Scottish wine merchant to close

Cockburns of Leith, Scotland’s oldest wine merchant, has announced it will cease trading after more than 200 years.

The Edinburgh-based company called in administrators Ernst and Young late on Friday, 29 January.

Cockburns merged with Edinburgh’s first wine warehouse in 1993 and in 1998 merged again with JE Hogg of Cumberland Street.

A buyout by the management in 2004 saw the company moved to its present location, in the shadow of Holyrood Palace and the Scottish Parliament, in Abbey Lane.

Joint administrator Colin Dempster, of Ernst and Young, said: “The group has been impacted by the recent economic downturn, which has unfortunately led to a declining order book and the directors concluded that the business can no longer continue to trade. We are actively marketing the business.”

Colin Borland of the Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland, said that Scotland’s wine and spirit off-licence industry had been badly hit by the recession.

“It is nothing new that small independent retailers are finding it difficult to compete and this is particularly so in the drinks industry.

“This may be why the more specialised end of the market has found things a bit difficult. What would be a shame is if all our high streets were homogenised. When we see another name disappear, it is extremely sad.”

The firm was founded by Robert Cockburn – the brother of the legal and literary figure Lord Henry Cockburn – in 1796 and was one of Scotlands’ first commercial wine importers.

The family were also responsible for the creation of Cockburn’s Port, today owned by Beam Global.

The company were awarded a royal warrant in 1822 for supplying wine to a state banquet for George IV.

Other famous customers over the years have included Charles Dickens and Sir Walter Scott, who once bought 350 dozen bottles of wine and 36 dozen bottles of spirits in a single visit.

Rupert Millar, 01.02.10