General Manager – English Winery (Guildford, Surrey)

GENERAL MANAGER, GREYFRIARS VINEYARD

Greyfriars Vineyard is a successful and respected English sparkling wine producer, near Guildford in Surrey, renowned for its high-quality wines and consumer-driven approach to the English sparkling wine category.

Greyfriars has a strong track record locally of high quality and excellent customer experience, award winning and consumer friendly wines and with key infrastructure already in place (vineyards, winery, storage cellar, tasting room etc), Greyfriars is very well positioned for continued and sustainable growth.

We are now seeking a professional, approachable and commercially astute General Manager to lead the next phase of our growth and establish Greyfriars as a key player in premium English wines.

Reporting to the founder of Greyfriars Vineyards (Mike Wagstaff).

Role Overview

• As the General Manager (GM), you will be responsible for shaping and delivering the long-term vision for Greyfriars Vineyard. This influential role will require a charismatic and credible person who is passionate about wine, driven by excellence, and able to find solutions in a competitive market.
• You will oversee all aspects of the business, from grape-to-glass through marketing and sales, team management, cellar door sales, vineyard tours and ensuring that Greyfriars continues to thrive, and deliver on its goals.

Business Leadership

• Develop and carry out (in conjunction with the owners and team) a comprehensive, long-term strategic plan that drives growth and aligns with the company’s ethos both on site at the Winery and developing profitable routes to market in the wider trade in the UK.
• Respond to market trends and industry activity, identifying new opportunities and potential risks to guide decision-making on, distribution, new business development, product development, and brand positioning.

 Team Management

• Manage and inspire a loyal and high-performing team, fostering a culture of professionalism, outstanding customer service and commercial excellence.
• Provide clear leadership, mentorship, and guidance to empower employees to make their own decisions and actively nurture their growth and development.
• Ensure the continuance of a positive, fun and inclusive work environment that deeply values employee involvement across the business.

Sales and Marketing

• Develop and deliver a sales and marketing strategy (identifying the best routes to market/distribution partners/outlets) that increases revenue in a measured and sustainable way, enhances brand recognition, and affirms Greyfriars’s brand essence and excellence.
• Build and maintain strategic relationships with distributors, retailers, trade partners, and media locally and nationally.
• Lead marketing initiatives with a focus on high ROI, enhancing Greyfriars’ visibility and engaging consumers with a compelling brand message to enjoy our wines.

 Wine Tourism, On Site Events and Direct-to-Consumer Sales

• Oversee the development and increase of visitors for vineyard tours, events, the tasting room and cellar door facilities. Deliver strong growth in direct-to-consumer sales (both online and on-site).
• Ensure profitability and well-considered growth of the company, exploring new opportunities to maximise value.

 Operational Experience

• Be involved in, understand and support the growing and winemaking production process, ensuring the highest quality of standards and safety are kept at all times.
• Collaborate with the viticulture and winemaking teams to continue to improve production techniques, consistency and quality.
• Implement operational efficiencies that optimize productivity, quality, and cost-effectiveness.

 Financial Management

• Work with the Founder to deliver financial growth through effective pricing strategies, distribution partnerships, and well considered market expansion.
• Work with the Founder to prepare annual budgets, business plans, and financial analyses, while managing relationships with banking and debt providers.
• Oversee financial performance, setting direction and ensuring that the company meets its financial targets and responsibilities.

Your Experience

• Proven leadership experience in a general management or senior commercial role, ideally in the wine sector or a similar UK drinks industry role
• Experience/knowledge in English sparkling wine production and a clear understanding market trends and activity.
• Demonstrable success and experience in developing and delivering sales, marketing, and brand-building strategies.
• Proven leadership and communication skills, with the ability to inspire your teams by engaging stakeholders, trade customers, visitors to the winery and the media.
• Positive and adaptable approach with a passion for continuous improvement.
• Excellent financial management skills, including budgeting, forecasting, and credit/cost control.
• Ability to manage operations, delegate when necessary, and gain results through a team focussed approach.

Why Join Greyfriars Vineyard?

Overview and Business Strategy

• In 2025, Greyfriars is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary since Mike and Hilary Wagstaff took over. During this time, we have expanded from the original ‘hobby scale’ vineyard to about 35 acres of mature vines on two nearby sites. Together with a modern winery and production facilities we have current capacity of about 100,000 bottles per annum and the ability to expand further as necessary.
• Since inception, Greyfriars has been built on a core strategy to produce great wine at an accessible price as a key differentiator in expanding the English Sparkling Wine category. We do this by keeping a tight focus on operational efficiency and cost control.
• We are predominantly focussed on the production of traditional method sparkling wine using the three traditional Champagne grape varietals (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier). However, in recent years we have produced small quantities of still wine (~10% of total production) and have small plantings of Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc. We are a grower-producer and an important part of our strategy is that all Greyfriars’ wines are made from estate grown fruit giving us control from ‘grape-to-glass’.
• Since the release of our first wines in 2014 our range has expanded to ~10 different sparkling wines at different styles and price points as well as 2-4 different still wines, depending on the vintage. Our wines have improved in quality as our vines become mature, we get more experience in getting the best out of them and our wines get more age before release.
• Despite a difficult economic environment, 2024 was a record year for wine sales. The business is profitable with a strong balance sheet and no external debt. As a result, Greyfriars is extremely well positioned to continue its exciting growth for the foreseeable future.

Our Strengths

• Great People. Great wines are produced by great people and we have built a great team over the years. Not only are they experts in their own area of expertise, but we work extremely hard in making sure that everybody is extremely collaborative and focussed on the common goal. While we take what we do very seriously, we don’t take ourselves too seriously and we try to maintain a ‘performance with fun’ culture.

• Great Vineyards. Based on industry benchmarking our two vineyard sites are in the top 10-15% of the UK by yield and produce high quality fruit. We have sold grapes over the past few years to some of the key players in the industry and their feedback has always been excellent.

• Great Wines. Our wines have been critically very well received and we have won numerous awards and trophies in prestigious international wine competitions across the range. They are also recognised as representing extremely good value.
• Commercial Diversification. We have a number of routes to market; wholesale distribution to the UK on-trade, direct distribution to the on and off-trade, direct to consumer sales (“DTC”) and newly established export to the US. While the proportion of sales through each channel varies from year-to-year we are not dependent on any one sales channel.
• Commitment to Improvement. However, we are not resting on our laurels and are committed to continuous improvement. Joining us at the highest level offers the opportunity for the successful applicant to be a critical part of taking Greyfriars to the next level.

Remuneration

• Excellent Package on offer, commensurate with experience.

Location

• This is a full-time role to be based at the winery. You will ideally live close to or in a reasonable commute of the Guildford area.