New MD flags renewed UK focus for Vivino

By Andrew Catchpole

Published: 22 October, 2020

Online wine market place and app Vivino has redoubled its focus on British drinkers with the appointment of Joshua Lincoln as its first UK MD.

Lincoln, who joins Paul Jones, Vivino’s director of buying and supply in the UK, has a brief to expand the company’s independent retailer market base and boost it’s 2.2m-strong UK customer base.

Vivino “has put growth in the UK at the top of its list of business priorities … the company is investing in UK growth with new leadership and targeted investments to enhance its offering in one of the world’s most important wine markets”, according to a release from its San Francisco HQ today (22 October).

Lincoln, a former MD at Majestic Wine and founding member of Naked Wine, is to be joined by two former Majestic directors, Natalie Th’ng and Nicholas Bell, to strengthen the UK team.

“I’ve admired Vivino’s community for years, and with UK online wine sales continuing to grow, it’s an exciting time to join the business. Our immediate goal is to support suppliers and independent merchants across the UK by expanding our marketplace, giving them a platform to expand their online customer base and put their wines in front of our users,” said Lincoln.

“With data from 2.2 million people in the UK, we’re able to test and optimise strategies that combine e-commerce with trusted and personalised ratings, reviews, and recommendations.”

Vivino, which has grown to be the world's largest online wine marketplace and most downloaded wine app, noted that the UK wine and spirits industry generated £49 billion in economic activity in 2018, stating that the market “is ripe for disruption”.

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