The Drinks Business Awards 2026 winners announced
The winners of The Drinks Business Awards 2026 have been revealed, celebrating excellence across design, retail, logistics, PR, campaigns, tourism and industry leadership. This year’s awards recognised standout achievements across the global drinks trade, from innovative packaging design and transformative retail strategies to sustainability initiatives and lifetime contributions to the wine industry.
Design and packaging winners
The O-I: Expressions Award for best design and packaging (wine)
Shortlist: Bento by Denomination, Grgich Paradise Block by Denomination, Poco Vino, Patisserie by Denomination, Rose & Rose by Rose Family Estates, The Legends by Barlow & Co.
Commendation: Rose & Rose by Rose Family Estates
Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is one of the most crowded shelves in the wine world, and standing out within it without resorting to cliché — no ferns, no Maori imagery, no predictable name — is harder than it looks. Rose & Rose, built on the Rose Family Estate’s Marlborough heritage, was commended for doing exactly that.
A layered palette of green tones ranging from pale sage to deeper olive distinguishes each grape variety while maintaining a coherent range identity — elegant, pure and simple, with a premium aesthetic that sits comfortably in a domestic setting. The name itself works on multiple levels — a family name, a wine style, a doubling that feels intentional — and the reversal of the name in the label design was singled out as a smart touch.
Some judges felt the range lacked the excitement of the category winner, and noted that while family provenance is referenced it remains somewhat abstract. That said, securing an exclusive Majestic listing at a time when the retailer was actively de-listing New Zealand SKUs is no small feat, and the brand has already rolled out across New Zealand, Taiwan and the UK within its first year. A well-executed piece of brand design that has found a genuine lifestyle niche in a saturated category.
Winner: Bento by Denomination
Bento is a wine brand built around a genuinely original idea: that there is a white space in the market for a wine designed specifically to accompany East Asian cuisine, and that packaging could do the heavy lifting in communicating that proposition to consumers who love Japanese food but lack the confidence to pair wine with it. The judges found the execution both striking and commercially astute.
Bold, colourful and cartoon-inflected, the design sits comfortably within the trend towards expressive label design without simply emulating it. It draws on distinctly Japanese visual language — old-school illustration characters, vertical logotype echoing Japanese typography, a “Specially made for Japanese and Asian Food” stamp inspired by restaurant house specials, and capsule design referencing traditional ceramics.
One judge described it as bridging a genuine cultural and semiotic gap between wine and Asian cuisine, managing to do so with wit rather than pastiche. Several noted that the packaging gave them an immediate smile — one of the most reliable tests of effective design — and the rosé was singled out as a particular highlight.
Commercially, the results are difficult to argue with. Launched in September 2025, Bento was already stocked in 1,200 independent retail points in Australia within months, with a rollout across 1,250 BWS and Dan Murphy’s stores confirmed from May 2026 and a further 2,500 distribution points to follow. Within six months the brand had extended into sparkling, canned wine and RTD formats — the kind of rapid traction that suggests the packaging is doing exactly what it was designed to do.
The O-I: Expressions Award for best design and packaging (spirits)
Shortlist: Famiglia Santoni by Stranger and Stranger, Johnnie Walker x Olivier Rousteing by Servaire & Co, Laferté Whisky by Stranger and Stranger, Moët Hennessy Travel Retail – The Privileged Moment, Patrón Core Range by Servaire & Co, Strutter Whiskey by Denomination
Commendation: Moët Hennessy Travel Retail – The Privileged Moment
There is an inherent tension in designing luxury packaging for one of the world’s most recognised cognac houses: the temptation to overstate is enormous, and the risk of feeling anonymous equally real.
The judges felt the Cabinet of Curiosity trunk created for Hennessy Paradis’s Privileged Moment travel retail experience largely navigated that tension with skill. Built around a handcrafted oakwood trunk that unlocks with a bespoke key bearing the Maison’s emblem, the concept presents Hennessy Paradis alongside evocative artefacts — grapevine illustrations, copper still references, eaux-de-vie samples and barrel wood from Cognac — with an olfactory element and, on select occasions, a hidden compartment revealing a surprise tasting.
The concept achieved a 90% sales conversion rate at its debut in Haikou and is now expanding to Paris, Dubai, Macau and Hong Kong.
The judges admired the tactile ambition and the restraint shown in resisting the temptation to overdesign. Several noted that the desire to physically engage with the trunk is itself halfway to a purchase — a quality particularly resonant in cognac, where ritual is central to the experience.
However, some felt the overall execution leaned towards safe Scandinavian austerity rather than the coach-built, heirloom quality the price point might warrant. Collectible, engaging and commercially effective — a strong piece of luxury packaging that earns its commendation, even if the judges felt it stopped just short of its full potential.
Winner: Strutter Whiskey by Denomination
Strutter is a peanut, honey and orange whiskey built on a revived New York speakeasy recipe, and its packaging brief was correspondingly ambitious: communicate three distinct flavour ingredients, carve out a distinctive identity in a crowded flavoured whiskey category, and do so without tipping into the high-octane, shot-culture associations that can undermine the segment’s credibility.
The judges felt it delivered on all three counts.
The design solution is pleasingly economical: a peanut-shaped label that is both distinctive and directly communicative; an orange and blue palette referencing the liquid’s citrus character; and a honey bear character — part swagger, part charm — that carries the brand’s personality across the label.
The design achieves its wit through a simple two-colour print process offset by a premium stopper and a logo pressed into the wood closure, ensuring the fun does not come at the expense of quality cues. One judge described it as bold, confident and totally Marmite — a quality that in a crowded category is a strength.
In a segment often defined by either po-faced premiumisation or loud irreverence, Strutter occupies a distinct and well-judged middle ground: high energy without aggression, fun without talking down to the consumer.
Best packaging redesign
Winner: Patrón Core Range by Servaire & Co
Redesigning an icon is arguably the hardest brief in packaging. When a bottle has stood behind every serious bar in the world for 36 years, the margin for error is almost non-existent. The judges recognised this tension immediately and were impressed by how deftly the brief had been handled.
The first redesign in the brand’s history is rooted in a single strong idea: the piña, the heart of the Blue Weber agave. The embossed glass texture draws directly from the agave’s geometric facets, catching and refracting light while improving grip — a detail judges responded to instinctively, with several noting an immediate desire to pick the bottle up.
The silhouette has been subtly refined rather than reinvented, the metallic collar references the filigree architecture of Hacienda Patrón in Jalisco, and the gold-embossed bee emblem reinforces the brand’s artisanal credentials. The bulbous cork drew particular praise.
While one judge found the ripple embossing edged towards the ornate, the broader consensus was that the design had updated the brand’s codes without abandoning them. Sustainability was integrated thoughtfully throughout, with glass weight reduced by approximately 8% and secondary packaging simplified.
In a category where heritage and innovation are frequently in tension, the Patrón core range redesign demonstrates that the two can be reconciled.
Product and launch winners
Best new product
Shortlist: Balfour Winery – Cuvée Owen Erland Elias, Chivas Regal Crystal Gold, The Whisky Exchange – The Zodiac Series
Winner: The Whisky Exchange – The Zodiac Series
Judges described the Zodiac Series as “an eye-catching design married with a quality product” — a clever, well-executed range of whiskies embodying the characteristics of different zodiac signs.
“Perfect for birthday gifting”, it combines The Whisky Exchange’s trademark depth and enthusiasm for the category with a concept that, in the judges’ words, “ticks a lot of boxes”.
Best launch
Shortlist: Poco Vino, Ranch Wine by Bonterra Organic Estates, The Inzuzo Wine Company
Winner: Poco Vino
It was “hard to argue with the sales figures” for these 187ml single wine serves, said the judges, who also praised the product’s lifestyle aesthetic — tailor-made for social media — and its potential to recruit new, younger consumers into wine.
In a category badly in need of fresh entry points, Poco Vino delivers.
Campaign and PR winners
PR company of the year
Shortlist: Button Collective, Phipps, Sunny Side Up
Commendation: Button Collective
The judges were keen to recognise Button for consistently “giving personality to drinks through art and culture” — in 2025 through a collaboration with the V&A Dundee on the launch of the Dalmore Luminary Series, which saw a sculpture created and sold alongside the whisky.
A distinctive approach that shows another side to wine and spirits PR.
Winner: Phipps
Judges applauded this professional agency for succeeding on two fronts simultaneously: winning six new clients while retaining 100% of its existing roster.
Phipps demonstrated its range through a diverse portfolio of work, from a barbershop takeover for Elijah Craig Bourbon to Rioja’s centennial festival, which the judges said “showed the depth of the agency”.
With 7% year-on-year growth, Phipps is not only creatively strong but clearly getting results.
Best trade campaign
Shortlist: Alsace Wines by Slam Communication, Chelsea Co. for Sherry Wines – The Sherry Shift, JFOODO Sake by Slam Communications
Winner: Chelsea Co. for Sherry Wines – The Sherry Shift
Judges had high praise for Chelsea Co. for attempting something few have tried: reversing the decline in Sherry sales by winning over the trade rather than the consumer.
Through a comprehensive Sherry Week campaign involving 100 wine merchants, and by deploying Sherry-certified educators to train key retail buyers, the agency created genuine ambassadors for the category.
One major retailer saw a 170% uplift in Sherry sales during Sherry Week — compelling evidence that the campaign changed the way the trade perceives this undervalued fortified wine.
Best consumer campaign
Shortlist: Black Tower – Relaunch, Carlsberg – Fare Game, Picpoul Day, Pol Roger – Proudly Understated
Commendation: Black Tower – Relaunch
The judges wanted to acknowledge the quieter but no less important work of rebranding an established wine to stay relevant across generations.
Black Tower, which first launched in the UK in 1968, received a complete label redesign aimed at reaching new consumers — a considered evolution that merits recognition in a category that often overlooks the complexity of refreshing legacy brands.
Winner: Carlsberg – Fare Game
Judges declared this innovative campaign a highly effective way to raise the profile of Carlsberg 0.0%.
The heartwarming idea of paying taxi drivers’ fares for 90 minutes to allow them to watch a UEFA football match generated 17 million social media views and more than 1,000 editorial pieces — a creative and culturally resonant campaign that delivered exceptional reach for an alcohol-free product.
Best social media campaign
Shortlist: Lay & Wheeler – Christmas All Wrapped Up, Sunny Side Up for Majestic – Influencer Marketing Campaign
Winner: Sunny Side Up for Majestic
Judges were impressed by this year-long influencer campaign, which maintained consistent activity across 12 months and contributed to a £52,000 increase in sales.
With an average of 40 pieces of content produced per month, the combined output and reach were described as “really impressive”, and Majestic clearly demonstrated how the campaign engaged both new and lapsed customers.
Events and tourism
Best drinks event
Shortlist: Laithwaites’ 2025 Wine Festival, Parched, Rioja 100 Festival, Tasting Climate Change
Commendation: Tasting Climate Change
Summing up the panel’s admiration for this event, which brought together global scientists and wine professionals in Montreal to discuss climate change solutions, one judge said simply: “We absolutely need this.”
Now in its fifth edition and attracting world-leading voices, it is, in the judges’ words, “the event the industry really needs” — and it is getting stronger every year.
Winner: Laithwaites – 2025 Wine Festival
In a packed category, Laithwaites stood out for its commercial acumen.
Generating £500,000 in revenue and attracting 4,000 guests, the festival was described by judges as “a wholeheartedly commercial, consumer event” — exactly what the industry needs.
Paid-for masterclasses, an on-site wine shop and a live voting leaderboard allowing attendees to determine their wine of the show all contributed to a 43% increase in new customers for Laithwaites.
Best contribution to drinks tourism
Shortlist: Balfour Winery, The Guinness Open Gate Brewery London, Viña Santa Rita
Commendation: Guinness Open Gate Brewery London
When Guinness opened its Open Gate Brewery in Covent Garden in December 2025, it brought one of the world’s most recognised beer brands into the heart of the UK’s most visited city at a moment of record brand popularity.
The experience is a complete package: a working craft microbrewery, an immersive “step into the pint” tour, a masterclass in the two-part pour, two restaurants, two retail stores and a courtyard bar, all layered over a genuine local history connecting Guinness’s story to Covent Garden’s own 18th-century brewing heritage.
Tours are available in seven languages. Early awareness figures are striking — one in four UK consumers had heard of the opening within weeks of launch, and the venue ranked joint second with the London Eye among the most considered places to visit in London.
The commendation rather than a win reflects two reservations: the concept draws substantially on the existing Guinness Storehouse model in Dublin rather than representing a wholly original proposition, and the absence of hard visitor figures — replaced by an aspiration to welcome 500,000 guests in year one — made it difficult to assess commercial impact at the time of judging.
As the venue matures and data accumulates, it has every potential to become a benchmark for urban drinks tourism in the UK.
Winner: Balfour Winery
Balfour Winery has established itself as the benchmark for English wine tourism, and this year’s judges were unanimous in their recognition.
Welcoming more than 74,000 visitors to its Kent estate in 2025, the winery operates its vineyard, restaurant, shop and events programme as a single, coherent experience — from casual tastings and lunches through to structured tours and trade-focused visits — while remaining a working production site that gives guests genuine insight into English wine at scale.
The facility is, in the judges’ words, “very lifestyle and well-presented”, combining professionalism with a warmth that is difficult to achieve at this scale.
The judges were particularly struck by the winery’s approach to accessibility: a free bus service from the local station addresses both rural logistics and responsible drinking, and visitors are welcome to walk the estate freely without charge — an openness described as genuinely generous.
Balfour is currently the only English vineyard to hold a Gold Award from Visit England, placing it on equal footing with leading hospitality destinations across the wider UK tourism sector.
Its staff training ensures that the broader story of English wine is woven into every visit, creating a meaningful ripple effect for neighbouring vineyards and the regional economy.
Retail and trading winners
Online retailer of the year
Shortlist: Lay & Wheeler, Majestic Wine, Ocado Retail, Virgin Wines
Commendation: Ocado Retail
Ocado’s case for recognition rests on genuinely impressive commercial and operational credentials.
Its BWS division grew 10% year-on-year in a declining market, outperforming the wider drinks sector by nearly 12 percentage points, with a range 43% larger than its closest competitor and 60% of products exclusive to the platform.
The judges noted particular strength in the premium £10–£30 bracket, where its M&S partnership has given it a meaningful edge in the fast-growing low- and no-alcohol segment.
Operationally, same-day delivery slots increased 150% and a 99% on-time-in-full rate sets a high bar for the sector. Initiatives such as the Ocado Roots incubator, which onboarded 25 small challenger drinks brands this year, further demonstrate a retailer thinking beyond fulfilment.
Winner: Virgin Wines
Virgin Wines enters its 25th year as a genuinely pure-play online wine retailer, and the judges recognised it as a complete and compelling package: digitally native, consumer-focused and delivering profitable growth in a market that contracted by nearly 10%.
Revenue of £59m, case volume growth of 5.7% to 788,000 cases and customer numbers up 10% year-on-year are strong headline figures, but it was the depth and coherence of the digital operation that set Virgin Wines apart.
A 96% surge in digital acquisition in Q1 FY26, website conversion improving from 7.14% to 8.81% through mobile-first optimisation, and a 214% year-on-year increase in voucher journey conversion all point to a business with clear strategic direction.
The launch of a new mobile app in early 2026, targeting £1m in incremental revenue in its first year, underlines a retailer genuinely investing in the future of online wine retail.
The judges praised the brand’s consumer-oriented tone of voice as refreshing — a quality that cuts through in a category where communication can easily become generic.
Loyalty metrics are equally strong: 83% customer retention, annual WineBank cancellation rates reduced by 15% since FY23, and a Trustpilot score of 4.6 out of 5 all reflect the value the brand is building with its members.
Product exclusivity — the majority of the range developed in direct partnership with independent winemakers — remains a core differentiator, and the business showed good category instinct in responding early to both duty changes and the moderation trend.
Operating costs reduced to 11% of revenue and a debt-free balance sheet with £17.6m in cash provide a solid foundation for its five-year plan targeting £100m revenue.
Fine wine retailer of the year
Shortlist: Balfour Winery, Bordeaux Index, Majestic Wine
Winner: Bordeaux Index
Continued investment in technology was the deciding factor for the judges.
Bordeaux Index’s ongoing development of its LiveTrade platform and app, alongside a Portfolio Upload Tool for sellers, put the company ahead of the competition and has made accessing fine wine “significantly more user-friendly”.
Judges also praised the firm’s “Bordeaux: 10 Years On” tasting, which they said lent “a uniquely authoritative view” of the region’s wines.
Retail buying team of the year
Partner Content
Shortlist: Majestic Wine, Ocado Retail, The Wine Society, Virgin Wines
Commendation: Ocado Retail
Judges commended Ocado’s buying team for impressive 10% year-on-year growth while “operating with integrity” and “supporting smaller brands”.
They also wanted to recognise the team’s work in refining its M&S partnership, which judges noted was starting to find its feet.
Winner: The Wine Society
Judges praised the “excellent sourcing rhythm” of The Wine Society’s buying team, which added 700 new wines in the past year alone to ensure freshness and discovery across the range.
“This is The Wine Society, Mark 2,” said one judge — a fitting description for a team only two years in the making that is already producing stellar results, bringing the Society’s buying into a new generation while maintaining the standards that define it.
Retail buyer of the year
Winner: Damien Smith, Dublin and Cork Airport Duty Free (ARI)
Damien Smith has spent the past twelve months redefining what travel retail buying can look like at its best.
As liquor buyer for Dublin and Cork Airport Duty Free, operating within a global environment shaped by geopolitical uncertainty and shifting passenger behaviour, he has not only sustained growth but turned The Irish Whiskey Collection into a globally recognised benchmark for exclusivity and innovation — delivering net sales growth of 2.1% year-on-year in a genuinely difficult trading environment.
The foundation of his success is a relentless focus on differentiation.
Working directly with distilleries on cask selection, liquid profiling and bespoke packaging, Damien has spearheaded a series of world-exclusive and first-to-market whiskey releases that cannot be replicated elsewhere, repositioning Dublin Airport as a destination for whiskey discovery rather than simply a point of purchase.
His supplier relationships, built on trust and transparency, have enabled him to secure highly sought-after allocations that competitors cannot access, while close collaboration with whiskey ambassadors and marketing teams ensures that storytelling and education are seamlessly woven into the retail journey.
That combination of commercial rigour, product knowledge and category vision makes him a deserving winner.
Multiple retailer of the year
Shortlist: Aldi, Majestic Wine, Waitrose
Winner: Waitrose
A sharp focus on own-label wines and the low- and no-alcohol category — up 32% year-on-year — saw Waitrose take this award.
Judges praised the retailer’s increased emphasis on sustainability and “genuine specialist knowledge”, delivered both in-store and via its podcast, successfully marrying an in-person strategy with a strong digital presence.
Best trading platform
Winner: LiveTrade by Bordeaux Index
LiveTrade has evolved over the past twelve months from a leading fine wine and whisky marketplace into a fully connected trading infrastructure — the only pan-market, two-way platform enabling collectors, merchants, producers and investors to buy, sell and trade with complete transparency.
With over £40 million of live inventory and more than 150,000 listings, the scale is already unmatched. What has defined this year is the depth of development that has made that scale more accessible.
The expansion of the LiveTrade API has delivered transformative results, with four out of five API-integrated vendors seeing trading activity increase by more than 1,000%.
Most strikingly, a first-of-its-kind integration with The Drinks Business embeds live marketplace listings directly within editorial content, placing real-time trading opportunities in front of a global audience and turning industry media into a live commerce environment.
Logistics and supply chain winners
Best logistics company
Shortlist: Hillebrand Gori, Liberty Wines, VinYard Logistics
Winner: Hillebrand Gori
Hillebrand Gori was a clear winner, having invested in the design, manufacture and rollout of an industry first: an extra-large Flexitank capable of transporting 27,000 litres of wine at once, reducing shipping costs and cutting carbon footprint for producers globally.
On the strength of this, judges described Hillebrand as “a serious contender in the innovation of bulk wine”.
Best distribution company
Shortlist: London City Bond, LWC Drinks
Commendation: LWC Drinks
Judges commended LWC Drinks for a compelling performance in distribution, including the opening of new sites in Merseyside and Glamorgan and a 10% increase in deliveries carried out via 38 new vehicles — evidence of a business continuing to invest in its national infrastructure.
Winner: London City Bond
A 99% on-time delivery rate in 2025 caught the judges’ attention immediately — a figure that, as one put it, “says it all”.
LCB was equally praised for its ability to cater efficiently to requests of all sizes, from large business orders to PRs requiring a couple of bottle samples at short notice.
Reliability and range in equal measure.
Best supply chain initiative
Winner: The Wine Society – Climate & Nature Programme
Rather than offsetting emissions at a distance, The Wine Society chose to invest directly in the vineyards that supply its wines — a straightforward but genuinely impactful idea that now underpins one of the most credible sustainability programmes in the drinks trade.
Now in its second year, the £65,000 annually replenished fund provides growers with direct financial support to transition towards regenerative viticulture, covering everything from agroforestry and composting to the introduction of livestock for natural pest control.
The results are tangible.
In 2024 the programme supported 11 producers, enabling the planting of over 400 trees, 1,700 flowering plants and three miles of hedgerows.
In 2025 it expanded to 13 producers across nine countries, with projects including the use of Indian Runner ducks at Rustenberg in South Africa to reduce synthetic pesticide use, and the introduction of chickens at South by South West in Australia as natural predators for weevils.
Several producers are now sharing learnings and equipment locally, amplifying impact well beyond the Society’s own supply chain.
Healthier vineyards produce better wine, more resilient supply chains reduce long-term risk, and deeper grower relationships build the trust that underpins consistent quality.
As the Society’s director of sustainability Dom de Ville puts it: “If our growers can’t adapt to climate change, they won’t be able to keep making the wines we love.”
Best wine storage company
Shortlist: Crown Wine Cellars, London City Bond
Winner: Crown Wine Cellars
Judges were bowled over by Crown’s attention to detail — described as “fastidious” in its climate control systems, tamper-resistant security seals and individually numbered wines to aid retrieval.
An “impressive operator” that wins “hands down”, with one judge going so far as to say that if they lived in Hong Kong, Crown would be their storage provider of choice, “no question about it”.
On-trade and company awards
Best on-trade supplier
Shortlist: Graft Wine, Hallgarten & Novum Wines, Jascots Wine Merchants, Liberty Wines, LWC Drinks, Majestic Commercial
Runner-up: Liberty Wines
Liberty Wines came within a whisker of taking this award. The judges applauded Liberty’s “strong, multifaceted proposition” that they said is performing consistently well, with sales growth up and a flurry of new accounts generating millions of pounds in new business.
Its Premium On-Trade Wine Report, now in its 13th edition, shapes a coherent response across service, education and range, and its education programme trained 2,863 customers in 2025/26 with a WSET Level 2 pass rate above the global average.
Where Liberty fell just short was in the degree of transformation on show — the submission reflected a business executing its model with great consistency rather than pushing boldly into new territory.
In any other year, that might well have been enough to win.
Commendation: LWC Drinks
With £711 million in turnover, 18 depots and more than 15,000 on-trade customers, LWC Drinks is a formidable presence in the market — and the judges’ description of it as an aggressor is meant as a compliment.
Profit is reinvested directly into infrastructure, and its sustainability commitment is practical and measurable: the transition of its two London depots to 100% HVO biofuel across 65 delivery vehicles reduces Scope 1 emissions on those sites by 84%.
Every sales professional is WSET-qualified, a team of 30-plus wine development managers provides local specialist support, and 526 customers completed WSET training through LWC-funded programmes in 2025.
The one reservation was the wine range, which judges felt sat below the premium mid-market tier that increasingly defines growth in the on-trade — a gap that, if closed, would make LWC an even stronger contender.
Winner: Hallgarten & Novum Wines
Hallgarten & Novum Wines has had an exceptional year by any measure.
Revenue grew 36% year-on-year, its hospitality customer base increased 34% to 1,549 accounts — adding Bills, Drake & Morgan and the Wimbledon Tennis Championships — and it did so while maintaining the quality of its culture and the coherence of its offer.
The seamless go-live of its new Bevica order management system delivered 100% availability on its top 150 lines, 99.8% order accuracy and 98.3% on-time-in-full delivery with zero disruption.
Its portfolio of 1,669 wines is poured in restaurants holding a combined 52 Michelin stars, and its training programme reached 12,412 hospitality team members in the past year, up 32% year-on-year.
The judges specifically praised the newness and energy of its evolving supplier base, which gives the portfolio a dynamism that feels current rather than inherited.
What ultimately separated Hallgarten from a strong field was its forward-looking investment.
As the first UK wholesale partner in any industry to roll out Google’s Gemini Enterprise AI, it is deploying advanced analytics to deliver data-led strategies for its hospitality partners.
Combined with an award-winning sustainability programme and a genuine commitment to developing the next generation of hospitality talent, Hallgarten & Novum presents a picture of a business not just performing well today but shaping what the on-trade supplier of the future looks like.
Best drinks company
Shortlist: Liberty Wines, LWC Drinks, Hallgarten & Novum Wines
Winner: Liberty Wines
Liberty Wines generated significant new business in value terms this year — “impressive” in a declining market, said the judges — while adding 36 new wine producers and continuing to invest in its Liberty Wine Academy training scheme.
A strong all-rounder delivering consistently across every area of its business.
Individual awards
Young achiever of the year
Winner: Fergus Elias, Balfour Winery
Such is the extent of Fergus’s extra-curricular commitments that judges joked the category should be renamed Young Over-Achiever.
On top of managing fruit sourcing, grower relationships and production for Balfour as director of wine, Fergus chairs both the winemaking subcommittee of Sustainable Wines of GB and Wine GB South East.
“A great ambassador for the wider industry,” said the judges — an achiever whose contribution extends far beyond the requirements of his role.
Woman of the year
Winner: Nicky Burston, The Drinks Trust
Judges were unanimous in recognising “a true industry champion” who goes above and beyond and “listens to the whole community”.
With job losses mounting across hospitality, Nicky’s role leading The Drinks Trust is, as the judges noted, “becoming an increasingly important one” — and she handles it with aplomb.
Under her stewardship, the Trust nearly doubled its grant expenditure last year, supporting more than 2,000 people across the trade.
Equally significant is her work evolving the Trust beyond financial assistance into skills development through the Developed programme, with Nicky firmly in the driving seat of its educational ambitions.
Man of the year
Winner: Steve Finlan, The Wine Society
Steve Finlan joined The Wine Society as chief executive officer in January 2019, bringing a career built in mainstream retail — Marks & Spencer, Gap and Clarks — rather than the wine trade.
In the years since, he has overseen a significant transformation of the 151-year-old mutual, taking membership to record levels and, at Christmas 2025, delivering the biggest festive trading period in the Society’s history: £35 million in sales, Champagne up 8% and fine wine up 7.5% — all while absorbing rising costs rather than passing them on to members.
With overheads rising by £6 million in a single year — the result of duty reform, National Insurance increases and EPR costs — Finlan chose to operate at a loss rather than compromise on member value.
The Society’s net promoter score reached 83 under his watch, and its sustainability programme has delivered a 13% reduction in emissions since 2021 against a target to halve carbon output by 2032.
Beyond the Society, Finlan has been a consistent and vocal advocate on the policy issues that matter most to the wider industry: the complexity of the new duty regime, the cumulative burden of regulatory costs and the risk these pose to range, recruitment and long-term viability.
That combination of commercial leadership, genuine commitment to members and willingness to speak plainly on behalf of the trade makes him a deserving recipient.
Lifetime achievement
Winner: Philip Gregan, New Zealand Winegrowers
Philip Gregan was the judges’ clear and unanimous front-runner — a career devoted entirely to a single cause, pursued with remarkable consistency and professionalism over more than four decades.
His retirement in June 2026 after 43 years of service made the timing fitting, and the legacy he leaves behind is one of the most tangible in the modern wine world.
When Gregan entered the industry in 1983, New Zealand wine exports were valued at under NZ$50 million and reached only a handful of markets.
Today the country exports to more than 100 countries, with revenues exceeding NZ$2 billion annually and approximately 90% of all production destined for international markets.
As chief executive officer of the Wine Institute of New Zealand from 1991 and founding chief executive officer of New Zealand Winegrowers from 2002, Gregan built the institutional frameworks and quality-first export strategy that underpinned every step of that growth.
The judges attributed New Zealand’s premium positioning and quality image directly to his professionalism and strategic clarity.
His most enduring legacy is the global success of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc — now accounting for roughly two-thirds of national vineyard area and close to 80% of export volume — which under his stewardship became a global benchmark that reshaped consumer expectations and influenced plantings in competing regions worldwide.
Equally significant is his role in embedding sustainability through the Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand programme, established in 1995 and today covering 98% of the country’s vineyard area: a unique global model.
The result is an industry commanding one of the highest average export prices of any major wine-producing country — a reputation for premiumisation and consistency that Philip Gregan spent a lifetime building.
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