‘Exciting’ and ‘terrifying’ says Tovey about her LWF buyout
“Exciting but a little bit terrifying”, is how Hannah Tovey has described taking on the London Wine Fair, following her management buyout of the event, which was announced yesterday.
Following news of the development, which sees Tovey form a new company called Vindustrious, she told db that the move was not only daunting, but also “quite life-changing”.
Backed by a private investor, Perrin & Partners, Tovey, along with her husband, have bought the London Wine Fair from The Hemming Group, which started the show in 1981, but has chosen to divest the event because it falls outside its core business, which is organising exhibitions and conferences for professionals in the transport and healthcare sectors.
As Hannah told db, drinks were “a massive outlier” for the Hemming Group, meaning that the London Wine Fair did not benefit from synergies or data share, despite being part of a larger exhibition organiser.
Crucially, as an independent operation, Hannah said that the London Wine Fair had been “released and was free to go and do our own thing”, adding, “we have taken an opportunity and believe that it’s the right moment to run forward with it.”
Indeed, the management buy-out comes after a successful fair in May this year, which delivered a 40% year-on-year increase in revenue, “smashing targets”, said Tovey.
As db has previously reported, exhibitors and visitors to next year’s fair will “notice very little change” as Tovey stressed that the team remains in place, the look and feel of the fair will be the same, and the event would “stick with the May timing”, with 2026’s show running from 18-20 May.
She even said that she and her existing team would remain in the Hemming Group offices in central London for the immediate future, recording “a good feeling” between herself and the former owner.
“The backstory is one of stability: there is no change of guard at the top, but we have removed several layers of hierarchy that can be problematic if we want to act quickly or bring in new products,” she said.
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Speaking further to db about her decision to take on the fair, she said “I’ve been through scary times before,” recording a number of challenging periods for the exhibition, not least the Covid-19 pandemic, before commenting on her feelings right now, saying, “If anything, I’m excited.”
She added, “It is exciting if a little bit terrifying, but I’m so personally invested in the LWF – I’ve not missed one in 25 years, so it feels like the right thing to do.”
Developments for 2027
Although Tovey was at pains to stress that there will be little visible difference for attendees of next year’s fair, when it comes to 2027’s event, she said that people could expect “quite big changes”.
“As soon as this coming LWF is completed, we will be announcing a big new product – not an event but a drinks industry service,” she said, adding that it “would use the benefits of LWF data, which is vast.”
She would not be drawn further on what this new service will be, adding that the exact nature of the launch would be revealed on the last day of the 2026 fair.
She also told db that she was “planning to forge ahead with more co-locations,” referring to hosting several events at a single show, particularly now the host site for the LWF – London’s Olympia – has been upgraded and expanded.
“We are conscious that buyers find it difficult to get to the vast number of events out there, and would like to see more consolidation of events,” she said, suggesting that LWF could incorporate additional shows, covering a range of drinks sectors.
Summing up her feelings on the future of the LWF under her control, she said, “It is wonderful to be properly focused, and to have an investor who trusts us.”
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