SH Jones Wines and Stevens Garnier form trading partnership

UK wine agency Stevens Garnier has sold its Oxford-based wholesale and retail business to family owned SH Jones Wines.

From this month, the wholesale operations of both companies will be merged and SH Jones Wines will take over the day-to-day management of the business, bringing an enhanced trading platform and a greater range of products.

This strategic move also enables Stevens Garnier to sell its independent retail and on-trade portfolio in the Oxford region, as well as all other regions nationwide, via key wholesale partners.

Last year, SH Jones wines purchased the Hawkshead and Slurp.co.uk online businesses. Richard Jones, chairman of SH Jones Wines, said: "While we are continuously looking for growth opportunities to benefit our retail and trade customers, our current priority is to deliver the best possible customer service and ensure they get maximum value from these new acquisitions.

"We have already taken on Stevens Garnier's Botley Road, Oxford, staff, to provide a seamless transition of the business, while customer services and warehousing will be consolidated at our Banbury warehouse."

Commenting on the development, Stevens Garnier's managing director Matt Douglas said: "The sale of our wholesale and retail business in Oxford to SH Jones means we can now focus fully on our strategic objective of becoming a strong supply partner to wholesalers throughout the UK. Part of our portfolio is exclusively selected for the important independent retail and on-trade sectors. Supporting these sectors via a national network of wholesalers is an important part of our strategy."