THE WINE MERCHANT. An independent magazine for independent retailers
Issue 108, November 2021
Dog of the Month: Umka Irene, Camberwell
You just can’t get the staff, say independent merchants Brexit is blamed for shrinking the pool of talent available to retailers – but for some, recruitment presents few issues
I
ndependent merchants are struggling
to recruit and hold on to staff, blaming Brexit for shrinking the pool of talent.
There are fears in some quarters that the
problem will get worse once the hospitality industry is back up to full speed, and out-
competes retailers by offering higher wages. Christopher Sherwood, owner of Bottle
Apostle, which has four stores across
London, says the company has experienced “one frustration after another” with its recruitment.
“It’s been mainly at two stores that we’ve
had difficulties,” he says. “We have much
“I can’t think of another reason to
lower response to any adverts, whether it’s
attribute to the hiring problem other than
100% of our problem”.
speeded up by Covid. But who can say?
part-time or full-time.”
Sherwood believes that Brexit is “90% to He adds: “London restaurants and
independents have always depended on
Europeans. Until now, British people have
always been a minority in our company. W we haven’t got an opinion about that: we
don’t mind where people are from in any
way whatsoever. It’s made the whole thing a richer experience for people.
the pool of labour is simply smaller.
“Brexit supporters would say that’s been
There’s certainly talent moving home, and the restaurant industry must be suffering from that too.”
Andrew Lundy, owner of Vino, which
has three shops in Edinburgh, says: “We
had a vacancy in April and I felt we would have no trouble finding people. But, with
furlough still on, it was like a ghost town. “We had a handful of CVs and one
knockout candidate. Were it not for that
person I am not sure what we would have done.
“Brexit has been a massive influence. We
are a melting-pot city in Edinburgh with
lots of EU citizens making a home here and wine is such a natural subject for French
kids who grew up drinking it. We miss that influence on our business already.”
Jeroboams, which has eight London
shops, is having issues recruiting sales
assistants, according to chief executive Matt Tipping.
He adds: “We’ve always been very proud
Chris Cassell has left the world of drinks marketing to open a specialist wine shop in Islington. Full story and more pictures on page 9.
of the international nature of our shop
teams. They bring welcome diversity and
Continues page 2
