Dreams of ‘future drinking’ bolsters wine merchant Berry Bros
THE UK’s oldest fine wine merchant Berry Bros & Rudd said profitability soared this year, as wealthy collectors keep their eyes on “future drinking” through hard economic times.
The family-owned business said turnover climbed 7.2 per cent to £220.2m in the year to March 2022, whilst EDITDA rocketed 107 per cent.
Berry Bros, which also makes ultra-premium brand No.3 Gin, swung from a pre-tax loss of £8m last year to a profit of £17m.
Unlike many retailers, the British firm appeared unfazed by tightening household spend and inflationary headwinds.
“Our collecting customer base is less negatively impacted by the economic climate on a day-to-day basis and, as such, we continue to experience a keen interest in collecting fine wine for future drinking,” chief executive of Berry Bros Emma Fox told City PM
It recently opened a new state-of-the-art £4.5m warehouse in Andover, which can store up to 14 million bottles of wine.
Aside from online shops, the company has two stores in Basingstoke and Pall Mall, with the majority of its sales being Bordeaux and Burgundy wine.