Hallgarten & Novum Wines has announced the appointment of Julien Lever as its first head of operations in a newly created role designed to align sales and planning processes across the business.

Lever will oversee customer service, demand planning, supply chain and the company’s partnership with London City Bond, which manages Hallgarten’s warehousing and nationwide distribution. The move follows a year of strong growth for the business, which added more than 30 new suppliers and over 20 new members of staff in 2025.

With more than two decades of drinks industry experience, Lever has previously held supply chain and planning positions at Oddbins and nine years as director of global sales and operations planning at Accolade Wines. Most recently, he spent four years as a lead consultant at Windwhistle Consulting.

Lever said: “I am delighted to be joining Hallgarten, and I look forward to working closely with the team, our customers and suppliers at this exciting time of growth for the business. The Hallgarten portfolio is second to none, and I am excited to have the opportunity to further build on our service offering, as well as our collaborative planning processes and partnerships.”

Hallgarten MD Andrew Bewes added: “In what is now a sustained period of growth for Hallgarten, recruiting and retaining the best people is critical to our continued success. Our relentless focus on customer service and getting the basics right remains paramount and we are delighted to announce the appointment of Julien Lever to the newly created role of head of operations. We are confident that Julien’s extensive expertise and experience will be invaluable to the entire Hallgarten business.”

Established in 1933 and purchased by Coterie Holdings in 2023, Hallgarten has over 90 years’ experience in representing producers from across the winemaking world, and supplies the UK’s premium on and off-trade.