Staff Stories

I can’t claim that when I was younger I always dreamed of being a wine trainer, but it really has turned out to be a dream job. Whenever someone asks what I do they are fascinated (and often insanely jealous) that I get paid to travel around the country to talk about and taste wine.

So how did I get to where I am now?

I trained as a journalist before moving into the wine trade, and I worked in a few other companies in the trade before settling at Bibendum. Starting out in the On Trade Support team I progressed through three different roles there before I found my calling in the Customer Training Team. Bibendum’s quick career progression was certainly the case for me, as after 18 months in the company I was already on my fourth role.

No day working as a trainer is ever the same; I can be waking up anywhere in the country and delivering various types of training from in-house bespoke wine courses to WSET sessions. I work with a wide spectrum of the business from hotels, off trade customers, restaurant groups, bars, catering groups and fine dining establishments too. I find people fascinating and even if the content of the day is the same as before, the personalities in the room always bring the session to life and make sure it’s never repetitive or tedious.

The most rewarding part of my job is turning around a trainee who comes in with a scowl and professes to hate wine, and by the end of the day they are smiling and have found a wine or two they enjoy. Sometimes it’s challenging, and it’s definitely the most physically and mentally exhausting job I’ve ever done, but I genuinely love it. In just 6 hours I can change someone’s entire perception of wine and it can really make a difference to how they do their job.

Bibendum is a really great company to work for. The atmosphere on the one hand is really laid back, but there is a strong work ethic and a determination to drive the company forward too. The people really make the company, and I’ve never worked with such a fun loving and friendly group of individuals. The fact that I don’t have to wear a suit to work is also a massive bonus.

 

People look surprised when I say I 'look after the Bibendum team between Rugby and the Outer Hebrides'. But travelling across such a big part of the country is my perfect job. We have a brilliant Northern Sales team selling great wines in bustling cities and incredible countryside. There a lots of early starts and I probably have the largest mileage in the company. But dawn in the borders before a day out in Glasgow makes it worthwhile. And if I'm not travelling my "office" window looks out over a herd of rare-breed sheep in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales. Beat that!

My job is really to make it easier for the Northern Sales team to do theirs. We work together developing skills, working on big accounts or presentations, as well as all the things you'd expect of a manager in a well-run company. Before Bibendum I was a wine writer for fourteen years at The Herald newspaper and a presenter on TV and radio. It's not a usual route into being a sales manager, but it helps when we need someone to work on a customer's tasting notes or to speak at a wine dinner.  

This year we've been looking at how we can work better with each of the team living and working hundreds of miles from each other. Around half my team meetings are virtual ones using Skype, that way we can spend more time with customers. It also means we have more of a sense of community. When we do get together we make the most of it with an overnight meeting, a few bottles of wine and dinner.

A pretty normal day can see me doing a virtual review of a pitch in Edinburgh in the morning, before in the real world, tasting wines at a restaurant in Leicester over lunch. In the evenings I usually go running. It can be straight out of my front door or around Regents Park if I'm in London, but last week it was up a fell in the Lakes before a gourmet dinner. It doesn't get better than that.


 

Bibendum in a tasting note for me would be:

‘Innovative, well rounded, full bodied, off dry (sense of humour) and bursting with passion and oodles of energy. Great complexity and a lingering finish to top it all off’.

I discovered Bibendum just over a year ago whilst volunteering in a local Primrose Hill business. The drinks industry had never been on my agenda as a career choice however my interest in wine, and pairing it with scrumptious food, found me dropping a CV through the door. Few weeks later and I found myself tucked in a corner of the Head Office ‘Penthouse’ as a Customer Service team member!

Only a year on and my day to day role has changed quite dramatically. I can be doing anything from creating new ways to select future ‘Bibendumites’ to join the On Trade Support team,  calming any new starter jitters, or training staff on our business processes and wine portfolio.  On-going staff development is something the company believes strongly in and so I am looking forward to focussing on this as my role progresses over the coming year.

Thinking back over my time here some highlights have been running a fundraising summer fete for our dedicated charity on a scorching September afternoon, trekking the floors of a Tradeteam warehouse in a high-vis jacket, taking my first visits to Lords and Ascot to pour for the events team and finding any excuse to sample the menus of our customers at some of the best bars and restaurants London has to offer. No day is ever the same and over the past year I have got to grips with more information about warehouses, delivery logistics, new vintages and trade tastings than I ever thought possible.

Bibendum’s spirit comes from the inspired bunch of people here. I have learnt so much from colleagues across all the varied departments and feel valued to be involved with the continuing development of an independent company. I can’t have asked for a better employer to take me on as my first full time graduate job.