Meet the Team

Michael has been at Bibendum since the very beginning in 1982 and opened our first on trade account, Odettes, just up the road from the office a few years later. He took solo charge of the business back in 2006 and is renowned as one of the most dynamic and energetic people in the trade, winning the prestigious Man of the Year title in the 2009 Drinks Business Awards.

Fiona joined Bibendum in 2007 from background working with wine and spirits brands. She quickly developed our award-winning marketing team into the most creative and effective in the industry. Our Annual Tasting in January is a window on to the sort of ideas that float round Fiona’s head every day of the week.

Richard has been with Bibendum for over 10 years, but started his career in the wine industry with production in the Barossa Valley, before moving on to selling fine wine and then working with the On Trade. His role quickly grew from there to working with the larger retailers and then to running our very successful Off Trade team, which also incorporates Bibendum Europe. An enthusiastic climber, he is known for an endless supply of mountaineering metaphors.

James knows Bibendum’s business better than most having worked with us as the CEO of a restaurant group before joining the team in 2008. His remit covers everything from finance and business planning to IT and logistics. Put simply, James and his team keeps the whole show on the road...

Kirstie’s team are the first point of call for all our suppliers, and she juggles the needs and demands of the business with those of over 200 wineries around the world with considerable aplomb. Her remit covers everything from wine buying and new product development to QC and stock forecasting. In a previous incarnation here at Bibendum, Kirstie helped to create some of our best loved wines including SAAM, Marmesa, Ceppaiano and els Pyreneus.

Bob joined the management team from Oddbins back in 2008 assuming responsibility for supply chain, logistics and customer service and quickly made big improvements in all three areas. If the right wine arrives at your business, on time and at the right price then Bob and his team are the people to thank.

Simon was one of Bibendum’s co-founders and is the brains behind many of the best ideas we have had over the years. Currently focusing on further developing fine wine in the business and overall strategy, he also sits on the board of the Argento Wine Company and co-owns the Sijnn winery in South Africa with long term collaborator David Trafford

Emma joined Bibendum back in January 2007 and quickly revolutionised our sales with one of the country’s biggest grocers. Since then, she has gone on to oversee several of our biggest Off Trade accounts whilst also playing a major role in many of our learning and development programmes.

A man with a keen eye for a slog over midwicket, Ants is a stalwart of Bibendum’s very occasional cricket XI and the man who understands the pub business better than anyone else in the company. His mission? To ensure every pub in the country sells brilliant, well-priced wine and takes the category as seriously as beer and spirits.

Angus oversees much of our business with the multiple grocers, and is ideally placed to do so, having worked as a buyer on the other side of the fence with the Co-Op and Somerfield. He joined Bibendum on April Fools’ Day 2005 and thought we were joking when we put him on a plane to South Africa on his very first day. We weren’t.

Edward joined Bibendum back in 1993, and looked after private customers before establishing the new catering division in 1998. The team has gone from strength to strength in recent years, supplying everything from corporate caterers in the City to international music and sporting venues.

The tallest man at Bibendum and the only one to have played bass at Glastonbury, John’s team is responsible for all sales within the M25, from your local pub to multi-Michelin-starred restaurants. A cycling fanatic, he spends his holidays weaving his way up the biggest climbs in the Tour de France.

Gamekeeper turned poacher, Joe gave up his job as a freelance wine writer to head up our sales in the North of England and Scotland. Currently studying for his MW, he is a fountain of knowledge on everything from the physics of the Champagne bubble to obscure Portuguese grape varieties.

Kiwi Zach manages our sales teams across the south of England and Wales, fitting in visits to customers in between games for the country’s oldest cricket team, Firle CC, and his commitments as founder of the Strong Lunch Movement – an organisation dedicated to the pleasures of the best meal of the day.

Nichola heads up our HR team and is continually seeking ways of making Bibendum a better place to work than ever before. As well as ongoing quest to find great new recruits, her team have recently introduced a host of amazing new benefits and have been at the heart of our new Learning and Development plan aimed at encouraging all employees to become the best at what they do.

Purveyor of France’s finest wines to some of the country’s finest private cellars , Ben has been at Bibendum since the very beginning and claims not to drink anything from south of Nice. He is the source and subject of more outrageous stories than anyone else in the business. If only our lawyers would let us repeat any of them here.

Very little happens at Bibendum without Pete being involved on level or another. His role as head of information resources might imply he spends his days telling people to turn things off and on again, but in reality you will find him developing business applications, improving processes, and generally keeping the whole show on the road.

Iain is responsible for buying everything south of the equator as well as Champagne and wines from Eastern Europe. An evangelist for New World wines, he is currently most excited about the potential of Brazil to rival the rest of South Africa and seeking out artisan producers from obscure corners of the world. He is always on the lookout for the next big thing.

One of many Bibendumites who have returned to the business after a short spell elsewhere, Stuart buys wines from everywhere from California to Catalonia. Based in Barcelona, he has revolutionised our Spanish and Italian portfolios in recent years and promises there is much, much more to come. Watch this space.

Sarah heads up the Customer Training Team and also our internal learning and development programme. Most of her time is spent helping people develop their skills, knowledge and expertise but she still occasionally gets to indulge her first, great love – that of helping people understand the wonderful world of wine.

Once upon a time, Bibendum’s MD claimed we would sell spirits ‘over his dead body’. Then he met Nick. Formerly the purchasing manager for one of our customers, Nick persuaded Michael that boutique spirits could add another dimension to the business. He was right, and today our Spirits division is flourishing under Nick’s command with a host of exclusive agencies.

Phil, who heads up our Hotels division, learned his trade on other side of the fence working as a butcher, chef de rang and sommelier before joining the wine trade. He joined Bibendum in 2004, quickly developing our sales to national accounts and building up a highly specialised team which is regarded as being one of the very best in the business.

Want to know what wine tastes like at 30,000 feet? Speak to Andy. A former BA cabin crew member who ended up buying wines for the whole airline, Andy is our resident expert in all things travel related, transforming wine lists for everything from jumbo jets to cross channel ferries.

One of the longest serving members of the Bibendum team, Patrick heads up the team that sells our wines to independent wine merchants across the country and online. A keen cricketer, when off duty in the summer he can often be found opening the batting for the Wine Trade XI, scoring at a very leisurely rate.