Torridon Convenience Store Nisa
CONVENIENCE DRINKS RETAILER WINNER
Kaual Patel took the opportunity of a major expansion and refurb of his Nisa store in south London to take his beer, wines and spirits offering to the next level. The revamp included his own designs for a chilled beer cave, made to look like the strong room of a bank and called The Vault. Torridon’s drinks range goes well outside of the usual big-brand suspects found in convenience, including high-end Japanese whiskies and two own-brand craft beers. The store’s latest drinks innovation is its own gin, made partly from olive and bay tree leaves from plants grown outside the store.
Beer Park
INDEPENDENT BEER & CIDER RETAILER WINNER
David Timbrell-Hill took inspiration from a previous winner of the award, London’s Kill the Cat, when setting out on the creation of Beer Park in Llanelli, south Wales. The out-of-town site provides plenty of parking, and retail accounts for the lion’s share of the hybrid store’s business. Welsh beers are a major focus, with Beer Park claiming to stock more than any other venue on the planet, but the 600-strong line-up also offers plenty of excitement from the rest of the UK and overseas, with a broad spread of styles to satisfy every craft beer fan’s needs.
Vinotopia Wine
INDEPENDENT DRINKS RETAILER WINNER
Vinotopia moved into a new home in 2023 – and it seems to have paid off, with growth in both sales and customer loyalty. It shares a gorgeous new building with a farm shop in the grounds of a garden centre, in Nailsworth in the Cotswolds, that has a lounge area for customers to sit and sip while making their more considered purchase to take home. An events programme focuses as much on fun and sociability as it does on ramming home technical details about wines and regions. Vinotopia is a relaxed wine-buying environment that keeps people wanting to come back for more.
Loki Wine
INDEPENDENT CHAMPAGNE & SPARKLING RETAILER WINNER
The sparkling wine portfolio in the three Birmingham wine shops owned by Phil Innes ploughs the same furrow as the rest of its wine range: an eclectic mix, full of interest and exploration, with plenty of options to satisfy a variety of budgets. The Champagne range is growing, fuelled by products from smaller growers, and Loki really excels in finding lesser-known gems, whether it’s the cream of English wine production, world-class fizz Corpinnat from Spain or the best value South Africa has to off er. There are fizz tastings at all sites, while investment in staff knowledge means great service in stores at all times.
Vineyards
HYBRID RETAILER WINNER
The independent store run by Sadie and Hannah Wilkins in the Dorset town of Sherborne has become one of the UK’s best loved wine shops. Customers are ensured a friendly welcome and great advice about the eclectic range of wines in the Vineyards portfolio – and many now enjoy the opportunity to have a glass of fizz or a Bloody Mary in its mezzanine tasting space, with the on-trade side of the business ramped up in the past year. At the heart of it all is the team’s drive to create a safe and inclusive space for locals to expand their appreciation of great wines in a relaxed and enjoyable environment.
Spirited
NEWCOMER WINNER
One-time Cambridge Wine Merchants store manager Katy Kennedy was looking for a change of direction after a spell working with a well-known spirits supplier and decided to go it alone. Spotting a gap in the market for a specialist whisky shop in Bristol, she set about creating Spirited, an on/off hybrid of whisky bar, cocktail lounge and specialist spirits shop in the city’s Southville district. The events programme includes monthly whisky tastings for women, led by female brand ambassadors, providing women who love whisky with a welcoming space to get together, share a dram and talk about their favourite drink.
Master of Malt
ONLINE DRINKS RETAILER WINNER
Founder Justin Petszaft took back ownership of Master of Malt from AB Inbev in 2024. The ecommerce spirits specialist prides itself on having a top-class range, competitive prices, lightning-fast shipping and proactive customer service. Its 11,000-plus lines cover more than 3,000 whiskies, including an exclusive series of single cask bottlings from prestigious distillers and tasting gift sets of sample-sized bottles. A Pour & Sip sample subscription service has extras including live tastings and exclusive discounts and “the world’s greatest gift vouchers” have no expiry date and accrue 5% interest a year if not used.
Tanners Wines
REGIONAL CHAIN WINNER
Tanners has been selling fine wines and spirits since the mid- 19th century – and its reputation remains undimmed almost 200 years later, as it constantly reinvents itself to remain relevant to contemporary audiences. The chain comprises half a dozen stores, operating in a variety of retail formats, including the cavelike space of its Shrewsbury flagship and the chic Art Deco stylings of its Chester branch. Sustainability steps include roof-top solar panels and insect-friendly gardens.
Nickolls & Perks
INDEPENDENT SPIRITS RETAILER WINNER
Stourbridge-based Nickolls & Perks has been in the wine game since the last knockings of the 18th century, but the family-owned fi rm has invested strongly in spirits to move forward in the modern drinks retailing world. Around 1,000 people attend its annual Midlands Whisky Festival, held over two days in Birmingham city centre. Back at base, it has created an attractive new tasting room in the past year to elevate its events programme and launched its own single cask whisky bottlings, embracing both venerable names and exciting distilleries from the New World, helping to drive high double-digit growth in the spirits category.
Reserve Wines
INDEPENDENT WINE RETAILER WINNER
Kate Goodman’s Reserve Wines chain comprises a traditional wine shop and a bar in Manchester, hybrid stores in food markets in Macclesfield and Altrincham and a concession in a Warrington garden centre. Whatever the location, it likes to use “surprise and delight” tactics to excite consumers, and puts community at the heart of its ethos. Quirky events include Style & Sip and Sip & Paint tastings and collaborations with local food businesses. Reserve has led the way in shaping the on-tap keg wine market in its region and in introducing consumers to the outer reaches of the wine universe such as Georgia, Macedonia and Greece.
Berry Bros. & Rudd
LUXURY RETAILER WINNER
Royal Warrant holder Berry Bros & Rudd has been supplying fi ne wines to the great and good of London for more than 300 years, but it’s clearly got an eye on the future, with recent investment helping to reinvent its St James’s store as a showpiece of 21st-century drinks retailing. Central to that has been the creation of a high-end spirits shop alongside its wine-focused space, allowing it to bring the same quality products and service to the likes of whisky, rum and tequila as customers have come to expect in fi ne claret and Burgundy.
The Oxford Wine Company
EXCELLENCE IN TRAINING & EDUCATION
The Oxford Wine Company places as much emphasis on consumer education as it does staff training, through the auspices of its Oxford Wine School. It runs 16 courses each year across Wine & Spirit Education Trust Levels 1, 2 and 3, all held at its dedicated Jericho Wine Rooms tasting space in the city. It also hosts the Oxford University Wine Club and holds more than 50 consumer events each year, attended by anything from 10 to 500 customers. The company sponsors all full-time retail staff to study WSET up to to Diploma level, including course fees and time off to attend classes.