SFP Completes Sale of Wine Wholesaler Saving Majority of Jobs

Nationwide insolvency practitioner, SFP, has completed the successful sale of certain parts of the business and assets of a wine wholesaler, saving 20 employees positions in the process.

Established in 2010, the Company sold Italian wines wholesale and direct to consumers from three stores in Greenwich, Covent Garden and South Kensington in London. Each of the three venues also had wine bars.

As a result of the poor performance of the stores in comparison to forecasted figures, the significant losses generated by the Greenwich premises, together with the uncertainty and rising costs of a proposed new store, the directors decided it was not possible to continue trading the business without entering into a formal insolvency procedure.

SFP’s Simon Plant and Daniel Plant were appointed as Joint Administrators of the Company on 14th November 2018. Prior to the appointment, SFP carried out the marketing of business and assets and negotiations for the sale of the business. The Pre-pack sale of the business was completed. The Greenwich store was closed with five staff being made redundant, and 20 staff from the Covent Garden and South Kensington stores were transferred pursuant to TUPE.

“Overall wine sales volumes are down across the UK as younger people consume less alcohol, preferring a more health conscious lifestyle. Wine businesses are finding it a challenging time and now more than ever it is crucial that they are flexible to changing trends.” says Daniel Plant. “It is crucial to the survival of their business that they consult with experts in turnaround and recovery before it is too late. In this instance we have managed to save the business and the futures of the majority of employees.”