Buckingham Schenk to ‘take a break’ from LIWF

Buckingham Schenk has announced that it will not be attending this year’s LIWF, partly because it will not be able to dock its tall-ship Atlantis.

Major construction as part of the Crossrail programme at Royal Docks will apparently “make it impossible” for ships to sail to Excel.

As the Buckingham Schenk team has largely been based on the Atlantis for every fair since the move to Excel, it was decided that the company would “take a break” in 2013.

The ship has become the favoured lunch haunt of many in the trade, in no small part thanks to the barbeques and wine that are so generously offered.

As such the company explained: “The ship has become synonymous with Buckingham Schenk’s presence at the fair and after careful consideration the company has come to the decision that it would be too difficult to recreate the experience inside the hall within a stand environment.”

Managing director, Jon Pepper, said: “The Buckingham boat has always been a real point of difference for us at the London Wine Fair, allowing us to offer great hospitality and a calm space for visitors away from the busy main hall. “Unfortunately we’re unable to get a ship to Excel this year, so we’ve decided to have a year off. It will be interesting to have a year without attending the fair, and see what impact it has. We’ll review it at the end of the year and doubtless be back in full sailor costumes in 2014.”

Bonded warehouse operators London City Bond will also be unable to host visitors and customers aboard their tall-ship for the same reasons.