THE CITY INTERVIEW: 未来 looks ros? for ワイン boss 吊りくさび

By Tamsin Brown
Updated: 09:06 BST, 6 January 2011

Majestic ワイン's 46-year-old 長，指導者 (n)役員／(a)執行力のある is わずかな／ほっそりした, bearded and 十分な of energy. There is not a ruddy cheek or paunch in sight, which is impressive for someone who has been in the ワイン 産業 for 25 years.

Rather aptly, the Hampsh 怒らせる home of the boss of Britain's biggest ワイン 倉庫／問屋 chain is a 変えるd pub.

But surprisingly it doesn't have a ワイン cellar. 'It had a cellar but the thing kept flooding so the previous owners filled it in with 固める／コンクリート,' explains Steve 吊りくさび.

Nose for 商売／仕事: 吊りくさび's 革新s have seen Majestic ワイン's 株 price climb 刻々と

He may be 欠如（する）ing a cellar but 吊りくさび evidently has buckets of 忠義 for Majestic having spent a ４半期/4分の1 of a century with the company.

He began as a 卒業生（する） 訓練生 at its Clapham 蓄える／店 in 1985 and climbed through the 階級s, taking the 最高の，を越す 職業 in 2008. He says: 'The 推論する／理由 I stuck with it was every time I got bored someone 促進するd me.'

吊りくさび's 前任者 Tim How 証明するd canny with his タイミング - stepping 負かす／撃墜する a month before Lehman Brothers went 破産した／（警察が）手入れする.

吊りくさび's first 始める，決める of results as 長，指導者 (n)役員／(a)執行力のある saw the company 報告（する）／憶測 利益（をあげる）s 負かす／撃墜する by a ４半期/4分の1. But they were nearly 支援する to 2007 levels at the half-year 示す and today 分析家s 推定する／予想する Majestic to tell the market that, while sales may have slowed against 堅い comparatives, it still had a good Christmas thanks to the spending 力／強力にする of its middle class 顧客.

Majestic 生成するs about a third of its turnover during November and December so the festive 貿易（する）ing numbers are 決定的な.

On the day we 会合，会う - ahead of the 出版（物） of the 人物／姿／数字s - the sprightly boss of Majestic, still tanned from a family holiday trekking in Majorca, is 上昇傾向.

He says: 'I do feel 楽観的な about Christmas. I think what has happened during the 後退，不況 has been やめる good for us as it has got us to the 最高の，を越す of our game.'

Majestic's out-of-town 判型 has helped it to 生き残る and arguably 栄える in the 下降. Its rent 法案 is lower than high street off-licenses and 解放する／自由な parking means 顧客s can 負担 up their cars after 存在 支持を得ようと努めるd by its 井戸／弁護士席-知らせるd staff.

Majestic has undoubtedly 利益d from the 崩壊（する） of 競争相手s. But 承認 should also go to 吊りくさび. Under his leadership, the company has 広げるd its 控訴，上告 to new 顧客s by cutting its 最小限 購入（する） to six 瓶／封じ込めるs. 以前, it only sold ワイン by the 事例／患者, a 遺産／遺物 of strict Sunday licensing 法律s in the 1980s.

吊りくさび says the change, introduced in September 2009, wasn't a reaction to the 後退，不況.

He says: '49 per cent of active 顧客s were only coming to us once a year. They were only coming when it was a summer BBQ, Christmas, a party, a wedding and the 残り／休憩（する） of the time they were topping up in supermarkets.

'I got the idea for six 瓶／封じ込めるs in our Cheam 蓄える／店 where a lady （機の）カム up with two 瓶／封じ込めるs and I tried to 納得させる her to buy 12. She walked out the door. I thought if I can't 納得させる her how can I 推定する／予想する a 22-year-old 訓練生 経営者／支配人 to do it.'

The move to six 瓶／封じ込めるs has meant 普通の／平均（する） spend has fallen but more importantly 顧客 numbers, 処理／取引s and underlying sales are up.

It has also helped the chain to 速度(を上げる） up its 蓄える／店 開始 programme because new 出口s have turned profitable faster. It now has 160 蓄える／店s although 吊りくさび wants to get this to at least 250.

Majestic's biggest 資産 is its staff. They are nearly all 卒業生（する）s and the company 投資するs ひどく in training them ーするために keep up its 顧客 service levels. It is a young 商売／仕事 with an 普通の／平均（する） age of 26.

吊りくさび says: 'One of my litmus 実験（する）s for our staff is: Would I be happy to 株 a car 旅行 with you and if I wouldn't then they probably shouldn't be working for us.'

In the 下降 Majestic pumped more money into staff training while 広げるing its 範囲 of ワイン to 誘惑する 顧客s from supermarkets and the 誘惑 of doing all their shopping in one place. Majestic's 普通の／平均（する） 瓶／封じ込める price is £6.67 compared with £4.52 at supermarkets.

This gives it a powerful 手渡す in 交渉s with big 生産者s from 地域s such as Rioja or Bordeaux because few others in the UK sell large 量s of ワイン between £6 and £20.

にもかかわらず the 後退，不況, its 顧客s are drinking more £20-加える 瓶／封じ込めるs of ワイン than ever - partly because Majestic has been rolling out 罰金 ワイン 陳列する，発揮するs in 蓄える／店s.

But 吊りくさび says the 下降 also means more people are entertaining at home and they are happy to buy a flash 瓶／封じ込める of ワイン for dinner in with friends.

He says Majestic's 顧客s are getting more adventurous. 押し進めるd away from 瓶／封じ込めるs of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fum? by the strength of the euro three years ago, they are drinking more South African, New Zealand and South American ワインs.

The 爆発 of cookery programmes has helped 料金d Britain's love 事件／事情／状勢 with food, and ワイン has gone 手渡す-in-手渡す with this new- 設立する passion for gastronomy.

吊りくさび says it is a far cry from his childhood when his family didn't drink a 減少（する） of ワイン. His father was a butcher and once worked in a shop at the 支援する of Buckingham Palace before moving to Bournemouth where 吊りくさび grew up.

吊りくさび developed his 利益／興味 in ワイン after spending a month every year in his teens in the Loire valley in フラン.

He now 分裂（する）s his time between Marylebone in London in the week and his family home 近づく Petersfield at the 週末 and 収容する／認めるs to having a glass of ワイン most days.

He says: 'I have managed to 納得させる my wife that part of my work 責任／義務 is that I 購入（する） every new 製品 that we 在庫／株. She doesn't 落ちる for it.' にもかかわらず his passion for food and ワイン, our lunch interview is a decidedly 乾燥した，日照りの 事件／事情／状勢.

A 瓶／封じ込める of ワイン sits untouched and 吊りくさび eats 非，不，無 of the 挟むs in 前線 of us. To be fair it is a Monday and he has plenty on his metaphorical plate. He ruminates on the challenge of growing the half-a-million strong 顧客 base at Majestic その上の.

He said: 'I think there is still a 抱擁する number of people who are our 的 market who have either never heard of Majestic or who have never been into Majestic.'

problem for Majestic-is it doesn't have the 予算 for 国家の advertising and relies on word of mouth and online marketing for growth. That's why the impression it makes on 存在するing 顧客s is 決定的な.

It is working hard to engage more with 顧客s, with mailings, seasonal tasting 開会／開廷／会期s and a 解放する／自由な two-hour ワイン course in its 蓄える／店.

The 取得／買収 of 罰金 ワイン specialist Lay & Wheeler in 2009 gave Majestic another engine of growth with a much stronger foothold in the en primeur market.

The steps 吊りくさび has taken to keep Majestic's sales growing has had a 肯定的な 衝撃 on 株. After hitting a low of 108.75p on Christmas Eve in 2008 they have climbed 刻々と to 383.5p.

But with the headwinds of 政府 spending 削減（する）s and stiff 競争 from the likes of 示すs & Spencer and Waitrose, 投資家s will be keen to find out what numbers Majestic unwraps for the market today before any シャンペン酒 corks are popped.