Katy Keating: ‘Looking Back, Forging Ahead’

By Harpers Editorial team

Published: 19 August, 2026

The MD of Flint Wines is next up in our summer Q&A series, talking stories, the value of rarity, the next generation and being a technicolour option.

How has business been for you in the first half of 2026 and how do things compare to where you were last year?

In July our family hiked part of Hadrian’s Wall and up in rural Northumberland, the night sky was the right analogy for business this year: full of beautiful stars, despite some wispy clouds, with clear skies ahead.

Our brightest stars are our trade customers – sales are up by nearly 20%, and we are opening about five new accounts a week at present. I think it reflects an appreciation for what we do – very good wines offered by a very good team at a time when industry consolidation has made things a bit beige. We’re the technicolour option.

For merchants, we are supporting partners who are selling wine by telling its stories, the same way that we do. Ito Aboutajedyne recently joined the trade team and with her relationships built over four years at Liberty Wines, and another four at Hedonism, Ito is looking to increase access to our portfolio for these key accounts despite the scattered clouds.

We see clear skies ahead for our private client arm. There’s less speculation – fewer private clients buying wine as an investment – which is a good thing for the long-term health of the market, though it means fewer big, sexy sales as more people buy wines they plan to drink. We recently launched Le Clos, a club to reward loyal clients, with priority access to our most highly sought allocations, our best storage rates, free delivery and a list of restaurant partners offering special corkage arrangements. With more than one hundred members already, Le Clos marks our way forward.

We might see the full constellation one evening before long!

What are you most proud of achieving this year in terms of driving the business forward?

Our new website and our new team tradition, both which took place on the same day, 3 July.

We relaunched our retail website after an eighteen-month hiatus. We had taken it offline when we set out to sunset Stannary Street, the old name for our private client arm, in early 2024. We then moved the whole business onto a new back-end system in 2025, and then we rebuilt a new site from scratch. So, the website represents the culmination of more than just one project.

On the same day, we established a new tradition: a summer party for our whole team and those closest to them – husbands, wives, partners, children, even sisters. We opened up our office – our own Aimee Rogers (named Young Cheesemonger of the Year whilst at her former employer, Buchanan’s) set out cheeses, founding director Sam Clarke’s daughter Iris (a student at Edinburgh) DJed, customer service manager Jasmine Clarke (ex-Noble Rot) and her team selected the wines, and our fine wine intern Thea Sprawson (a student at St Andrews) photographed everything – and then we continued the party at Darby’s, which has a fabulous terrace, not to mention service and food (and wine list). We knew before the night was over that this gathering will become an annual event.

What’s more important than our culture, and the sales to support it?

What have been the biggest challenges so far this year and how have you sought to circumvent those?

The way private clients are buying wine is changing, across many dimensions: volumes, regions, styles, prices, en primeur, and rapidly so. Rarity is ever more highly prized. Stories are, too. Investment speculation is down, thank goodness. Older generations have full cellars. Younger generations don’t have a cellar (yet?!). And we want to keep up.

One decision we’ve taken to understand what the future might hold is to employ the next generation. We’ve welcomed five interns over the course of 2026 – Cerys Squibb, Sebastian Holdsworth, Thea Sprawson, Laurelyne Bret, and Ria Sood – ably managed by Will Heslop. This infusion of youthful perspective and enthusiasm has certainly impacted our own, and our approach towards private client sales growth is evolving as a direct result.

Looking ahead to the second half of the year, what do you have in the pipeline?

We are opening bottles and tasting them with customers.

We’re headed to Bristol on Monday 21 September to co-host a trade tasting, alongside Dynamic Vines, at Adelina Yard – a collaboration made possible by one of our newest trade team members, Sylwia Oger (ex-Le Manoir, Lympstone Manor, Gidleigh Park, amongst others) whose husband Edouard works at Dynamic Vines.

We’re also heading up to fine wine hotspot Manchester on Wednesday 23 September to host a trade tasting at Terrace NQ which will be our first such event here.

We’re hosting our first-ever South Africa wine tasting on 29 September in Mayfair, opening wines from 12 producers for trade and press during the day and for private clients in the evening. Some fabulous winemakers will be flying in to pour their own wines, including Chris Alheit, Lukas van Loggerenberg and Sam Lambson of Minimalist Wines.

We'll be hosting a trade tasting down in Deal in Kent at the gorgeous wine bar Le Pinardier on 5 October. And we’re having an exciting trade tasting in East London, at a new account, Blinds, in Hackney on Tuesday 13 October.

And this September, we are launching a specially commissioned Flint Wine which we can't wait for people to try…

What significant or emerging trends are you seeing in the drinks’ world that are likely to have an impact on the future nature of trade?

My number one job is to look after our team and so I pay huge attention to movement of talent. There is an unprecedented amount of change, with people leaving longstanding positions and taking up new ones or setting off on their own – a result of the contraction and the consolidation in the industry at present.

People make the wine world go round, so the impact of this movement will be profound.

From government, consumers, or the trade itself, what change(s) would you most like to see to help your business and others to thrive?

When I go out these days, everyone orders something different – spicy margarita, glass of champagne, straight to red wine – what happened to the joy of sharing a bottle of wine all together? There are at least five or six glasses to go round, after all. Let’s get back to sharing.

From government, the reduction in VAT for hospitality would seem to be a helpful boon to our on-trade partners, with whom our success is very much linked. Of course, the complexities and increases in both recycling tax and alcohol duty are an onus we could do without, but we are also realistic.

What fills you with joy and optimism about the drinks world?

The rise in regenerative viticulture.

Our children’s interest in wine.

How delicious Burgundy is and has been since Roman times.

I could keep going!

Any other predictions for the second half of the year?

A merry Christmas, and a busy run up to it – there are just too many good wines out there not to not be excited.

Quick fire questions…

Burgundy or Bordeaux?

Burgundy, as much as Margaux and Marsau have a place in my heart

Germany or Greece?

Greece, thanks to a holiday there, like a good cliché