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WR Services
WR Services owner Wayne Russell chatted with Fruit & Vine staff writer Henrietta Szathmary this issue
Q.Tell us a little about yourself and your business
A: I’m the sole UK agent for Oeno Concept, which supplies riddling equipment, as well as the sole UK agent for TDD, which supplies disgorging equipment. I’m also an agent for TR Equipment, which o ers thermal regulation, and a company called MDC, involving bottle washes, crate moving equipment, and enabling machines.
WR Services spends a fair bit of time training in France, enabling us to bring French knowledge into the UK. We work all over the UK for some of the smallest winemakers as well as some of the largest, such as Chapel Down and Ridgeview.
Q. How did you get into working with Oeno Concept?
A: I sort of tripped over Oeno Concept’s main salesman, Maxine, just before the rst Covid lockdown. I bumped into him onsite while xing a bit of his kit, and he was quite surprised that a UK engineer was willing to work on their machines. Within a couple of weeks, we were signing contracts to become Oeno Concept’s UK agent. Obviously, Covid-19 and Brexit have made it increasingly di cult for the French to come over to the country to work, whereas before Brexit, it was very easy for them to just hop on a train and pop over.
Q. Do you keep equipment in stock?
A: Yes, we stock a lot of product for Oeno Concept, TR and TDD; we’ve also got a fast track for parts out of Épernay or out of Champagne, enabling us to get parts as soon as possible. Also, we can source some directly in the UK.
Q. What challenges have you encountered?
A: The biggest challenge has been getting the customers to understand that not everything needs to come from France, and that we can do this in the UK.
Also, trying to get people to understand that regular servicing is key – rather than waiting for things to break, get equipment looked at once or twice a year to prevent breakdown altogether. In early spring, we aim to get services on harvest equipment done so it’s ready before harvest, and when people are busy picking grapes and harvesting, we’re then trying to get on top of their riddling and disgorging equipment which they’re not using at the time.
Q. What are your future plans for the business?
A: The plan is to grow, expand, do more training, take on more sta , spend more time in Champagne learning about di erent equipment and extending our knowledge on the equipment we already work on. We’re trying to expand and make a better pathway between Champagne and the UK; that’s probably our biggest goal.
