Virgin Wines Online Limited,

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 ...

Virgin Wines, is an online wine retailer based in the United Kingdom. The company was established in 2000 by

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 entrepreneu ...

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 compa ...

, 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 Warehouse Wines’ mail order experience. In July 2013, Virgin Wines won the award for innovator of the year at the International Wine Challenge Merchant of the Year Awards. In November 2013, Mobeus Equity Partners and Connection Capital provided a combined debt and equity package to support the £15.9 million management buy-out of Virgin Wines from Direct Wines to make the company fully independent, owned by its management team. The Virgin name was maintained and Virgin Wines continues to work with the Virgin group. In 2015 Virgin reported an increase in turnover for its main online business of 13% in the year to 3 July, the first full financial year following the management buy-out. Annual sales nudged £40 million and trading profit stood at £4.3 million. In 2021 the company announced its intention to join the London stock market with a listing on the AIM market. In a survey by the consumer magazine ''

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 indepen ...

'' published in 2025, Virgin Wines came last out of the six wine clubs/societies surveyed; in terms of customer service and value for money it rated 65%, compared with 93% for The Wine Society, 77% for Laithwaites Wine,

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 ...

and

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 N ...

Wine Club and 76% for

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 b ...

."Best Wine Clubs"
''Which?'', 3 January 2025

References

External links

* {{Virgin Group W Retail companies established in 2000 Internet properties established in 2000 Wine retailers of the United Kingdom