Looking Back, Forging Ahead Q&A: Rupert Pritchett, Taurus Wines

By Harpers Editorial team

Published: 18 December, 2024

Next up in our end of year trade talking heads is Rupert Pritchett, MD, Taurus Wines, as he reflects on remaining competitive in a challenging environment.

What have you put in place to maximise Christmas trading and what are the early indications so far?

Early indications are that we will lose a lot of the ‘bread and butter’ trade to the relentless 25% off deals at the supermarkets and Majestic, which is where the easy money lies. But anything that requires specialist knowledge or personal service (restaurant wine lists, gifts of fine wine, rarities or anyone looking for a truly artisan product) is still coming our way. One of our successes this year has been our program of tastings that included sit-down ‘winemaker feasts’ – one, priced at £250pp, sold out within an hour!

We’re also working with our trade accounts to support them, and have recently joined a local networking group, the Surrey Hills Collective, to make sure we’re in the little black book of smart Londoners moving down to this area. It helps that we’re the local touchpoint for the ultimate in high-end wine accessories such as Spiral Cellars and Eurocave. We also now have a bonded warehouse meaning we can help customers start their own fine wine plans.

What, for you, were the specific highs of 2024?

The year started well with being named 22 in the Harpers Top 50 Best Indies list. The goodwill from that really buoyed us up in the doldrums of the year! We also won a large claim against Asda, as they own a local fuel station that leaked. The months of disruption from road closures around it (only a few miles from our shop) was catastrophic for both the environment and local businesses. As a result of the leak, the village had to use bottled water for everything from drinking to washing to watering their veg patches.

Being successful in our compensation claim was a win, as those months were some of the hardest I’ve seen in trading in the 23 years I’ve been here. And we’re finishing off the year with another piece of good news – we’re taking over the wine supply for a private jet company, which is new one for us. Just got to work out how to get on board for a wine tasting without paying the new passenger tax!

And the lows?

The aforementioned road closures were really hard to deal with as the A-road that we’re on really is our lifeline. But that seemed to pale into insignificance compared to the Budget, which will increase our overheads by 10% to 12% through increased business rates and NI, whilst simultaneously reducing disposable income of customers with children at private schools. In Waverley, our council district, 18% of children are in private education, so amongst our client base it will be 80-90%. There has been an immediate knock on: one school has closed, and two others will soon. There were a lot of spin off events for PTAs etc that we will now miss out on. To put it another way, we need to take an extra £300 a day in a tough market to stay level with where we were before the Budget, which is clearly going to be a new challenge.

How have the specific challenges of this year contributed to wider drinks trends?

The sun is rosé’s best salesperson, and they failed to show up for work this year! So, we sold less ‘rosé de piscine’, Pimm’s and Aperol, and a bit more red wine than normal this summer. Reduced spend caused by the cost of living going up has had a knock-on effect too. It’s meant a move to buying cheap wines from the supermarket and only occasional treats from us.

With the duty easement likely to end in February, how are you looking to mitigate the impact of rising duty on business?

We will have to pass the rise on. Ultimately, it’s a consumer tax so the consumers should pay for it.

As a business, what positives are you looking forward to in 2025?

A year without major roadworks. And bad though the Budget was, at least we now know what we are dealing with and so can adapt and move on. So can our customers. There was a trend of withholding spend in the run up to the Budget this autumn, much like in 2019 before Brexit was signed and sealed.

Also, having bonded status has meant income from not only client storage but a couple of smaller local vineyards which have had other wineries make their wine for them, then have nowhere to store it. Plus, the obvious bonus of duty deferment which will help cashflow enormously.

Quick fire questions:

Ultimate turkey pairing wine?

Cru Beaujolais. It matches cranberry sauce beautifully and isn’t so expensive that you begrudge more thirsty family members an extra glass or two

Ultimate wine turkey

Most things that use natural as their USP, particularly if it has a hipster label

Most overrated spirit?

Vodka

Most underrated spirit?

Rum

Chardonnay or Riesling?

Chardonnay

Port or sherry?