The ultimate garagiste

John Halewood has gone from running a start up business in his garage to being a global player in just 25 years.  How exactly has Halewood International arrived where it is today?

WHAT IS THE only way to make a small fortune in the wine and spirit business, goes the old saying? Well, start with a large one, is the usual answer.  Absolutely not so in the case of John Halewood.

During the end of the swinging sixties and early seventies, he was pursuing a modest career in the wine and spirit business with Liverpool based company, Hall and Bramley – at that time the northern agents for Gonzalez Byass Sherries.

John subsequently became Northern Sales Manager for GB and when Sherry sales were at their peak in the UK, he decided to ‘have a go’ and set up his own company, Halewood Vintners.

The year was 1978 and the venue for his first office, order taking department, distribution centre and warehouse was his own small garage.  At that time, in true entrepreneurial style, John was performing the role of tea boy, order taker, sales and marketing promoter, bottle washer, deliveryman and (most importantly) debt collector!

Twenty-five years later, Halewood International – as the company is now called though still entirely owned by John Halewood and his family – is the largest privately owned wines and spirit producer and distributor in the UK.

Colossal achievement

This thriving business now has an annual turnover of over more than £300 million, employs more than 1,400 people and has interests in Romania, South Africa, China and the USA, along with its wholly owned subsidiaries of Hall & Bramley, Chalie Richards and Classic Drinks.

It would have been a colossal achievement in any industry in a mere 25 years, but is even more remarkable in the rather more traditional confines of the UK wine and spirit trade. 

A razor sharp mind, an engaging personality and the courage to take risks and act quickly on perceived opportunities, are surely some of the main reasons for his success.

Combine these with a great sense of timing, perseverance and his infectious enthusiasm that carries his team forward and you understand why possible barriers are so easily overcome when face to face with ‘difficult’ buyers and potential customers.

Brought up in Wallasey where his father was a Merchant Naval Engineer, John set off to London for a possible banking career. 

He very quickly realised that this was certainly not the life for him and after trying a few jobs here and there, he was attracted (mainly by the lure of a car which came with the job) to the Hall and Bramley role in the drinks trade.

"I already knew I was ambitious and, when the time was ripe, I took the plunge and branched out to run my own show. I already had some ideas that I thought I could develop," says John Halewood.

Seeing the success of Sherries at that time, John began to distribute the Spanish Montilla brand of Club Royal, which was one of the biggest value for money products of its day and it still remains the best selling Montilla in the UK, 25 years later.

He also handled Cooymans Royal Dutch Advocaat at the time when Advocaat sales were at their peak, particularly in the North of England.  Ahead of the trends Tracking the development of the company is like following the twists and turns of the wine and spirit business generally over the last three decades.

Just as one trend began to wane and another sector of the trade ignite, so did Halewood carve its own special niche in the market place. 

After the pioneering success with the Pale Cream Montilla market and its own label business with British Wine and its Copperfield brand, Halewood Vintners was quick to see the huge potential in the UK demand for the emerging East European wines.

It was the moment when the British consumer began to become more adventurous in its wine selections – always providing that the price was right. Halewood was among the first to offer the trade Bulgarian wines and then took a ‘flier’ with Romanian wines, as well.

Such was its success within the Halewood portfolio that, when the opportunity arose in 1990 (following the collapse of the communist regime), the first joint venture involving Western companies was established and working with former employees of the state run Prodexport Company, they created a new company – Vinexport Romania.

This was the beginning of a long-term policy of investment in Romania that has culminated in the establishment of Halewood Romania and the purchase of Prahova Winecellars.

This operation consists of seven wineries that are all situated in the major grape growing area of Dealul Mare which enjoys a perfect climate for viticulture. 

More than £5 million has been invested in equipment and machinery at the Prahova headquarters in the city of Ploiesti and the company can now produce a significant quantity of original bottled, young, fruit driven wines.

Although 85% of production is in red wines, Prahova offers a full range of classic red and white Romanian wines and also owns a winery specialising in sparkling wine.

"Our aim is to produce and offer modern style wines with a w e l l – d e f i n e d p e r s o n a l i t y , without losing their individual and genuine Romanian character," says John Halewood.

While 90% of Romanian wine consumed in the UK originated from Halewood, the company also exports large quantities to 20 other global markets.  There is little doubt that the company has c o n t r i b u t e d significantly to the popularity of all Romanian wines, showing it is possible to produce high quality, complex wines that are appreciated by the global consumers in many markets.

The production bases

As soon as the original business began to grow and become viable, a proper production site became a must and John Halewood moved.  First to Horbury Junction, before purchasing an empty site at Roberttown which was converted to become the head office, and the bulk production plant for British wines.

After acquiring the assets of John Buccleugh and the old compounding business of Lamb and Watt, far larger facilities were then required to cope with the fast expanding business and Halewood’s present site at Huyton was purchased shortly afterwards.

Originally covering seven acres but since expanded to 30 acres, this Huyton site has now been dramatically expanded by 280,000 sq ft involving an investment of a significant £15 million which did not include the latest ‘all singing all dancing’ £2.5 million bottling line.

"The acquisitions of these production centres were a real landmark in the development of the company.  Not only because they facilitated the business of supplying tailor-made ranges of fortified wines to the trade, but also by providing exciting development potential in the field of specialised spirits," comments Bob Rishworth, who joined the company in 1990 as sales and marketing director.

"It was a real turning point in creating the next stages of the future potential of Halewood international," he said. 

Developing the spirit business

There were ten in the sales force when Bob joined the company in 1990 (he was wine and spirit director at Morrison’s before joining John Halewood) and the business was heavily weighted towards the North.

"We had just started with Sainsbury’s at that time, and all the larger accounts were being handled by John himself. 

Two new brands, Hochberg (a sparkling perry) and Beauchamp a fully sparling low strength wine were beginning to make good inroads into the trade, and it was an exciting time for the business.

Not only was the customer base beginning to broaden out, as the sales force was reinforced, but the company was also making a big impact in the emerging low strength spirit market," recalls Bob Rishworth.

Here the Halewood philosophy of " c r e a t i v e i n d e p e n d e n c e " , coupled with its innovation drive to explore new trends in a crowded marketplace, paid h a n d s o m e dividends.

While the big spirit brands dared not enter the world of sub norms, Halewood moved swiftly to provide the trade with its particular needs for 30% spirits.  Moreover, the company was the first to see the price advantage in using 70cl bottles for full strength spirits.

In the early 1990s, Halewood became a prime supplier to the multiple off-trade of own label Canadian Whiskey as well as its own special Canadian Gold brand, Hogarth Dry Gin and Highland Gold Whisky.

At the H u y t o n headquarters, it was a time of huge activity in finding, developing and marketing new exciting products for different sectors of the wine and spirit business.

The new product department (inevitably inspired from ideas from John Halewood himself) was in full flow and it has been the ability and speed of the company to bring a new product to market that has kept Halewood ahead of the game.

With no external shareholders to answer to, an initial idea can be transformed into a marketable product within weeks, using the in-house laboratory team for the new liquid, and the in-house design department for the prescribed bottle shape and label simultaneously.

At the same time, through in-house marketing, research can be carried out quickly and effectively and with the state-of-the-art bottling plant and streamlined sales and distribution system, a new product can hit the shelves within just six weeks from start to finish.

During this period of frantic activity in the middle 1990s, such innovative products as Mississippi Steamer, Flinters, Memphis Mist, Carribean Twist and Barbados Blue were successfully launched.

Meanwhile, all was certainly not quiet on the wine front. Halewood had seen the success of the light Lambrusco (3% to 5%) "fizz" range of products and was also marketing Cavalino Moscato in full 75cl and magnum size bottles.

The huge ‘party’ market (identified as 18 – 34 year old women) was there for the taking, and in 1994 Halewood launched its semi-sparkling drink Lambrini which was to take the Perry market by storm.

Focussing strongly on the target market, from the outset all marketing material (advertising, public relations and sponsorship) promotes Lambrini as a product "for girls who just wanna have fun".

This new Perry was an overnight success and Lambrini – according to the very latest Nielsen figures – currently accounts for more than 53% of the total Perry market in the GB off-trade.

The brand is still growing (+8%) and sales are fast approaching five million cases.  As one of the top ten fastest growing drinks’ brands of recent years, Lambrini has now reached cult status.

Of course, identifying the niche and providing the product is only part of the success formula, and the right sort of marketing and presentation provides the key to consumer demand and trade support.

This rings true across the whole portfolio and currently Halewood International supports its many brands through creative and innovative marketing to the tune of £15 million per annum.

Halewood’s most recent venture into this area of the market has been the purchase from Bulmers of the Sidekick brand and, along with Red Square Hotshots, makes them a significant player in the emerging shots market.

Riding the PPS and FAB markets Today, pre-packaged spirits and flavoured alcoholic beverages – PPS and FAB respectively – represent some of the most exciting and dynamic (and most challenging) sectors of the UK drinks market. 

The total consumer ‘spend’ for these products is well in excess of one billion pounds and is set to grow by 50% over the next three years.  It is a market that has proved irresistible to Halewood International with its ability to get a new product to market within weeks of conception.  And how this winning formula has succeeded.

Since its launch in 1999, Red Square has become the UK’s number one vodka and caffeine-based PPS and the fourth largest FAB in the major multiples, cash and carries, specialist outlets and liquor stores.

It is promoted to fashionable "up for it" party people and is available in ten different flavours, and there is an intense promotional and PR campaign behind the brand. "What colours your Red Square" is the strap-line.

The promotion features cult T.V. character Avid Merrion from the series ‘Bo Selecta’ Halewood is currently extending the Red Square branded range. 

This autumn, for example, sees the entry into the market of yet another innovative product, Vodka Lager – Red Square Vodka Lager being launched into the trade in 275ml bottles with a 70cl following soon "The 70cl bottle is the fastest growing size in the prepackaged spirit market and we were the first company to introduce this specially pressurised bottle size," comments John Halewood.

Traditional wine business While new product development has been the number one reason for the fast and exciting growth of Halewood Vintners over the last decade, John Halewood has not forgotten his early business career in the old style wine trade.

In recent years, he has shrewdly acquired a number of traditional wine and spirit importing and agency companies, such as Lawlers in 1996 (whose assets were transferred to Chalie Richards) and Hall & Bramley (the very firm he used to work for) in 1997.

More recently, he has bought Classic Drinks Ltd – run as independent wholesalers – and, earlier this year, the old established company of H & A Wine and Spirit Group which specialises in the packaging and bottling of small sized bottles and miniatures.

Throughout his 35 years in the wine and spirit business, John Halewood has always supported trade associations and the work of The Benevolent. 

It was a particular pleasure for him to have been asked to be this year’s President of the Benevolent Society, supporting Benevolent Chairman Bob Rishworth, at the 2003 Benevolent Banquet at the London Hilton in May.

International expansion

Having successfully developed the international business in Europe with Halewood Romania, John Halewood took the decision in 1999 to branch out in three other global areas; South Africa, USA and China.

"Our policy has always been to speculate to accumulate, but these ventures have been quite a challenge, and certainly nothing was plain sailing at the outset," comments John Halewood with a wry smile.  Four years later, he is able to be more relaxed about these high cost ventures. 

The company is now bearing the fruits of financial reward from the massive investment in South Africa (where Halewood is now a major player in the South African spirit cooler market) and it is beginning to reap the benefits of the joint venture in China where a range of Red Square products are now produced in Beijing and selling well in the Chinese market.

While several Halewood brands are available in the market, the US operation has been far more complex and is taking a little longer to come right.  John Halewood also has an interest in the world of international financial markets, through the subsidiary companies of International Market Strategies, International Futures Ltd and International Foreign Exchange Ltd.

These separately run companies provide currency risk management, expert investment and foreign exchange dealing services to a portfolio of private and intermediate clients.

Looking ahead

"We have had a lot of good years.  Of course, there have been some hiccups along the way but things are going very well at present. Is it worth the pressure? Of course – we thrive on the buzz of the business and we still have a long way further to go.

We already have some exciting ideas for new products.  This is the real life blood of the company," says John Halewood, who remains as enthusiastic as the day he founded the company 25 years ago.

When he is not running the business, he is following his other great passion of owning a string of racehorses.  It has been his ambition for a long time to own the winner of the Grand National, and this year he came very close (third place) with his horse Amberleigh House.

It would be a foolish man to bet against John Halewood being a winner next year, either at Aintree’s big race or again in the highly competitive wine and spirit world of new products.  Watch this space!