1698 – A tale of two halves
Last year, two of the biggest names in the UK family business community – both in the drinks industry – celebrated their 325th birthdays. In this two-part series, we profile the parallel stories of Berry Bros & Rudd, and Shepherd Neame through the eyes of Lizzy Rudd and Jonathan Neame, each responsible for stewarding their firms and ensuring their family businesses remain leaders in their industry for generations to come.
Company year of founding: 1698 Location: London Turnover: £250m Number of staff: 400 Generation of business: 10th
Spirits shop Credit: Joakim Blockstrom
Who started your business, and why? All we can find from the records is that it was started by a “Widow Bourne”, who established a shop at No 3 in St James’s Street in 1698. At the time, a lot of businesses were cropping up in this part of town to provide produce and services for the aristocracy. So, our business was started by a woman, and now we are majority led by women, which surprises a lot of people, because St James’s is perceived as a traditional area. What’s been the biggest threat or challenge to your business over the centuries? Our biggest challenge always has been to keep changing with the times. In the early days we predominantly sold coffee, which was very luxurious at the time. More recently, in the 20th Century, we were predominantly a whisky business. We’ve continued to evolve and are now the oldest fine wine and spirits business in the UK. We’re always innovating. We’ve had to deal with some big changes brought on by world wars and deaths of shareholders. My grandfather joined in 1920, but after the two other business partners – and their sons – died in World War Two, my grandfather was left propping up the business. It was a time of complete turmoil. What changes in consumer behaviour and attitudes are you observing in your industry? How is this affecting how you run the business? We’re seeing lots of changes, depending on where you are in the world. In Europe we’re seeing young people becoming more considered about how they consume wine and spirits. In Asia, there is an increasing appetite for fine wine and collecting. We are responding by focusing more on expanding our premium wines and spirits. Then of course there are greater expectations about sustainability. It’s already important to us, but the consumer of the future is going to require that. We’re currently looking at the B Corp framework which is very
helpful. We have a very clear carbon reduction road map, with targets across our supply chain, and keeping an eye on the technology that’s coming. Sustainability also involves sharing best practice with producers. How do you balance preserving tradition and heritage with the need to innovate and remain competitive? As a family member it’s easy to feel weighed down by history, but that same history gives us the foundation to innovate. The biggest part of our business is selling to people who want to build collections, so we’ve developed a service where they can buy and store with us. Plus, we’ve developed an online fine wine exchange BBX – a market- place for wine collectors. People expect to have the choice of buying everything online. At the same time, they want a very personal experience. Not just buying wine but having an in-person, face-to-face experience. How do you think your next generation will change the business? They’ll have to change even faster than we are now. They may diversify. We’re focusing now on our core fine wine and spirits business, but future generations may diversify into no- and low-alcohol products. I’m sure they’ll build upon the brand experience, and I hope that they’ll have fun while they’re doing it!
Lizzy Rudd Berry Bros & Rudd
Credit: Elena Heatherwick
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