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Wine Society membership and sales soar

The business said more than one million parcels of wine were packed and delivered in the last financial year, around a 30% increase on 2019.  

Moreover, total invoiced sales increased 28%, it added, boosted by people staying at home signing up to The Wine Society “in droves”.

Lapsed members had started to order again, it said, with new members signing up and active membership growing 17% to 171,000.

Christmas 2020 saw 232,000 bottles being picked and packed in 15 days, compared to 90,000 in the same time period the year before, according to the business. 

“While people have had to stay at home, Wine Society membership and sales have soared," said chair Sarah Evans. 

“While, sadly, the Covid-19 crisis has been catastrophic for many businesses, for us it has provided the catalyst to strengthen The Society in ways that we couldn’t have imagined at the start of 2020 and created a strong platform from which we can build The Society of the future for generations to come,” she said.

The Wine Society also said that it was “proud to report” that all monies received via the government’s furlough scheme had now been repaid in full to HMRC. 

CEO Steve Finlan said: “We are building The Wine Society of the future. The Society is a very special business where winemakers, staff and members feel very much like one team, celebrating a mutual joy of wine. This feeling has strengthened through a very difficult year and illustrates just how relevant it remains to be a mutual organisation in the 21st century.

Being a mutually-run, non-profit-maximising organisation, all profits are ploughed back into the business, with the increase in sales having accelerated the generation of funds for several new projects such as a new website platform, a revamped IT infrastructure and the building of a new warehouse on the Stevenage site.