Virgin Wines’ growth strategy bears fruit with ‘encouraging’ Christmas results
Virgin Wines has reported a strong Christmas period that saw revenues up 5% on last year’s festive season, amid a first half that is “gaining momentum”.
The online drinks retailer saw 5% year-on-year growth over the key Christmas trading period, driven by a 40% increase in customer acquisition, the continued growth of its Commercial channel and a 92% increase in revenue year-on-year from its Warehouse Wines brand, it reported.
Meanwhile, turnover in the first half of the year rose to £34.7m, an increase of 2% year-on-year, which it pointed out was well ahead of the wider online drinks market’s 11% decline (according to IMRG Online Retail Sales Tracker December ’25).
The implementation of the Group’s growth strategy was “gaining momentum”, it added, with the company remaining debt free and with a strong balance sheet.
Gross cash was £17.9m, down from £23.7m in the same period last year, while its net cash fell from £17.3m last year to £10.6m as at 2 January 2026. Meanwhile its customer’s WineBank deposits had risen to £7.3m, up from £6.4m in 2024.
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Jay Wright, chief executive officer of Virgin Wines said the positive first half performance had delivered meaningful market share gains enabled by its growth strategy, with the key Christmas period proving “particularly encouraging”.
“It was particularly encouraging to see 5% year-on-year growth over the key Christmas trading period, driven by a 40% increase in customer acquisition, the continued growth of our Commercial channel and a 92% increase in revenue year-on-year from our Warehouse Wines brand,” he said.
“With a strong balance sheet, agile sourcing model, a loyal customer base, and the imminent launch of our mobile app which we believe will drive further customer engagement, we remain confident in a full-year performance in-line with our growth expectations.”
The company previously told the drinks business it was focusing on commercial partnerships, building its value proposition Warehouse Wines brand that launched less than 2 years ago, and customer acquisition. Speaking to db in October, Wright argued that ‘now is the right time to invest in growth’ , as it continued to targets £100 million in revenue despite the challenging market conditions.
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