Following the merger of New Generation Wines and McKinley Vintners, which came into effect on 1 January, Imbibe caught up with Peter McKinley and MD, James Booth, at their en primeur tasting to discuss their plans for the new company.
‘One of the great things about our companies coming together is that there is minimal overlap between our two lists,’ said Booth, adding that there are no plans to drop any listings going ahead.
‘We were both very quality-focused before,’ he continued, pointing out that the combined list has now filled in several gaps. ‘For example New Generation Wines did nothing with Burgundy before, but now we have six great producers.’
The new company is currently focused on combining its separate price lists. ‘We’ll have one complete list from February first,’ added McKinley.
As far as on-trade sales are concerned, Booth explained, ‘One of the big processes at the moment is reallocating sales areas, as we had around a third overlap.’
‘Both of us have developed relationships with customers on a personal basis over the years and we’re maintaining as many of those as possible,’ added McKinley.
Looking ahead, the pair are planning to focus on ‘growth from within’ according to McKinley. ‘The potential for growth with the new list we’ve created is massive. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t double in size. Having more to offer existing customers is our opportunity to grow – without even having to do any fancy marketing or take on any new agencies.’