It’s taken a few years for English sparkling wine to win over snooty foreign sommeliers who liked to joke our tipples were as bad as our food.
But our vintners in Kent, Sussex and further afield are taking the industry by storm. At the leading Decanter World Wine Awards last month Chapel Down’s Rose was crowned the best in show.
Chapel Down and fellow Kent rival Gusbourne, both listed companies, are now exploring options including selling up.
Drinking to success: British vintners in Kent, Sussex and further afield are taking the industry by storm
After years of hard graft to build up a homegrown industry to rival Champagne, Whispers hears on the (literal) grapevine that there are concerns French luxury houses might be looking to swoop.
Taittinger – which will launch its first English sparkling wine in September – got in early when it bought up vineyard land here several years ago.
No doubt other Continental groups have their eye on our increasingly mature vines. We’ll try to take it as a compliment.
Wages docked
It’s become a bit of a summer ritual for Whispers to trawl through the annual reports of FTSE 100 firms.
There will be red faces at student housing group Unite, as its boardroom pay committee chairman had her wages docked.
Nicky Dulieu was overpaid in 2022, Unite’s accounts reveal, and the firm said her £63,000 wage last year reflects the deducted amount. Whoops!
Hvivo share sale boost
Usually when a director sells off a chunk of shares it’s a bad sign.
But at Hvivo, which tests jabs for diseases using human trials, chairman Cathal Friel sold £6.1million of stock for the best possible reason.
Friel’s sale of more than 21million shares was to satisfy demand from institutional funds who were impressed by Hvivo’s pitch at a capital markets day.
He has a big holding in the group as his old firm, Open Orphan, merged with Hvivo in 2020.
It was a good time to sell, as the firm’s stock has risen by around a quarter so far this year.
CEO Yamin Khan has made it clear he wants Hvivo to buy smaller rivals. Watch this space.
‘Fulham lifejacket’ in fashion
Until now the sleeveless slightly-padded bodywarmer garment worn at work and play by City types has been known as the ‘finance bro gilet’.
But now it has another name ‘the Fulham lifejacket’. This refers to the garment’s ubiquity during this chilly summer in this expensive west London suburb.
‘It’s kind of my comfort blanket,’ said one resident rarely seen without his Crew Clothing green padded number.
‘I think it looks a bit Succession, but I realise that Instagram thinks it’s just a bit sad.’ A tragic plight, fellas. There’s always next year.
Contributors: Patrick Tooher and Anne Ashworth
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