Testimonials

New Wine Business surviving Covid-19

The Honest Wine Company, based in the centre of Castle Donington, opened its doors on February 14th 2020 with the vision of giving everyone access to great wines on their doorstep. Value for money and support for smaller, Independent Vineyards has always been a key driver and, as such, we were very conscious of offering something not available locally at a competitive price.

From opening, we were overwhelmed by the support and interest from people wanting to talk and learn more about wine. One of our great successes was our Saturday Wine Tastings. They soon became a village social event and it was a great opportunity to try some new wines and meet others to talk about wines.

Then Lockdown arrived with its obvious challenges. This meant we had to find different ways of operating and getting our offering to market. We always wanted to combine the convenience of being able to buy online together with the tangible experience of visiting a Wine Merchants.  Although we were permitted to remain open, we made a conscious decision to offer an Online service only.  So, we finalised our website which meant our customers could order online and we could provide contactless, free local delivery.  The support we received was fantastic and meant a lot to us both. As the Online service has been so successful and popular, we will naturally be continuing with this, alongside welcoming customers back into our shop.  Our customers asked us if we could continue with the Wine Tastings but, obviously, at home and virtually.  Again, this has proved very popular and continues to grow and be a successful addition to the business.  The strange new world we are all now operating in has meant we have had to develop as a business far more quickly than we otherwise may have done!

During Lockdown, we have greatly extended our range across Red, White, Rose, Prosecco, Cava and Champagnes. We have also extended the services we offer and we can now post out wine to our customers and their friends, family etc. and we have built relationships with Companies to send out wines to their clients and staff. The support of our advisers, such as McGregors, has also been invaluable ensuring we were up to date with all the government initiatives as well sorting out VAT etc.

We believe we have come out of this stronger and have grown our Wine business during unprecedented times.  Naturally, we are grateful for all the support we have received.

Karl and Debbie

The Honest Wine Company Ltd
19 Borough Street
Castle Donington
DE74 2LA
www.thehonestwinecompanyltd.co.uk
info@thehonestwinecompanyltd.co.uk
07970122501 / 01332 811542