How did you originally get into the wine trade?

I first got into the wine trade after some time in army and post university. My Dad had been in the wine trade, he was a master of wine so I had always grown up having an interest in wine, it was talked a lot about at home! Like a lot of people, I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do and wine was a natural point of interest.  My first entry into the wine business was when I started working  for the Victoria Wine Company  as a shop assistant for about a year. I then moved into the head office as the junior buyer for sandwiches, beers and then eventually wines. I also worked on the development of new retail store concepts during this time but it was as a buyer that I learnt a lot about how to sell. Once you know what a buyer needs, you really understand how not to mess them around, keep things concise, being efficient and look at everything from their point of view. This experience still helps now at Hatch Mansfield when dealing with our producers- I still have that buyers mentality! I know what they want and hopefully how to negotiate.

What has been your proudest achievement during you career?

Without doubt the creation of Hatch Mansfield. I was very lucky to have created Hatch with my two very good friends; Pierre-Henry Gagey from Louis Jadot and Eduardo Chadwick from Errazuriz. I had met these two when I worked for the ‘old’ Hatch Mansfield, then part of a company called Grants of St James. I was the junior brand manager there looking after about 10 different brands so I got to know both Pierre-Henry and Eduardo very well. There was an opportunity with them to create a new company, so really that’s how it all started back in 1994 along with our other good friend Sir George Fistonich from Villa Maria.

What would you do differently if you could start your career all over again and didn’t end up working in the wine business?

When you look back over 30 years, what is the biggest way that the wine industry has changed?

The industry has so completely changed. Premium retail of wines was dominated by Threshers, Victoria Wine and Oddbins. They now no longer exist. Over the past three decades we’ve seen the rise of wine specialists like Majestic and supermarkets having a really strong wine offering. Thirty years ago, that really wasn’t the case. The on-trade has stayed pretty consistent throughout; there are large on-trade operators like Matthew Clark that we have worked with since our inception but the off-trade retailing has changed beyond all recognition due to the supermarkets. We’ve also seen an increase over the past 20 years in private consumers drinking good quality wines. We do a lot of business with the fine wine merchants as the trade has broadened. Consumers moving into premium wine has also given rise to really excellent independent wine merchants popping up all over the country. The independent sector is much more prominent than it was 30 years ago.

What is the biggest misconception about the wine trade?

I think the misconception is that people who work in the wine business are just going around having nice long lunches and lots of wine tasting all day! From the outside, it might seem far more glamorous than the day to reality but like many people, we are sometimes slaves to our inboxes, spreadsheets and meetings.   People outside may assume the wine industry is just full of fine wine but the reality is the majority of business is selling wines for everyday consumption.

How did the Domaine Evremond project come about?

Domaine Evremond came about through my friendship with Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger. We’ve looked after Taittinger since 1998 and back in 2012, he and I started tasting English Sparkling wine together. I mentioned to him that at some point Hatch might look to take on an English producer into our portfolio. Quite rightly, Pierre-Emmanuel was having none of that and suggested that we look at creating something together.  Taittinger already have a winery in California called Domaine Carneros and Pierre-Emmanuel wanted me to go off and find some  land in England and it went from there! Ten years later, we are selling our first bottles of Quality English Sparkling wine which is incredibly exciting.

We have been very fortunate at Domaine Evremond in that we purchased the land from a fantastic farmer called Mark Gaskain and his Dad Charles. They are very good fruit farmers which was such an advantage from the start. We obviously have the huge expertise of the Taittinger team, in particular their Head of Viticulture, Christelle Rinville. However England is a marginal climate. The one thing I have realised during this project is how impressive farmers are and what they have to cope with. It is tough and the weather does not always play ball. It can all be going great right up to September and then suddenly rains non-stop for two weeks in October. The unpredictability of the climate is by far the biggest challenge we face.

What are your ambitions for Domaine Evremond?

To be regarded as THE premium Quality English Sparkling wine.

What is the relationship between Hatch Mansfield and Domaine Evremond?

It is a very strong relationship. Hatch Mansfield represent Domaine Evremond and are their exclusive agent to the UK trade. It is a particularly close relationship given Hatch Mansfield and a number of the Hatch team are also shareholders in Domaine Evremond. This means we are very much an extended family with Domaine Evremond and also Champagne Taittinger.

What are the biggest challenges to the Wine Industry as a whole?

It has to be government legislation such as the increase in duty, the EPR ( Extended Producer Responsibility) for packaging coming down the track. We had a 20% duty increase in 2023. We now have the duty escalator where there is a different level of duty per 0.5% alcohol band. Punitive taxes are pushing up retail prices. Clearly people are drinking less than they were in the past too which poses both a challenge and opportunity for the wine trade.

How are Hatch Mansfield dealing with these challenges?

We are realising that people are drinking less and seeing this as opportunity for people to drink less but better wine. It is about the premiumisation of the wine industry as a whole. We know that the bottom end of the market is unbelievably competitive and there is no margin in the chain for anybody. Although people are drinking less alcohol (which is a good thing, don’t get me wrong), the opportunity is to encourage people to drink better wine rather than increasing their consumption.   At Hatch, we have a focussed premium portfolio and the whole Hatch team, whether they work in sales, marketing, logistics, brand management need to have great product knowledge so we can deliver first class service to our customers. You can only do that if you have a tight-knit portfolio.  We work very closely with our producers to encourage further premiumisation but also for them to manage alcohol levels in a way that isn’t detrimental to quality of their wines; all to help mitigate against the duty escalator.

How does Hatch Mansfield manage their staff’s wellbeing?

For me, the wellbeing of the Hatch team is absolutely essential. We have a designated wellbeing team made up of people from each department who do great work to foster good wellbeing amongst the team. We all work far too hard and a huge percentage of your life is spent at work so it is really important we make it a nice place to be. One of the things I am most proud of is our long retention at Hatch, people on the whole enjoy working here. Happy, smiley faces is what really matters and when I come into the office, I love hearing all the chatter and laughter- that is what you want. We have to make the working environment as enjoyable as possible.

What  kind of people do you look for in your business?

Self-starters, people who are driven, talented and have some get up and go. I can tell fairly quickly in an interview who is a ‘Hatch type’ of person, it has nothing to do with background, gender or any other visible characteristic. My good friend Michael Cox who sadly died a few years ago said to me, “you do business with people you like”  and I always hear from people, ‘everyone at Hatch is just so nice.’ Within our team everyone gets on, disagrees agreeably when required and all have a really likeable character.

How you work with your suppliers to achieve your success?

It is about building a really strong relationship and bond of trust with our suppliers. We deliberately don’t take on too many producers so that we can make sure they get the focus they need from us. It is crucial that we take time to build the trust with our producers which takes four or five years to do so but it is essential; our suppliers are our lifeline and vice versa. 

Desert Island Wine?

It has to be a really nice glass of white burgundy; you can’t beat something from Louis Jadot or Domaine Ferret.