Purchasing Director
After leaving college, someone suggested that I joined the wine trade until I had decided what to do with my life and I enjoyed it so much that that's where I have stayed. Moving from Cornwall to London was quite an eye opener but I like to think that each and every job I have had has taught me something - I learnt that oysters are the best hangover cure in Fulham Road, that Krug makes a good cosh in Holland Park, that poll tax riots make quite a mess in Great Portland Street and how to react to amorous male advances in the Old Brompton Road. Running a wine shop in Paris threw up fresh dangers from a neighbouring love scrazed Turk who focused her considerble feminine guile on me but it was nothing the sappeur pompiers didn't sort out. Back from Paris to Clapham where I learnt that making jokes about Bulgarians with nasty umbrellas was not good for the health. And then in 1993 I saw the light and swapped all that for the buccolic bliss of commuting up the Otter Valley each morning which is an absolute delight.
CPW was the first company that I have worked for where I could honestly say that I have faith in each and every wine on the list. I might not like them all but I know that they are the best of their type and price bracket. But the quality of the product is only part of the package and it is also great to work with an enthusastic team who are not afraid to have fun.
Being a director of CPW means having a lot of 'merde' thrown at you as one minute you might be dealing with health and safety beaurocracy while the next moment might be taken up with developing this website and although variety is great it is sometimes nice to do my day job! Being a purchaser is like being between a rock and a hard place as the sales team, rightly, want vast mountains of stock to sell while the warehouse team, rightly, want the absolute minimum of stock to handle and put away. It helps to give the old crystal ball a polish sometimes too!
I have been very lucky to have been exposed to excellent wine on all levels from my very first job in the wine trade. There is always something new to learn and always a new wine around the corner waiting to catch the imagination.
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