Chapel Down boss to step down as sales tumble

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Chapel Down has said its boss is set to step down from the business, after the English winemaker reported a plunge in sales from shops.

Shares in the drinks firm dived in early trading as it also revealed a drop in profits for the first half of the year.

It comes as the UK’s largest winemaker continues with a review process which could see the group sold.

On Wednesday, the company announced that Andrew Carter will step down as chief executive to take over as the chief executive of Yorkshire brewing firm Timothy Taylor & Co in 2025.

Chapel Down said it will soon launch a process to recruit the new chief executive to replace Mr Carter.

The departing boss, who has been at the company for three years, will continue to lead Chapel Down until the process is completed in the first half of next year, it said.

Martin Glenn, chair of Chapel Down, said: “Chapel Down has enjoyed huge success and celebrated several strategic milestones during Andrew’s time as chief executive and he should be very proud of what the business has achieved and the top team he has developed around him.

“I and the board have enjoyed working with Andrew immensely and wish him every success in his new role leading another iconic British brand.”

It came as the wine company revealed that net sales dropped by 11 per cent to £7.1m for the six months to 30 June, compared with the same period last year.

Bosses said the slump was driven by a particularly weak period for its off-trade business, which covers sales from retail stores, such as supermarkets.

Off-trade revenues plummeted by 36 per cent to £3.1m, as it blamed “one-off factors”, such as the timing of retailer restocking and a tough comparison compared with last year’s coronation.

Chapel Down said it has confidence of an improvement in the second half of the year, but now expects single-digit net sales revenue growth for 2024 as a whole.

Mr Carter said: “Chapel Down continues to be the market leader in the English wine industry, with the leading brand, the deepest distribution and internationally celebrated wines.

“2024 has seen continued strategic and operational progress with robust trading, particularly in the on-trade, export and direct-to-consumer channels which shows continued, strong consumer demand.”

Shares in Chapel Down were 13.6 per cent lower at 60p in early trading.