Cellar Dweller
05-Nov-07
Tim Lewis had always hankered after running his own business and seized the opportunity when a company specialising in wine storage systems came to market. His dreams of helping it realise its full potential are coming to fruition, but he’s now looking for some additional investment.
Sorrells Wine Racks has been trading for over half a century as makers of wine racks and wine storage systems.
The company’s Managing Director, Tim Lewis, has an infectious enthusiasm for the business although he is relatively new to it. A former national sales manager for a variety of leading manufacturing companies, he has been its majority shareholder since August 2003.
The company dates back to 1947, with two friends working out of a lock-up in Putney. A more colourful version suggests that a lorry load of wine had been ‘liberated’ and urgently required storage facilities. The old adage of necessity being the mother of invention was particularly apt here, as a primitive system of wine storage was developed to protect the haul.
The then proprietor sold out in the-mid 60s and the company enjoyed continuous growth all the way through to the early 21st century, turning Limited in 2001. By 2003, the owners sold out to the Lewis family – Tim and Hilary holding 80% with the balance held by Peter and Jeanette – who relocated the business from Arundel in West Sussex to Wickford in Essex.
‘I used to work in export and wanted to run my own business,’ says Tim. ‘I spoke to my business agent, who told me it was the perfect business for me. We went down to Arundel on a Wednesday night, went back down on the Saturday and made an offer on the Monday. I’ve always been interested in wine, you see.’
Tim started to look at how to develop the company’s product range and added new colours and designs. In the four years he has been at the helm, it has enjoyed a 340 per cent growth in turnover.
‘It’s a family run company,’ adds Tim. ‘I work with friends who are always prepared to do little bit extra. It makes all the difference. The great thing about this business is that it’s a passion. And when it’s a passion people are happy to spend.’ He cites an example of where the company worked on a £1.5m renovation project on a house in Cambridge. ‘We proposed a design that we felt was in keeping with the property. It required something prestigious, including its own tasting stations. After much consultation, the client went with our recommendation. He didn’t bat an eyelid at our £55k quote. But he did with another supplier over a plug costing one pound too much.’
He continues: ‘We really are unique. We are very specialised. We’ve got projects coming up in Iceland, Norway, France and Portugal.’ Deals have also been inked in for Italy – surely the ultimate coals-to- Newcastle assignment for Sorrells.
SORRELLS: A MARKET OVERVIEW
Retail Market: Cellar refitting: Medium to high earning clients price range £3k – £60k
Individual racks: Order and delivery only
Distribution: Wine merchants and internet dealers selling single storage systems to complete cellar refitting services
Commercial: Hotels, restaurants and pubs – supplying single racks to designs and Refitting of the shop or restaurant cellars.
Market awareness for the company is built heavily through the web and also by word of mouth. ‘Clients recommend us and we keep growing,’ says Tim. ‘The average spend for a client is between £6k and £10k.’ More recently, the company has clinched a deal with wine warehouse, Majestic. Sorrells enjoys an online presence on Majestic’s site as well as the freedom to put an A3 flyer detailing a cellar refitting service, initially, in 35 Majestic stores. This initiative is expected to generate over £1m of new business when, as expected, it is rolled out through the chain’s 141 stores nationwide. The initial leafleting has already yielded new orders.
Other innovations should help to buoy company coffers with the traditional four-colour range of racking now being expanded to eight. Diversification has seen the company add acrylic racks to the range and it also imports top end wine glasses and decanters.
‘Look, my accountant thinks I’m mad,’ says Tim, ‘but I want someone to come in with me. I’d invite them down to Essex to see what we have here and the ways we can develop it. I’ve used my money and effort to get the company where it is. It just needs assistance to push it as far as it can go. The aim is to stay ahead of the game here.
‘Our turnover is likely to be between 1.8 and 2 million in 2007. In two or three years, we’re projecting revenues of between three and five million. Simply put, I don’t want the business to miss out on the opportunity of being huge.’
If it all ferments, as Tim believes, any investor will be happy to raise a glass to the spirit, enterprise and foresightedness of Tim Lewis.
For more information contact Tim direct at: tim.lewis@sorrells-wineracks.co.uk
