Ayo Akintola, the managing director of Oddbins, shared some of his recent learnings following the successful social media campaign the quirky retailer launched over the Christmas trading period.
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As the competition hots up in independent retail with the introduction of more and more hybrid venues, could this spell the end for the traditional wine shop? Nigel Huddleston investigates
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On the back of the Christmas and new year trading period, Harpers asks suppliers and merchants how Christmas was for them and what they expect looking ahead.
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The recently appointed head of Accolade Wines talks about life in the top job, Chilean wine brand Anakena launching in the UK and how he plans to make Accolade a global one-stop shop for New World wines
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Perception is everything in the battle of the elite drinks purveyors, so it's about time we factored "cool" into wine's appeal, says Christopher Cooper
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Consumer confidence is generally on the up and early indications suggest that Christmas delivered a welcome boost to the trade.
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With the revelation that the historic referendum could take place this year, should the wine trade be worried? Erin Smith investigates
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"Soil is dirt." I'm sure the Californian producer Bill Jekel was being deliberately provocative when he entered into a well-publicised debate about terroir with Bruno Prats of Château Cos d'Estournel at the end of the 1980s, but he was also articulating a position that was widely held in the New World at the time.
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Christopher Cooper has worked in the restaurant scene for over a decade, but it all prepared him to launch his own drinks start-up. Here are some of the lessons he learned along the way.
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London's fashionable Dalston district is about to get the capital's first burger and fine-wine restaurant.
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Ahead of this month's profile piece in an exclusive interview with Harpers, Mike James, wine buying director of Aldi UK, talks with Angela Mount about his buying strategy and what he looks for in potential partners that has helped him succeed.
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Ted Sandbach, managing director and owner of the Oxford Wine Company, looks back at an exciting 2015 with opening of another Wine Cafe and figures are up with his wholesale business. He is looking forward to enjoying the Great Escape over the Christmas break, but looking to 2016 Sandbach sees more consolidation ahead for the industry.
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Anita Jackson, UK director of Wines of Chile, looks back at a successful 2015, with volume and value figures up over the previous year. She was particularly pleased with the success of the innovative Mercado Andino tasting in 2015. But over the Christmas period she looking forward to putting her feet up and enjoy a little down time before 2016, where she sees the biggest challenge ahead is getting consumers to trade up in their wine purchases.
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For founder of Red Squirrel Wine, Nik Darlington, 2015 was a year of tremendous growth. Next year Darlington is looking forward to getting his wines even further around the UK. He sees that in 2016 the way forward, although challenging, will be through building a loyal and sustainable customer base.
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Dan Townsend, general manager of Europe for Treasury Wine Estates, saw 2015 as very strong year at TWE and thinks that the reverse takeover of Matthew Clark by Conviviality "has the potential to be a real game changer in terms of the UK trading landscape." Townsend is most excited about the opportunities that lay ahead in 2016, but sees Duty as one of the toughest challenges that trade faces next year.
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From the 1 January 2016 HMRC will introduce the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS) to tackle alcohol fraud. Cindy Dorrington of Bivonas Law asseses the implication for the trade.
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Robin Copestick of Copestick Murray looks back at Stoke City football and how healthy the UK wine trade was in 2015. Although 2015 was good- "2016 will be better still."
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The celebrated Roger Jones of Michelin-star restaurant The Harrow at Little Bedwyn had a great 2015 with sales up 20%! He
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Ayo Akintola, the managing director of Oddbins saw 2015 as a challenging, but satisfactory year. The 'manic' response of retailers to threat of discounters moving into the UK has been a challenge in 2015. But Akintola is looking forward to 2016 as he sees the opportunity to work with interesting suppliers as a 'once in a generation' opportunity.
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Hal Wilson of Cambridge Wine Merchants has had an 'awesome' and 'dynamic' 2015. He has embraced the popularity of spirits, which has helped boost his offering to over 900 SKUs. The two biggest challenges in 2016 Wilson's thinks will be to keep wine 'sexy' and combating supermarket discounting.
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