Les Grand Chais de France backs independents by signing up to Best Practice Guidelines

French wine producer, Les Grand Chais de France, is the biggest wine name to show its commitment to the independent merchant sector by signing up to the Harpers Best Practice Guidelines that oversee how producers and suppliers are working in the independent sector.

Treasury Wine Estates presents its independent strategy to Top Merchants

Treasury Wine Estates is one of a number of major wine companies looking to build sales in the independent sector. Its fine wine team joined the latest Independent Wine Crew meeting to set out its strategy and find out how it can better serve the sector. Richard Siddle and Erin Smith report

Working together: leading independent merchants pool their skills and resources

The third meeting of Harpers' Independent Wine Crew of leading multi-site wine merchants reflected a real step-change in how they are able to help each other in buying, sourcing and storing wine. Richard Siddle and Erin Smith report

Harpers Awards 2014: still time to enter

The Harpers Awards is a opportunity to be recognised as a key merchant, retailer and UK on-trade establishment in the trade. Be rewarded for all the hard work you and your team do. With a host of categories across the industry and the on- and off-trade, here's how you can get involved.

Independent wine merchants could win £200k investment

Stand out from the crowd and enter the Harpers Awards 2014

The Harpers Awards is your opportunity to be recognised and rewarded for all the hard work you do. With a host of categories across the industry and the on- and off-trade, here's how you can get involved.

?Harpers Awards 2014: How to enter and new awards categories

The Harpers Awards is your opportunity to be recognised and rewarded for all the hard work you do. With a host of categories across the industry and the on- and off-trade, here's how you can get involved

How the late Rodney Densem put the north west on the map

Here we remember Rodney Densem, who sadly died in December, who last year spoke to Carol Emmas about his long career as an independent wine merchant and how his business, Rodney Densem Wines is evolving for the future. 

Independent Wine Crew joins forces to help each other run better businesses

Accolade revamps WinningWithWine.com

Accolade Wines-owned WinningWithWine.com - an online tool for wine retailers and on-trade outlets - has revamped its website to offer a user-friendly platform with more advice than ever.

From the Shop Floor: Katherine Canfield, Hangingditch

A tasting of 50 wines in under 50 minutes is just another day in the life of an independent wine merchant. Anyone working in this sector will agree that most days there is rarely an occasion for which three hours can be spared to leisurely taste and assess a range of wines. It is often an accomplishment to dedicate that amount of time to sleep.

Laithwaite's Wine expands buying team

Laithwaite's Wine has confirmed it is to take on two new buyers - Robin Langton and Davy Zyw - to complement its 10-strong buying team.

Noble Rot looks to continue publishing with crowd-sourcing investment scheme

Noble Rot, the off-beat consumer wine magazine that can boast members of the Beastie Boys and Coldplay as contributors, is looking for investors willing to help it raise money to continue publishing through the web-based crowd-sourcing platform Kickstarter.

UK's best Spanish wine players celebrated in Harpers' Spanish Wine Awards

Waitrose, The Wine Society, Cambridge Wine Merchants, Camino Group and Matthew Clark were some of the stand out winners in Harpers inaugural Spanish Wine Awards to celebrate the best operators in the Spanish wine category in the UK.

Independent wine merchants to give their views on the latest trends

Ahead of this month's SITT Autumn, we asked leading independent wine merchants to give their views on the latest trends and what they will be on the lookout for at the event in London

Katherine Canfield: how wholesaling can tie merchants and restaurants together

In her second column looking at her new life as an independent merchant helping to run Hangingditch wine merchants in Manchester, Katherine Canfield looks at the complexities of also offering a wholesale service

Corks Out innovates with launch of Taste wine bar

Cheshire-based independent retailer Corks Out has launched a new-concept wine bar, Taste at Corks Out, in a bid to innovate on the back of crippling rent and rates on high street stores.

Independent Wine Crew: All for one! One for all!

To help provide professional, first-hand advice for independent retailers, Harpers has extended its Top Merchants programme to bring leading, award-winning multi-site operators together. Here's how its new initiative, the Independent Wine Crew, hopes to help the independent trade as a whole

Multi-site indies form new merchants' group

A leading group of multi-site independent wine merchants has teamed up with Harpers to set up a new networking group to not only help each other but offer advice and support to the rest of the independent trade.

Hayward Brothers and WWA to offer wider range

Hayward Brothers hopes its recent acquisition of fellow independent merchant distributor World Wine Agencies will help widen its collective reach among independent retailers and provide them with a greater selection of wines.