesley, Essex3. Toe Masseur Zoran Ristanovic, 4. RIP Toad City Wine Collection, London5. Cor, One CD

brig ht ideas

33: Wine Tribe Wednesdays

Melanie Brown Specialist Cellars at Pop Brixton, London

In a nutshell:

Consumer tastings are nothing new, but there are a myriad of ways to run them. Wine Tribe Wednesdays are a perfect example and what’s more, they’re free!

Tell us more …

“The idea is to try to introduce more of our community to new world wines and getting everyone to grips with Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and now California.

“It’s based upon trying to get the community together every few weeks to introduce new wines and producers. The name sounds fun and inclusive and is a way to make people feel more engaged.”

Describe a typical Wine Tribe Wednesday.

“They are very easy, laid back and casual. As we can have anything from 40 to 80 sign-ups for each event, we tend to divide it into three groups over the one-and-a-half hour tasting. Every 25 minutes or so we have groups of around 20 people come into the container – we have a 20ft shipping container at Pop Brixton – to taste around four to six different wines presented either by the producer or sometimes myself. It’s aimed at consumers, so we don’t go into huge detail, but we keep it really interesting.”

How do the figures stack up if you’re not charging?

“Other than the time and effort, it doesn’t cost us anything because our suppliers provide sample bottles. We purchase a case of each of the wines that we are presenting on the night and we encourage the people that come along to buy a bottle on the way out. We usually sell the majority of the wines at the event and we often put a 20% discount on them for the night as well.”

How do you decide on a theme?

“Now that we are seeing more producers and winemakers venture out this way from that part of the world, we are getting a lot of them signed up to do the Wednesdays. We notice a larger uptake when we have a winemaker or producer leading the event, so we look at who’s visiting and who’s available. We might be influenced by a wine calendar event such as Sauvignon Blanc Day and we look at things we’re running internally as well.”

The ticket admin is done via Eventbrite. Do you have to pay for that service?

No, and using Eventbrite pushes it out to all of their networks and they will retarget the event within their platform to their followers, even if they are not on our database. We are getting some amazing traction and definitely seeing more and more new people. There are lots of familiar faces too and it’s really nice to see that they all engage with each other as well.”

Does it feel good to be back in the swing of real life tastings?

“Like everyone else, our events came to a standstill for two years but now we’re back and things seem to be rolling really well for us. “Staffing is tough since so many young people moved out of London, particularly from the arts and creative industries. They were fabulous employees, but they’ve just disappeared out of London. We’ve got loads of customers – we just need to find the right people to serve them.”

Melanie wins a WBC gift box containing some premium drinks and a box of chocolates.

Tell us about a bright idea that’s worked for you and you too could win a prize.

Portugal’s ready to pop

Wines of Portugal is once again running its successful June is for Indies promotion this summer.

The generic body is collaborating with a number of the UK’s leading independents during June, with a range of activities both in-store and online via social media.

Each indie benefits from a full support package from Wines of Portugal, and collectively the stores will be turning the country green and red at tastings, dinners and other promotions.

Three of the independents taking part in this year’s activity explain why they love Portuguese wine, and give the lowdown on their promotional plans.

Published in association with

Wines of Portugal Penny Edwards, Cellar Door Wines, St Albans

I like Portugal’s diversity, its price points, and the value for money, and the different grape varieties that are not found in the rest of the world. I also really like Portuguese culture: it’s so relaxed.

We are making a big push this year with Portuguese wine. We currently stock about 20 to 25, but that’s expanding rapidly by the minute, and we’re going to have over 80 wines for the promotion. I am tasting, tasting, tasting all things Portuguese at the moment.

I’ve been sectioning it out. I’ve been tasting a lot of Vinho Verdes, and discovering it’s not just what people think it’s all about; I’ve been tasting a lot of natural wines, and orange wine. There’s so much diversity within the regions.

I’ve been working closely with Kopke in the Douro for Port and still wines for some years; they’ve got some lovely mediumpriced still wines, and limited-edition whites and reds. I’m also working with Quinta da Pedra Alta. I sell the full range. There are some really good Portuguese brands and I’m really proud to be pushing them because the quality is so high.

During the promotion, there’s going to be a big focus on the Enomatics, with various wines to compare, including lots of white Port. We’re really showcasing Portugal and the different regions and the different styles, and moving away from the traditional – from what people think they know as Portugal, the old school.

We’re going to be selling over 200 tickets for an event on Saturday, June 25 – a really big tasting, which is very exciting. Michael Boniface, No 2 Pound Street, Wendover, Buckinghamshire

I love Portuguese wines: the character, the range of styles, the different regions.

I quite like the fact it’s a bit obscure, a little bit difficult to get your head around: that’s good for a wine nerd. There’s nothing too smooth or polished … proper wines with real character, a little bit niche and not mainstream, although the range of accessible wines from the Alentejo are really easy to appreciate. When people get to try them they’re always shocked by where they come from.

You can also always get your customers into the high-end wines from the Douro.

Our range varies. I buy from Raymond Reynolds a lot, and from Liberty (Casa Ferreirinha).

It’s always been a strong seller for us. We used to do more on-service, pre-lockdown, so we’d have the Niepoort Drink Me range by the glass.

We have two customers in particular who spend £40-plus on Portuguese wines, so that’s going in the right direction. The São Miguel (from the Alentejo) has proved very popular, and got a few customers interested.

During the promotion I’ll be doing customer tastings alongside cheese – we’re also a cheese specialist – pairing the wines for each of the four weekends.

The display will be all decked out in Portugal colours, and we’ll be doing social media on each of the wines that we’re focusing on over the four weeks. We’ll be doing a newsletter and a Discover Portugal tasting case, or two: one entry-level and one for the connoisseur.

Lucy Driver, South Downs Cellars, Sussex

With Portugal, the focus on the indigenous is always interesting – it’s always nice to have wines that are different. They’re also fantastic value and there’s a very broad range: there’s something very different and exciting about them. It’s definitely a country that has grown over the past five years for us. We’ve always had Portuguese wines, but we never used to have more than seven or eight. Over the last five or six years, it’s definitely expanded.

Portugal is very well received by our customers. They appreciate the value and a lot of people holiday there so it’s not a hard sell – they’ll have enjoyed some delicious wine when they’ve been in the country.

I would love to give it more shelf space, but I’m limited, especially here [in Hurstpierpoint] ... we’re bursting at the seams. Luckily I have high ceilings, but I would love to have the space to double our Portuguese wine selection.

We have a lovely selection that we rotate, so we don’t have everything all the time.

We currently stock 16 reds and eight whites, so 24 wines, but we will be getting at least another half dozen as part of the promotion.

We have four signature bottles, or headlines, for the promotion, and they’re a broad range.

You have your classic Douro (Ramos Pinto Duas Quintas Tinto), which has two estates, one warmer and one cooler, which gives them the flexibility to make really interesting wines. This a is a lovely, classic, richer style of wine, but very food-friendly and fantastic value.

Then, from the Alentejo, we have the Sossego Branco (from Herdade de Peso) and the Santhiago Tinto from Real Companhia Velha. Both are good value indigenous blends: one crisp, fresh white, one juicy, fruity red.

And we have the Ponte Tinto from Herdade de Mouchão. I’ve always been a big fan of the Mouchão range, and this one really showcases the quality but at half the price [of the estate red].

We are running the promotion from June 13 to July 2. We will have in-store pours on Saturdays, and we are doing a dinner at one of our wholesale accounts, where there will be a four- or five-course meal matched with four different wines. We’re hoping to have a full tutored evening, and obviously Portuguese wines will be in the window for the whole period.

What’s good about promotions like these? Well, it’s everything really: the materials, the information shared, the background info. It’s all really helpful for staff training, and it helps to make a nice display in the shop.