Accolade Wines has agreed to sell its bottling and warehousing facility to glass company Encirc.

Accolade said the deal will include The Park facility in Bristol along with all associated plant and equipment. As part of the transaction, around 400 employees will transfer to Encirc.  

The deal, which is expected to close in January 2023, will see Accolade enter a 10-year contract bottling and distribution deal with Encirc.

The move will “utilise rail distribution between sites and supply into retail, enabling Encirc to provide an ultra-efficient, sustainable supply chain service across the UK beverage market”, the companies said.

Encirc, which is part of Vidrala, currently operates from three sites: Derrylin, Co Fermanagh, Elton, Cheshire and Corsico, Italy. It produces around four billion glass bottles and other containers annually and can fill around 200 million litres of bulk-shipped beverages every year. The company offers glass, filling, storage and distribution.

Accolade Wines CEO, Robert Foye, said the decision to divest The Park facility and enter a long-term bottling and distribution agreement with Encirc would deliver the “optimal supply chain structure” to support the company’s growth strategy in key markets, including the UK and Europe.

“Accolade Wines is committed to excellence across its global supply chain in terms of innovation, quality, efficiency and sustainability,” he said. “The Park represents best practice across all of these criteria and, through our collaboration with Encirc with its deep experience and networks across Europe, we will be able to continue accessing all the benefits of this world-class facility while extracting additional efficiency and flexibility in our supply chain. In Encirc, we have found the perfect partner to provide the bottling, warehousing and distribution services we need to support our premiumisation strategy in the growth markets of Europe and around the world.”

Financial details were not disclosed.