Vinorium relaxed about scaling back

The Vinorium is moving to a smaller premises in Ashford, Kent, as owner Stuart McCloskey steers the Australian specialist through some major changes.

“Our current HQ is 7,500 square feet – it is massive,” says McCloskey. “We just don’t need that space. We pay a whopping £65,000 a year in rent, plus rates. And now we sit on more stock under bond than we do duty-paid, and freeing up cash flow. So we thought, what’s the point of being here?”

The new premises still offers plenty of room for the business, with warehouse space of 1,000 square feet and a larger office space above for the team.

McCloskey had been working on an ambitious project to relocate The Vinorium to a 4.5-acre plot in Egerton, Kent. The green build, which included eco credentials such as rainwater harvesting and a vineyard and wildflower meadow, would also have offered education facilities. But as costs started to spiral, McCloskey hit the pause button.

“We put in £1.2m of our own money,” he explains. “We did the demolition, the groundworks … the whole thing was a go. The war hit, and the cost just went through the roof. It went up and up and up again. You get to a point where you know it is not justifiable.”

McCloskey is sanguine about the experience. “I would say maybe about half a million has been spent on nothing,” he says. “I don’t dwell on it. It’s not that we can afford to lose the money – we can’t. But I just think there are so many displaced people around the world …”

McCloskey expects to open a shop at the new premises in October, but is being deliberately cautious. “95% of our business is e-commerce,” he says “so there will be full retail but on quite a small scale. There’ll be a range of around 300 wines, predominantly Aussie, and a smattering of others. We’ll see what happens over the next 12 to 18 months.”

McCloskey is looking to establish a hub in Belgium next year. “We miss the EU hugely,” he says. “We’ve lost £1m in turnover in the last 24 months.

“We could ship most of our producer wines into Belgium, and then distribute from there right into the EU and not have The Vinorium has several specialist retail items looking for a new home. Some are free and others have a fee attached, as listed below. All must be collected from The Vinorium by August 21. Interested merchants should contact Stuart McCloskey on 01622 859 161.

How the expansion plans were envisaged the issue that we’ve got now, because we just physically cannot supply wine to private clients unless they pay a fortune for shipping. That will be a big step for us next year.”

Wine equipment going begging – if you're quick

• Unused original wooden cases (Penfolds): Circa 100 six packs

For sale

• 11 x trays of Riedel Vinum glasses, 25 glasses per tray, including glasswasher tray: £125

• 4 x 8-bottle Enomatic machines: £500 each

Free

• Eurocave modular racking: Total of 76 modules (capacity 24 bottles per module)

• 2 x Enomatic gas bottles (free if purchasing a machine)

• 1 x Wine Gen Preservation Generator: £350