Hallgarten strengthens team

Hallgarten Druitt has boosted its team with the appointment of a new director of regional sales to oversee its sales team.

Robin Knapp, who has been general manager at the wine supplier for Charles Wells and Young’s Breweries, Cockburn & Campbell since 2008, will head up the 41-strong national and regional sales teams and is set to broaden its customers base.

He previously spent six years at Matthew Clarke, working as a national account director and latterly as director of wine, after seventeen years at Oddbins Commercial, where he worked with Hallgarten’s head of buying, Steve Daniel, with responsibility for the building the wholesale division.

Managing director Andrew Bewes said Knapp’s appointment came at an exciting time for both the company and the wider wine industry.

“His combination of experience, unbounding passion for wine and obsession with customer service, will be invaluable in our quest to work in partnership with the UK’s leading restaurants, hotels and retailers,” he said.

Knapp said he was looking forward to driving the business forward, and was delighted to join a company with “outstanding wines and a dedication to delivering the best customer service”.

It comes seven months after the Luton-based supplier strengthened both its sales and its brand team with four new appointments.