Willard joins Winetraders

By Lisa Riley

Published: 11 February, 2021

Winetraders has announced that Beth Willard has joined the commercial team as buying director.

Taking on her new role with immediate effect, Willard will work alongside Winetraders MD Michael Palij MW and will oversee the company’s work across its portfolio of producers from Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Chile and Australia.

She joins from Direct Wines where she spent the last nine years as a global buying manager, with responsibility for wines from Spain, Central & Eastern Europe, South America and various regions in France.

Prior to this she was a buyer at Alliance Wine after moving to the UK from Australia, via France, where she worked in various roles throughout the industry. She is also a Panel Chair at the Decanter World Wine Awards, among other competitions.

“In the last quarter of a century, Winetraders has developed an enviable reputation for the uncompromising quality of our range and we can only see that Beth will add to this,” said Palij.

“Not only is she well-known and revered in the Hispanic wine community that forms such a large part of our business, but she also understands all the commercials a dynamic company like ours needs to know. We look forward to taking full advantage of the energy and dynamism she will bring to Winetraders in 2021 and beyond,” he added.

In June, Winetraders added Quinta da Pedra Alta to its portfolio, marking the company’s first Portuguese producer. This expansion followed the company adding its first English sparkling winery, Exton Park, to its portfolio in June 2019.