Britain's oldest wine merchant has toasted another year of successful growth, bring its revenues past a quarter of a billion pound for the first time.
Berry Bros. & Rudd, which is based on St James's Street and was founded in 1698, said its revenues rose 11.1% in the year to end March to £254.3 million. Earnings slipped back slightly to £20.7 million which the company put down to investment in a new fine wine storage facility based in Andover.
The firm, which sells rare wines for as much as £10,000 a bottle, said its fine wine and spirits business plus joint ventures Hotaling and No. 3 Gin all experienced sustainable growth, while Hotaling, its import and distribution business in the USA, delivered double digit growth and No 3 Gin more than doubled its sales during the year.
Earlier this year Berry Bros invested a minority stake in The Cotswold Distillery Company and in November confirmed the acquisition of Hambledon Vineyard in a 50/50 joint venture with Symington Family Estates.
The merchant last month unveiled it was celebrating a historic 325 years with a limited edition release from Scotland’s famous Laphroaig distillery.
Chair Lizzy Rudd handpicked the bottle to mark the anniversary, a single malt scotch that has been maturing since 1999, with only 232 available for sale. She said the aim was to pay homage to more than three centuries of a family-run business while looking ahead to a sustainable future.
“We can take much heart from our past to find optimism and inform our future,” she told the Standard.
“In over 300 years of history, we have embraced change and the need to adapt to survive and thrive. Our vision is to bring people together and help them drink better, both now and in the future, but we also care deeply about both environmental and social sustainability.
“We must, and will, continue that care at every level – to work in tandem with nature, becoming a business that has a positive impact on the planet and its people.”
