It’s bed time for Cambridge indie

Grape Britannia, the English wine specialist based in Cambridge, is set to move to a much larger site.

Owner Matthew Hodgson opened the Arbury Road premises four years ago and reports that the business has outgrown the shop. The move to nearby Chesterton Road will allow for a separate bar and retail space as well as a basement area.

“Back when the whole idea for Grape Britannia came about, we were initially going to set up as an online-only business,” says Hodgson.

“In a way it was only happenstance that real converts to the idea of having a mixed model of bricks and clicks.

“There’s some resilience in that modelling; they balance each other out at different times. The immediacy of customer reactions and feedback on the wines in the shop is something you can’t replicate online. Plus we just really love the interaction and

Hodgson will grow his range of English spirits, beers and ciders. “There are plenty of breweries around Cambridgeshire,” Hodgson says, “so we’ll be looking to focus as locally as possible on the beers.”

Work is yet to start on the former bed superstore, which Hodgson estimates will open in the autumn. “We certainly think this move is a great opportunity to really move the dial on our on-trade,” he says.

“At the moment the bar is a little bit subscale to work effectively, but in the new shop, it’s going to be a good size. It’s in a better location with much better footfall so that will make a big difference.

“We’ll also be able to hold more stock to enable us to ramp up our wholesale. Wholesale is the most rapidly growing part