Apprentice’s reject fine wine firm sees profits jump 47%

The fine wine investment company once rejected by Lord Sugar as ‘too risky” is set to see profits jump 47% on the back of the Brexit vote and increased Asian sales.

Tom Gearing, managing director of fine wine investment firm, Cult Wines

Cult Wines, which is run by former Apprentice contestant Tom Gearing, is expecting to see sales of around £30 million this year, a rise of 47% on its 2015-16 total.

This is in part due to the volatility of sterling following the Brexit vote last June, which has boosted the appeal of fine wine investment by making fine wines more attractive to overseas investors, and providing a ‘safe haven’ for UK investors.

It comes five years after Gearing missed out on a £250,000 investment from Lord Sugar. One of the youngest show’s youngest competitors, he fell at the last hurdle of the popular show after the business tycoon dismissed his fine wine investment company as ‘too risky’, and eventually finished in second place.

However, Gearing has had the last laugh after the firm was able to capitalise on the growth of the fine wine industry since Brexit, which has seen the Liv-ex Fine Wine Index rise to a five-year high, up 17% since the referendum.

Asian buyers in particular have snapped up fine wines, and the firm has invested in the Asian market, founding an office in Hong Kong last year. According to the Independent, Cult Wines is expecting to see a 38% rise in its Asian business, up from sales of £6m last year.

Last week the company won a prestigious award the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for its international trade, announced on the monarch’s 91st birthday. The award seeks to recognise outstanding achievement by UK businesses, and Gearing said he was “delighted and honoured” to receive it.

“The Queen’s Award for Enterprise is the most prestigious corporate accolade that a UK business can win, we are therefore delighted and honoured to receive this award for International Trade 2017,” he said.

“It is an exciting time for the company, to receive this award in our tenth anniversary and to be recognised by such a highly valued mark of excellence endorses our commitment to international expansion.”

The company was founded in 2007 by Gearing’s older brother Oliver, who died in 2015.