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Virgin Wines
Virgin Wines Online Limited, trading as Virgin Wines, is an online wine retailer based in the United Kingdom. The company was established in 2000 by Richard Branson's Virgin Group, and in 2005 was bought by Direct Wines. In November 2013, CEO Jay Wright, and the management team, supported by Mobeus Equity Partners and Connection Capital provided a combined debt and equity package to support the £15.9 million management buy-out. History Established under Richard Branson's Virgin banner in 2000, Virgin Wines became a subsidiary of Direct Wines in 2005. However Virgin Wines kept the Virgin name. They continue to work closely with the Virgin Group. Jay Wright, founder of Warehouse Wines, became Managing Director of Virgin Wines in June 2008. His arrival began a significant period of restructuring, which included merging the Warehouse Wines brand with that of Virgin Wines. The merged company combined both businesses by capitalising upon Virgin's presence in the online sector and War ...
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Virgin Group
Virgin Group Ltd is a British multinational venture capital conglomerate founded by Richard Branson and Nik Powell in February 1970. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding company; however, Virgin's business and trading activities date back to the 1970s. The net worth of Virgin Group was estimated at £3 billion as of early 2023. History The name "Virgin" arose in 1970 when Richard Branson and Nik Powell formed a record shop, first as mail order and in 1971 with a physical store. They considered themselves virgins in business. Branson has described the "V" in the logo as an expressive tick, representing the Virgin seal of approval. The original logo from 1973 was a completely different design intended to be used for the record company that was founded by Richard Branson and Nik Powell. The logo was designed by British science-fiction artist and designer Roger Dean. According to Richard Branson in interv ...
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Wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made from grapes, and the term "wine" generally refers to grape wine when used without any qualification. Even so, wine can be made fruit wine, from a variety of fruit crops, including plum, cherry, pomegranate, blueberry, Ribes, currant, and Sambucus, elderberry. Different varieties of grapes and Strain (biology), strains of yeasts are major factors in different styles of wine. These differences result from the complex interactions between the Biochemistry, biochemical development of the grape, the reactions involved in fermentation, the grape's growing environment (terroir), and the wine production process. Many countries enact legal appellations intended to define styles and qualities of wine. These typically restrict the geographical origin ...
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Companies House
Companies House is the executive agency of the British Government that maintains the Company register, register of companies, employs the company registrars and is responsible for Incorporation (business), incorporating all forms of Company, companies in the United Kingdom. Prior to 1844, no central company register existed and Company, companies could only be Incorporation (business), incorporated through letters patent and Act of Parliament (UK), legislation. At the time, few incorporated companies existed; between 1801 and 1844, only about 100 companies were incorporated. The Joint Stock Companies Act 1844 created a centralised register of companies, enabled companies to be incorporated by registration, and established the office of the registrar; the Joint Stock Companies Act 1856 mandated separate registrars for each of the three Jurisdictions of the United Kingdom, UK jurisdictions. Initially just a brand, Companies House became an official executive agency in 1988. All P ...
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Trading As
A trade name, trading name, or business name is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with a relevant government body is often required. In a number of countries, the phrase "trading as" (abbreviated to t/a) is used to designate a trade name. In the United States, the phrase "doing business as" (abbreviated to DBA, dba, d.b.a., or d/b/a) is used,Pinkerton's, Inc. v. Superior Court'', 49 Cal. App. 4th 1342, 1348-49, 57 Cal. Rptr. 2d 356, 360 (1996) (collecting cases and explaining term of art "doing business as" (DBA)). among others, such as assumed business name or fictitious business name. In Canada, "operating as" (abbreviated to o/a) and "''trading as''" are used, although "''doing business as''" is also sometimes used. A company typically uses a trade name to conduct business using a simpler name rather than using their for ...
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Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneur at a young age. His first business venture, at the age of 16, was a magazine called ''Student''. In 1970, he set up a mail-order record business. He opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records—later known as Virgin Megastores—in 1972. His Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s, as he started the Virgin Atlantic airline and expanded the Virgin Records music label. In 1997, he founded the Virgin Rail Group to bid for Passenger rail franchising in Great Britain, passenger rail franchises during the privatisation of British Rail. The Virgin Trains brand operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from 1997 to 2019, the Virgin CrossCountry, InterCity CrossCountry franchise from 1997 to 2007, and the Virgin Trains East Coast, InterC ...
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Which?
''Which?'' is a United Kingdom brand name that promotes informed consumer choice in the purchase of goods and services by testing products, highlighting inferior products or services, raising awareness of consumer rights, and offering independent advice. The brand name is used by the Consumers' Association, a registered charity and company limited by guarantee that owns several businesses, including Which? Limited, which publishes the ''Which?'' magazines, and the currently dormant Which? Financial Services Limited (''Which?'' Mortgage and Insurance Advisers operated until 2019) and Which? Legal Limited. The vast majority of the association's income comes from the profit it makes on its trading businesses, for instance subscriptions to ''Which?'' magazine, which are donated to the campaigning part of the organisation to fund advocacy activity and inform the public about consumer issues. ''Which?'' magazine maintains its independence by not accepting advertising, and the organ ...
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The Wine Society
The International Exhibition Co-operative Wine Society Limited, usually referred to as the Wine Society, is a British cooperative organisation retailing wine and related services to its members. It is the oldest such wine retailer in the UK, and, according to the Consumers' Association, the best. The society sells only to its members, and each member of the society holds one share of the limited company, having paid a one-off joining fee. Founded in 1874 after there was a surplus of wine remaining after an international exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall in London, the society now operates out of a purpose-built warehouse and headquarters in Stevenage, 30 miles north of London. History Early years The foundation of the Wine Society followed the last of the Annual International Exhibitions held at the Royal Albert Hall in London from 1871 to 1874. Various countries had sent large quantities of wine to the exhibition: there were wines from Australia, Austria-Hungary, Californ ...
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Laithwaites Wine
Laithwaites is a British mail-order and online wine distributor and wine retailer based in Theale, England. It is a part of Direct Wines Ltd. History Laithwaites was founded as Bordeaux Direct in 1969 by Tony Laithwaite. In 1970 he hired Barbara Anne Hynds as seasonal help; the two eventually married. A 1973 partnership with the Sunday Times Wine Club, which Wine anorak called their "big break," expanded the customer base through mail-order wine distribution. In the 1980s, Laithwaites broadened its wine sourcing to include other European countries and regions like Australia and the United States. This expansion later included the acquisition of Lionstone International in the United States. During this period Tony Laithwaite also initiated the concept of ‘flying winemakers’, which encourage winemakers from New World regions like Australia to work in European vineyards during the off-season. In 2000 the company rebranded as Laithwaites Wine. Barbara Laithwaite estab ...
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Naked Wines
Naked Wines is an online wine retailer, founded by Rowan Gormley which launched in the UK on 1 December 2008. History In March 2010, Naked Wines announced a pricing model called Advance Bookings at the London International Wine Fair. The model provided discounted wine when ordered in advance. Advance Bookings altered its booking model and renamed it Naked Marketplace in May 2011. Customers can bid on upcoming wines until a minimum volume is met and the wine is subsequently sold. On 10 April 2015, Naked Wines was acquired by Majestic Wine, and Gormley became group CEO. In December 2019, The Majestic portion of the business, including stores and branding, was sold to private equity firm Fortress Investment Group. Majestic Wines plc was renamed Naked Wines plc. In effect, the previous shareholders of Majestic became the new shareholders of Naked Wines. Naked Wines is a publicly listed company. As of 2024, the CEO is Rodrigo Maza. Business model Naked Wines' customers (cal ...
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The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK (formerly News International), which is owned by News Corp. Times Newspapers also publishes ''The Times''. The two papers, founded separately and independently, have been under the same ownership since 1966. They were bought by News International in 1981. In March 2020, ''The Sunday Times'' had a circulation of 647,622, exceeding that of its main rivals, '' The Sunday Telegraph'' and '' The Observer'', combined. While some other national newspapers moved to a tabloid format in the early 2000s, ''The Sunday Times'' retained the larger broadsheet format and has said that it intends to continue to do so. As of December 2019, it sold 75% more copies than its sister paper, ''The Times'', which is published from Monday to Saturday. Th ...
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Majestic Wine
Majestic Wine is a British wine retailer based in Watford, England. The company employs more than 1,300 employees nationwide, and operates more than 200 stores across the United Kingdom. History 1980 to 1999 Majestic Vintners was founded by Sheldon Graner in 1980. Prior to Majestic Vintners, Graner gained work as a merchandiser with the John Lewis group. The initial design logo for the company was based on a definitive set of King George V postage stamps of 1929. During the 1970s, laws regarding selling alcohol were restrictive in the United Kingdom. Majestic Vinters offered wine tastings and sold wine by the case to comply with the laws. Graner opened his first wine warehouse in Harringay, North London, in 1980, hiring Tony Mason to manage the day-to-day running of the store. A second shop launched in Battersea in May 1981. A few months later, the group called in receivers and Majestic's assets were bought by Giles Clarke.
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Retail Companies Established In 2000
Retail is the sale of goods and Service (economics), services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturing, manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells in smaller quantities to consumers for a Profit (accounting), profit. Retailers are the final link in the supply chain from producers to consumers. Retail markets and shops have a long history, dating back to antiquity. Some of the earliest retailers were itinerant peddlers. Over the centuries, retail shops were transformed from little more than "rude booths" to the sophisticated shopping malls of the modern era. In the digital age, an increasing number of retailers are seeking to reach broader markets by selling through multiple channels, including both bricks and mortar store, bricks and mortar and Online shopping, online retailing. Digital technologies are also affecting the way that co ...
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