Chile’s VSPT Wine Group has announced the launch of a UK subsidiary.

VSPT UK will “strengthen distribution and service to the market and retailers”, the company said. 

VSPT, which also has holdings in Argentina, counts San Pedro, Graffigna, Viña Leyda, Tarapacá, Sideral and Altair among its brands.

The opening of a UK arm follows subsidiaries in both the US and China.

VSPT global sales director German del Rio said this subsidiary is part of a global strategy identifying key markets. “Being close to our partners and building brands together, is key to premiumise and grow our business,” said del Rio. “We have been developing this model for a couple of years and we are confident with our new strategy being implemented in the UK.”

The UK team will be headed by Cristian Le Dantec as Europe commercial director, while Marcela Burgos will take the role of area sales manager and John Hearn will work on business strategy development.

VSPT UK has also signed an agreement with Encirc for bottling and warehousing, which will allow the company to bottle some of its brands locally. Encirc operates a few bottling facilities in Europe and last year agreed to buy Accolade’s The Park facility in Bristol.

“The UK is a key market for us,” said Le Dantec. “We are sure that this new strategy and route-to-market will help us to improve agility in terms of logistics and deliver best-in-class service. Our ambition is to become the preferred partner for retailers while we continue working with our current importers and distributors, like Enotria & Coe who have an important role in our distribution strategy.” 

The new strategy also forms part of VSPT’s sustainability measures.