I Heart supplier Copestick Murray has purchased a 40% share in Slurp, which has an online retail site and two bricks and mortar stores. Slurp was originally acquired by SH Jones in 2013 and is now jointly owned by Copestick Murray, Richard Jones, Hugh Taylor and James Keef. Robin Copestick, managing director at Copestick Murray and now a board member at Slurp,…

Brexit minister David Jones MP has promised he will do everything he can to ensure the drinks industry continues to thrive after Britain leaves the EU. Jones met the Wine & Spirit Trade Association to discuss how the industry can best protect trade and prosper when the UK leaves the EU. At this first meeting with the Department for Exiting the EU, the WSTA outlined…

With 2,600 shops across the UK, each designed to cater for its local market and be a community hub, Spar’s trading managers for wine, Nick Jones and Daphne Teremetz, have got their work cut out. But with consumer spending in convenience stores on the rise, and exciting developments in food service in some stores, there are seemingly endless opportunities for innovation and…

Somerset cider producer Thatchers has appointed former minister of state for UK trade Lord Digby Jones as a non-executive director. The firm described Lord Jones, who spent six years as director general of the Confederation of British Industry, as “a champion of British business both at home and abroad”. Managing director Martin Thatcher said: “I have known Lord Jones for a number of years and…

Over the past couple of years Banbury-based independent wine merchant and regional wholesaler SH Jones has shocked the trade by buying two established online retailers and the wholesale arm of agency Stevens Garnier. Chairman Richard Jones had been a non-executive director in the business for many years, until his father Michael – who had run the family business until he was well into his 70s…

The wine industry needs to cut out the jargon and overhaul its marketing to stem falling sales and attract younger consumers, according to Blossom Hill supplier Diageo. Wine is down 4% in volume in the past year (Nielsen, year to October 11) although value sales are up 1% to £5.5 billion. Blossom Hill is the UK’s number two brand, but is down 4.8% in volume…

Wine agency Barwell & Jones has added 10 wineries from across the globe to its portfolio in a bid to build on 30% growth in the past year. In 2009 shipper and supplier Hayman Barwell Jones went into administration and was rescued by John Coe. The Coe Vintners owner rebranded and relaunched it as a wine agency in 2012 with a dozen wineries on its…