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30 Under 30: Results 2026!

Our 2026 30 Under 30 winners demonstrate that for many 20-somethings plying their trade in wine and spirits, their dedication goes far beyond simply the ‘day job’. From self-funding extracurricular studies to advocacy and volunteering in their free time, the passion shown by these leading lights runs deep.

This talent spans the trade, with whiskymakers and oenologists standing alongside drinks buyers and communicators, showcasing how innovation and creativity will continue to be hallmarks of our unique and diverse industry.

A notable trait of this year’s 30 is a willingness and excitement to share their knowledge with others. Within a generation raised entirely in the internet age, this group represents the best aspects of how communication and information-sharing can be used for good.

The generation of wine and spirits lovers that follows this one will enter the industry with generous and engaged mentors. We encourage you to explore the depth and breadth of the talent on our full list.

Congratulations to this year’s winners and standout champions for 2026, they are all well deserving of the 30 Under 30 accolade.

Methodology

To find our initial long list, we asked for nominations from across the industry. These candidates were then asked to submit evidence against the six following criteria: leadership, commitment, communication, innovation, education and sustainability. We then proceeded with two judging groups to avoid any employers judging their own employees. Scores were then averaged out and our 30 awarded from across the two groups. To note: winners were aged 29 and under at the time of their nomination, though may now be 30.

Judging panel

Ben Franks, CEO and co-founder, Canned Wine Group

Katy Keating, MD, Flint Wines

Regine Lee, MD, Indigo Wine

Will Oatley, commercial director, Hallgarten & Novum Wines

Caroline Thompson-Hill, head of beers, wines and spirits, Marks & Spencer

Rachel Webster, global business director, WSET

Kim Wilson, MD and founder, North South Wines

Harpers 30 Under 30 list 2026:

Abi Chell

Key account manager

Canned Wine Group

Age: 28

As Canned Wine Group’s key account manager for the entertainment, culture and sports sales channel, Chell’s approach is as dynamic as the sector her clients reside in. Playing a key role in developing partnerships with businesses ranging from theatre giants ATG Entertainment to the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, her commitment to forging strong relationships with cultural businesses of all sizes is resolute. Chell is adept at anticipating trends with well-planned activations, while also supporting the entertainment industry via partnerships with top theatre trade bodies.

Commitment Champion

Abigail O'Hare

National account manager

Bibendum

Age: 29

O’Hare entered the drinks industry at 16, traversing roles in the on-trade (including a stint as a somm at a Michelin-starred venue), retail and now in her supplier-side role at Bibendum. Through this journey, she has developed a deep appreciation of how the wine world ebbs and flows. Backed with a Plumpton College wine business degree, within her roles she has championed sustainability and inclusion, all the while introducing tactful approaches to business including, at present, leading a chilled red wine project with Bibendum to propel the subcategory.

Angelica Antonini

Brand manager

Liberty Wines

Age: 29

For the past five years, Antonini has been driving the commercial performance of Liberty Wines’ Italian portfolio. Over this time, she has played a key role in making the importer’s sales team both more confident and commercially effective by transforming how they are trained – contributing to a 5% increase in sales across categories including Tuscany and Piedmont. On top of this, Antonini also spends more than 30 days a year hosting tastings and events in the trade, building awareness of both Italian wines and the Liberty portfolio.

Sustainability Champion

Ben Bernheim

Partner and rosé critic

Pink.wine

Age: 29

Bernheim’s advocacy for pink-hued wine is likely to have a marked effect on how the category – and its diversity of styles – is perceived in the UK trade. Be they masterclasses, tastings, events, even a parcel-by-parcel digital map of Tavel, innovation is at the forefront of this advocacy. Social and environmental conscientiousness is always intertwined with Bernheim’s work too. Annual sustainable rosé events, editorial work encouraging green oenotourism and the organising of networking opportunities for young Jewish wine professionals, all showcase this in spades.

Bethany Pogson

Head of wine and service

Restaurant Twenty-Two

Age: 30

Pogson has a flair for education, having recently developed an instructive wine-tasting club at her workplace. Initially only available to the restaurant team, this is now open to the public, providing an accessible way to learn about wine. This knack for connecting with consumers also extends to her development of two different styles of wine pairing for the venue – ‘signature’ pairings (showcasing fine wines from around the world) and ‘discovery’ pairings, both of which are increasingly popular with guests.

Caitlin Farrell

Soho Wine Supply

Wine advisor and sales facilitator

Age: 24

Through hard work and grasping fresh opportunities, Farrell has become an indispensable member of the Soho Wine Supply team. Since starting at the Percy Street indie, she has developed its social media presence, played a crucial role in recruiting the present shop manager and enhanced the business’s online marketing toolkit – seasonal email campaigns now ensure shop patrons are kept up to date year-round. Farrell’s networking at women-focused industry events and engagement with local green initiatives reinforces Soho Wine Supply’s sustainability ethos.

Chloe Bargery

Wine communicator

Uncorked with Chlo

Age: 29

With a full-time career outside the trade, Bargery has built an impressive wine communication platform – Uncorked with Chlo. Through this project, she researches and produces both short- and long-form educational content, helping to shape a more accessible wine trade and dismantle lazy stereotypes about wine. In addition to the digital side of her role, she also regularly hosts in-person tastings engaging new and enthusiastic audiences, all the while balancing her WSET Diploma studies.

Eleanor Scott

Assistant winemaker

Plumpton Estate

Age: 29

Joining Plumpton Estate as assistant winemaker more than a year ago, just six months into her role Scott assumed the position of interim winemaker to cover the head winemaker’s maternity leave. Despite the considerable challenge, Scott thrived, ensuring a high-yield harvest ran smoothly and helping a new cohort of Plumpton College students gain their first experience in the world of oenology. Her professionalism helped the winery achieve ‘no actions or suggestions’ for its annual SALSA (Safe and Local Supplier Approval) certification for the first time.

Ella Parchment

Founder

Mama Vino

Age: 29

Mama Vino was founded with one goal – making tastings feel more approachable and sociable – and it has soundly delivered. Drawing on her background in events and inspired by her mum (who introduced her to wine), Parchment has built the project from scratch, hosting relaxed, welcoming events across London, while pursuing other exciting projects alongside. She also works in close collaboration with inclusivity advocacy organisations Curious Vines and Equal Measures, passionate about championing equal opportunity for all in the trade.

Fraser Morrison

International brand ambassador

Chivas Brothers

Age: 25

Flying the flag for Chivas Brothers in India, Morrison has sought to grow interest for the Scotch whisky in a burgeoning spirits market. Be it coordinating Chivas’s brand presence at fashion shows or hosting private dinners to tell the story of the historic producer, Morrison has thrived in his role in the subcontinent. Traversing 19 cities and 16 states to promote the precious liquid to hospitality professionals, Morrison drew from his experience working at The Glenlivet in Speyside to forge new relationships.

Gabriella Messent

Junior brand manager

John E Fells & Sons

Age: 27

Messent has shown a talent for promoting the vintage Port category in the UK. This includes organising a string of successful events, including London’s Vintage Port Day in 2024 – the first event of its kind in the UK – and the Graham’s Blend Series Cocktail Competition, both creating strong engagement with the category. Messent’s brand-managing nous is not limited to fortified wine, having also played a key role in developing a strong English sparkling presence at top on-trade venues including The Dorchester and Hotel du Vin.

Grace Frith

Assistant whiskymaker

The Lakes Distillery

Age: 29

Frith’s willingness to learn and develop her skills has seen her curate a finely honed whiskymaking craft. At The Lakes, Cognac-inspired élevage ageing is a technical challenge, one that she approaches head on. Using her nous for innovation, Frith implemented a new distillery management system (Vapour) to allow for greater data accuracy during the ageing process. For a maturation technique that often involves moving spirit between casks, improved data management helped streamline this process. Her creativity, enthusiasm and sensorial skill have placed her well as a team leader at The Lakes.

Imogen Glithro

Category development manager

Foodbuy UK

Age: 28

Glithro has taken to her role with proficiency and enthusiasm, extensively developing Foodbuy’s beer, wine and spirits channel. One of her most notable projects has been an effort to simplify navigation of the company’s wine offer, building a strategic supplier framework for the company. Hands on at every stage, Glithro has renegotiated deals between Foodbuy and its many suppliers, organising a system that has supported the acquisition of new business. Her innovative spirit does not end there, having created a Christmas food-and-wine pairing menu for Foodbuy’s clients.

James Gray

Senior business manager

González Byass UK

Age: 26

Since joining González Byass UK in 2024, Gray has achieved listings aplenty for the producer-importer. Focusing on multiple retail in his role, he has grown the presence of both branded and own-label SKUs, ranging from premium retailer Booths to value supermarket chain Nisa. Rewarded for his efforts with a recent promotion, this was likely in part an acknowledgement of Gray’s sustainability credentials. Utilising contacts made in his previous role with Kingsland Drinks, he developed a fresh relationship between surplus supermarket Company Shop and González Byass.

Joe Rook

Wine and spirits development manager

Molson Coors Beverage Company

Age: 22

Using his age to his advantage, Rook plays a leading role in demystifying the data around Gen Z drinking habits, often heading up customer and supplier meetings with a keen eye for trends in the category and changes that can be made to appeal to this younger cohort. Rook’s insightful analysis extends to his lead role in the Molson Coors Business resource group for generations where he finds ways to provide fair and equal opportunities across every stage of employees’ careers.

J.P. Langedyk

Assistant winemaker

Louis Pommery England

Age: 29

Langedyk’s winemaking travels across seven countries – including Thailand – has helped to cultivate an informed and broad expertise. With a background in molecular biology, he brings this scientific focus to winemaking at Louis Pommery too. Inspired by low-intervention producers, Langedyk has developed a practice to isolate and cultivate a yeast strain that is purely site-specific, with the possibility of being used year on year – mitigating the usage of lab yeasts. Determined to enhance his technical knowledge, a potential future masters and PhD await.

Lewis Hadley-Roberts

MD

Gather

Age: 29

The drinks trade would be nowhere without self-starters like Hadley-Roberts. Opening an indie wine shop and bar in Suffolk’s Long Melford required him to be across every aspect of the business operations – pricing strategy, portfolio selection and marketing. The dual on- and off-trade model is no accident either, allowing low-risk exploration for customers. This is all backed up by an ethos centred around demystifying wine, by hosting formal and informal tastings, and giving patrons a friendly and informative guiding hand in store.

Liam Matthews

Operations manager

Knightor Winery

Age: 25

Matthews has had an outsized role across Knightor Winery, finding particular success in promoting its range, both domestically and abroad. A national cocktail and spritz campaign that he spearheaded in 2025 created sales growth in the winery’s vermouth range – a category he has also adeptly positioned as a go-to spritz option in Cornwall. His achievements by no means stop there, with a skilful relaunch of the business’s wine-export strategy – opening markets such as Denmark and Norway – also under his belt.

Education Champion

Maisie Turner

Assistant buyer

Berkmann Wine Cellars

Age: 27

Education takes two forms – learning and teaching others. Drawing from her general passion for wine and her role as an assistant buyer at Berkmann, Turner educates eager vinophiles through her Maisie.Wine Instagram account. Achieving her WSET Diploma at just 22 and currently in her second year of study towards the MW programme, Turner is determined to deepen her expertise too. In her role at the importer, she brings this focus to the ever-fiddly world of importing Bordeaux, with a keen interest in how to reposition the category for Gen Z.

Molly Eccleston

Regional account executive

Hallgarten & Novum Wines

Age: 24

Eccleston has been a champion of inclusivity, organising the inventive ‘Imagine a Winemaker... Is It a Man?’ campaign for International Women’s Day for Hallgarten, which successfully spotlighted barriers that still exist in the trade, while generating strong engagement. Eccleston’s passion for accessibility extends to her relationship with the Edge Hotel School, where she has delivered lectures providing students with practical skills for their future careers. Under her initiative, Hallgarten sponsored the school’s Women in Leadership conference, a source of great insight for attending students.

Olivia Hedges

Senior account manager

Phipps

Age: 29

Maintaining relationships with top accounts does not happen by accident, they require commitment and creativity to keep the offer fresh. Step in Hedges, who spearheaded the Rioja Wine campaign during the demarcation’s 100th anniversary. Her role in delivering the Rioja 100 consumer festival ensured a new audience engaged with the region as something to be experienced and understood. Key account responsibilities do not end there, and her role as a mentor within the agency ensures her knowledge and forward-thinking can inspire others too.

Olivia Hobson

Studio and customer experience manager

Majestic Wine

Age: 29

Showcasing a noteworthy attention to detail, Hobson has recently streamlined Majestic’s approach to price tickets – significantly improving store experience and reducing waste. She took the initiative after she realised stores were being sent tickets that were unnecessary or in irrelevant formats, co-ordinating several areas of the business to create a more efficient approach to ticketing. Hobson has also been involved in an impressive effort to ensure every product in store has either tasting notes or product information available – filling gaps for over 500 products in the past year.

Innovation Champion

Polly Halstead

Founder

The Cork Club

Age: 29

Halstead believes that championing real-life experiences is vital for drawing in a fresh audience of wine lovers. The Cork Club was founded with the belief that wine exploration should not intimidate, all the while allowing young people to enjoy fresh and exciting tasting formats. This includes a Rhône blends event, contrasting single varietal wines with blends to highlight how grapes can marry and enhance one another. Social games that encourage wine learnings top off an event format that will inspire wine tastemakers of the future.

Leadership Champion

Rachael Curry

Technical manager

Canned Wine Co.

Age: 28

In a team of one, alchemising her love of chemistry and wine in the role, Curry built from scratch the quality and safety management system at Canned Wine Co., helping ensure rigorous food safety standards. Doing so also allowed the business to be ahead of the curve when it came to the safety expectations of multiple retailers. Given the license to satiate her scientific curiosity, she has problem-solved challenges including those related to carbonated on-tap wine products, all the while educating the entire business on its products’ technical nuances.

Sinéad Kennard

Store and operations manager

Mouse & Grape

Age: 28

The first employee of cheese and wine retailer Mouse & Grape, Kennard has poured her energy into the business, taking on a whole host of roles as it has grown (in no small part due to her own efforts). She has been instrumental in encouraging customers to explore new and interesting wine experiences – developing new hampers (with founder and previous 30 under 30 winner Jessica Summers) alongside running intriguing events. Additionally, her previous experience contributing to the B-Corp application for Lucky Saint has honed her sustainability focus.

Sofia Spencer

Assistant manager

Vagabond Wines

Age: 26

The youngest Vagabond assistant manager, Spencer is always pursuing opportunities to cultivate wine knowledge and confidence in her team. Regarding this, she has gone above and beyond – implementing a training programme that has since been adopted by Vagabond head office. Spencer has also consistently pushed to make English wine exciting for all, hosting events and helping to promote them throughout her career. With a knack for creativity, during her time at Bancroft she helped restructure its tasting notes, making them quicker and easier for staff to use.

Sophia Gilmour

Market analyst

Liv-ex

Age: 25

Driven by her belief that strong research requires open discussion and collaborative engagement, Gilmour has hosted a series pf Liv-ex webinars presenting her analysis, inviting engagement and feedback from the platform’s members. She continues to enhance the wine exchange’s market coverage using self-taught coding skills to optimise the publication of charts and data. Gilmour works closely with the UK trade, supporting research in the sector, and is frequently quoted by trade press (including Harpers).

Thomas Moore

Head sommelier

Trillium Restaurant

Age: 22

At only 22, Moore is responsible for curating the 360-bin list at Trillium – the restaurant from Michelin-starred chef Glynn Purnell and Phil Innes of Loki Wines. Moore is constantly endeavouring to keep the list both engaging and exciting, working closely with the kitchen to curate dynamic pairings and source new producers. He is also heavily involved in the wine education of his team, regularly organising tastings and training sessions, while at the same time studying for his Court of Master Sommeliers introductory exam.

Tilly Loughton

Private client sales

Goedhuis Waddesdon

Age: 28

Loughton has a passion for inclusion, overseeing the founding of The Goed Wine Collective to help drive engagement from under-35s. For the club, she regularly organises engaging tastings and masterclasses. She has also made great efforts to bring more women into wine, encouraging an even gender split at GWC events. Loughton spearhead a redesign of the company’s cellar plan, aiming to make it more appealing to young people. This effort bore fruit, with the number of cellar-plan signups increasing more than 20% since last year, driven by under-35s.

Communication Champion

Tom Follows

Senior cellar hand

Chapel Down

Age: 29

Seven years with Chapel Down has seen Follows journey from tour guide – a role in which he educated around 18,000 people – to a key winemaking position at England’s largest wine producer. Drawing from his adept, well-honed communication skills was vital for this transition, having led the harvest intern team of 18 across three consecutive vintages. Ensuring a supportive learning environment, his skills are not limited to educating others on wine but making the stuff too. Already an award-winning producer, he is sure to make waves in the years to come.

• 30 under 30