A UK-based fine wine company needed a Managing Director to lead its next stage of growth. The business traded fine wine and also offered investment opportunities, including en primeur. It had built a strong reputation over many years, with loyal customers and consistent success in winning new business.
This was also the first time the company had hired for a senior role of this level. The previous leader was moving into a Board Chairman role. He had built the business over time and remained closely connected to it. Understandably, stepping back from day-to-day control was difficult, especially as the company moved into a more modern phase.
The business was successful but needed to modernise. Its website, trading platform, and internal systems had developed over time rather than being designed for scale. They still worked, but they were not aligned with changing customer expectations. The company needed a leader who could improve the digital side of the business while protecting what already worked well — strong customer relationships and trust. This created a sensitive situation. The outgoing leader understood the need for modernisation and supported it in principle. At the same time, this was still very much “his” business, which made change more personal and complex.
There were very few places to find candidates with the right mix of experience for this role. Within fine wine, the talent pool was small. However, there were some strong comparable candidates from related sectors such as investable spirits and whisky, where trading, brand, and investment dynamics are similar.
Beyond alcohol, relevant experience was found in other luxury investment sectors, particularly watches and collectable assets. These candidates often had strong experience in customer trust, high-value sales environments, and platform-driven trading models. However, while these candidates brought strong commercial and digital experience, they typically had limited exposure to fine wine specifically. This created an important consideration for the role: capability existed, but sector knowledge needed to be built over time.
We began by aligning stakeholders on the role and what modernisation meant in practice. This helped clarify expectations and ensure consistency across the process. We also addressed the sensitivity of the leadership transition, ensuring alignment between the incoming Managing Director and the outgoing Chairman, who remained closely connected to the business. The search then expanded beyond fine wine into adjacent and comparable sectors, including whisky, spirits, and luxury investment markets such as watches. We focused on candidates who had experience improving platforms, systems, and customer journeys within trusted, high-value environments.
For candidates outside of fine wine, we recognised that there would need to be a longer learning curve. To address this, we proposed a structured 12-month onboarding and mentoring approach, where the incoming Managing Director would be closely supported and shadowed by the incumbent during the transition period. This ensured that sector knowledge could be transferred while still enabling the new leader to drive modernisation from day one.
The role was successfully filled with a candidate from the wine sector who also had strong experience in digital transformation. Importantly, they had previously worked in the tech industry before moving into wine. In their most recent role, they had already led modernisation projects, improving platforms, systems, and customer experience.
This combination of sector knowledge and technology-led thinking made them a strong fit for the business. They were able to bring a clear plan to modernise the company’s digital and trading infrastructure, while respecting the trust, relationships, and legacy that had been built over many years.
This search highlighted three important points.
First, there are very limited talent pools for this type of hybrid role within fine wine alone. Adjacent sectors such as whisky, spirits, and luxury investment markets can provide relevant experience, while luxury collectables like watches can also offer useful crossover skills.
Second, when moving outside of sector-specific hiring, onboarding and transition planning becomes critical. In this case, a structured 12-month mentoring period was proposed to bridge the gap in fine wine knowledge.
Third, leadership transitions in founder-led or long-established businesses require careful balance between continuity and change, particularly when the outgoing leader remains involved.
Vinokelly Drinks Recruitment helps drinks and fine wine businesses hire senior leaders who can balance commercial performance, customer trust, and modernisation, particularly in complex leadership transitions and niche markets.
Share this case study:
