Majestic revamps buying team
Specialist wine retailer Majestic has bolstered its buying team by hiring three new senior buyers as it continues its pre-Christmas recruitment drive.
Majestic has announced three new senior buyers and one junior buyer have joined the team.
The new additions join existing team members Jane Masters MW, Zara Cassidy, Andy Bray and Rebecca Ohayon Gergely. The retailer’s buying team will continue to report to head of buying Matt Fowkes.
Joining the team will be Phil Edwards, Karen O’Donoghue and Catherine Forbes-Taylor.
Edwards has joined the Majestic team to oversee the key categories of Spain, rosé, Champagne and sparkling and fine wine. He joins Majestic from wines & spirits supplier General Wine & Liquor Company, where he served as commercial manager. Edwards brings with him more than 30 years of experience in the drinks industry, including at Direct Wines, Booker, Safeway, Threshers, Mitchells and Butlers and Drinks 21.
Karen O’Donoghue has made the switch to Majestic from the Irish department store chain, Dunnes. O’Donoghue holds a WSET Diploma and is two years into her Master of Wine studies. At Majestic, she will be responsible for looking after all French red and white wines.
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Catherine Forbes-Taylor joins the retailer from organic baby food specialist, Ella’s Kitchen. She brings 15 years of experience in buying roles, including with John Lewis, Whittard of Chelsea and furniture brand Laura James. Educated to WSET Level 3, Forbes-Taylor has expertise in packaging and EPR and will assist Majestic in navigating policy and taxation moving forward.
James Cox, previously of importer agency Le Cave De Pyrene, joins the business as a junior buyer.
Majestic MD Elizabeth Newman welcomed the new hires and said each would bring “different ideas, perspectives and expertise to the buying team”.
She said: “We’re really proud of our track record of sourcing exciting, innovative and exclusive wines from around the world, and our new buyers are perfectly placed to help us to continue delivering on that promise for our customers.”
New hires to the buying team have been made in conjunction with Majestic’s pre-Christmas recruitment drive. The specialist wine retailer is looking to hire 150 new colleagues in roles spanning permanent and temporary positions across its 216 stores. Read more here.
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