Outstanding Achievement

Award Winner

Tony Laithwaite, joint chairman, Laithwaites

Tony Laithwaite is the man behind the world’s largest wine mail order company, encompassing Direct Wines and The Sunday Times Wine Club. Ever since he first drove down to Bordeaux in 1969 to collect his first wine shipment he has maintained his reputation for always going straight to the source. Thus Bordeaux Direct was founded.

Thirty years on and a name change later, Tony Laithwaite has seen his company grow from small beginnings, in a railway arch in Windsor, to a company that now boasts profits of £8m and sales of £190m. Entirely owned by the family, Laithwaites is now worth in excess of £85m.

“As far as we know, no merchant in the world takes anywhere near as much trouble or travels quite so far to find quality wine,”“ says Laithwaite. ”At the last count, we’d put over 53 previously unheard-of wine regions ‘on the map’. In the last twelve months alone, we travelled 180,000 miles and tasted over 30,000 wines to produce a range which combines originality of flavour, richness, concentration and complexity.“

“It is fitting that this award should be especially created for Tony Laithwaite. We felt that his outstanding achievement should be recognised. Laithwaite is an industry leader, providing a benchmark for the international wine trade. He has created a model which many have followed.”

judging panel, the drinks business awards 2005