Staples bolsters Lay & Wheeler senior team

By Lisa Riley

Published: 23 April, 2020

Lay & Wheeler has bolstered its senior team with the immediate addition of Simon Staples and Catherine Petrie MW.

Staples, who joins following 23 years with Berry Bros & Rudd where he most recently held the position of sales director, joins Lay & Wheeler as director of private clients.

In his new position, Staples will lead efforts to increase Lay & Wheeler’s work with private clients, said the fine wine merchant.

“Staples’ wealth of experience in fine wine sales will be a boon for clients, both in the UK and coming from abroad, who have significant cellars.”

At the same time, Catherine Petrie MW joins Lay & Wheeler’s buying team. She will look after buying for all of France, with the exception of Bordeaux, which will continue to be led by buyer Robbie Toothill.

Petrie, who qualified as a MW in 2017, has extensive experience working in vineyards and wineries across Europe, and was previously working as a buyer for Goedhuis & Co. She has a key specialism in the Loire and Burgundy, where she worked for Domaine Comte Armand in Pommard.

Working alongside Toothill and buying coordinator John Phillips, Petrie would “further enhance the capabilities of the current buying team”, said the business, which returned to private ownership in late 2019.

The two new hires demonstrated Lay & Wheeler’s “strong commitment from new ownership in the business’ strategic plans”, said MD Katy Keating.

“People are our most important resource, and we remain focused on building a best-in-class team. Simon and Catherine bring a wealth of knowledge, experience and passion. I’m thrilled they’re joining our Lay & Wheeler family.”

Lay & Wheeler also announced Phillips will take up responsibility for increasing the American and Australian ranges, in addition to his existing duties.

In other news, Louis Latour Agencies has announced that Mark Juggins will join its team in May as a national account controller.

Juggins joins the company from Accolade Wines, where he held the position of senior national account manager looking after Tesco. Before then, he held the post of national account manager at Freixenet UK.

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