4 October 2024

Strategic Partnership with Ocado.com

("Virgin Wines", the "Company" or the "Group")

Virgin Wines, one of the UK's largest direct-to-consumer online wine retailers, is pleased to announce that it has agreed a strategic partnership with Ocado.com, the world's largest dedicated online supermarket.

Starting on 2^nd October 2024, Ocado customers will have access to an exclusive selection of 50 wines from the Virgin Wines portfolio, carefully curated by both the Virgin Wines and Ocado buying teams. Previously available only to Virgin Wines customers and sold as part of multi-bottle cases, this marks the first time these wines will be offered as individual bottles.

Virgin Wines continues to deliver high-quality wines that combine exceptional value with innovation and small-batch production, while leveraging its unique customer-driven buying model to create value-accretive partnerships with leading brands.

Jay Wright, Chief Executive Officer at Virgin Wines, commented:

"We are thrilled to be working with Ocado to bring our expertise in sourcing and creating wines to its considerable audience. This collaboration allows us to introduce Ocado customers to a hand-picked selection of exclusive wines from our large and distinctive portfolio.

Virgin Wines has long-standing relationships with a considerable network of independent winemakers across the world. Our team work closely with them to create a unique range that is constantly evolving to meet the varying needs of different consumers. I'm confident the wines selected for our range at Ocado will resonate with both seasoned wine enthusiasts and those looking to discover something new."

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About Virgin Wines

Virgin Wines is one of the UK's largest direct-to-consumer online wine retailers. It is an award-winning business which has a reputation for supplying and curating high quality products, excellent levels of customer service and innovative ways of retailing.

The Company was established in 2000 by the Virgin Group and was subsequently acquired by Direct Wines in 2005 before being bought out by the Virgin Wines management team, led by CEO Jay Wright and CFO Graeme Weir, in 2013. It listed on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in 2021.

Virgin Wines is headquartered in Norwich, with two fully bonded, national distribution centres in Preston and Bolton. It stocks over 650 wines sourced from more than 40 trusted winemaking partners and suppliers around the world which it sells to a large active customer base, the majority of whom are on one of the Group's subscription schemes.  

The Company drives the majority of its revenue though its fast-growing WineBank subscription scheme, using a variety of marketing channels, as well as through its Wine Advisor team, Wine Plan channel and Pay As You Go service.

Along with its extensive range of award-winning products, Virgin Wines was delighted that its flagship WineBank service was awarded 'Wine Club of the Year' at the 2024 IWC Awards, was named Online Drinks Retailer of the Year for 2022 at the Drinks Retailing Awards, as well as receiving the bronze award for Contact Centre of the Year at the 2022 UK National Contact Centre Awards. In addition, in 2023 the Group's Head of Buying, Sophie Lord, was named Buyer of the Year by Decanter magazine. 

https://www.virginwinesplc.co.uk/