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Bewes to step down from Hallgarten

During his 16 years at the helm, Bewes has overseen significant milestones of growth at Hallgarten, including the acquisition of Novum Wines in 2010, and the integration of Hallgarten into Coterie Holdings, which acquired Hallgarten in 2023.

The latter move, which Bewes told Harpers at the time, “finally allows us to achieve what we’ve always wanted to do”, has seen a period of fast expansion of Hallgarten’s premium portfolio, along with significant growth in turnover, forecast to top £100 million by the end of this year.

• Read more: Coterie acquires Hong Kong importer

“It has been two years since the sale of the Hallgarten business and my primary concern during that period has been to ensure a smooth and successful transition on one side and to structure the business for sustained growth on the other," Bewes told Harpers.

“Since acquisition in December 2023 Hallgarten has gone from strength to strength, growing dynamically from £62m in 2023 to a current MAT of just over £100m, has attracted an array of incredible producers to our portfolio and has successfully recruited an additional 50 people to both manage the current growth and structure for the future." 

During his tenure, Bewes, who like many in the wine world began his career at Oddbins, also steered the distributor towards gaining many awards and accolades. These most recently included IWC On-Trade Wine Supplier of the Year 2025 and Sommelier Wine Awards Large Merchant of the Year 2025, Fine Wine Merchant of the Year 2025, and New World Wine Merchant of the Year 2025.

Bewes and his team have also championed both sustainability and EDI, developing the Hallgarten ‘Eco Standard’ and achieving ISO 14001 accreditation, while supporting diversity initiatives such as Curious Vines.

“Leading Hallgarten has been the absolute privilege of my career,” said Bewes.

“I am immensely proud of the passionate, dedicated team we have built and everything we have accomplished together. Following the successful integration with Coterie Holdings, the business is poised for its next chapter of growth, and the time is right for me to pass the baton.”

Bewes went on to thank Hallgarten’s “outstanding team, our loyal customers, and our world-class producer partners for their support over the years”.

Coterie Holdings CEO Michael Saunders added: “On behalf of the entire Coterie team, I want to extend our profound gratitude to Andrew for his exceptional leadership and unwavering commitment.

“His vision has built Hallgarten into the benchmark for quality and service in the UK wine trade. He has been a pivotal partner during the acquisition and has laid an outstanding foundation for future success.”

Coterie Holdings UK, which was incorporated in May 2023, and is part of the wider Coterie Group holding company, has fast become a major player in the UK market. It now counts several wine sector businesses in its stable, including merchants Lay & Wheeler and Hallgarten & Novum Wines, wine lending platform Jera Wine, Coterie Vaults storage facility and superyacht sector supplier Global Wine Solutions.

As reported in Harpers this November, Coterie Group’s most recent acquisition has been Links Concept Family Wine Merchants, a Hong Kong-based family-owned fine wine importer and distributor, with which Coterie hopes to “accelerate the growth of premium wines in Asia”.

Back with Hallgarten, and at the time of writing, no further information was available as to a possible successor for Bewes when he formally steps down on 31 March 2026.

Bewes added: “I genuinely have no plans. The next four months will be spent actively supporting the Hallgarten team through this transitionary period and I then intend to take a real break which, I have to admit, is both daunting and exciting.

“I have been working back-to-back for 41 years in this industry and whilst I am not ready to stop, I know that a break is in order!”

• Andrew Bewes
• group
• managing director
• Hallgarten Wines
• Coterie Holdings
• Novum
• step down