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Flint Wines boosts buying and commercial teams

10 June 2024 By Arabella Mileham

UK fine wine importer Flint Wines has bolstered its buying team with the addition of two buying directors, both from Lay & Wheeler, as it eyes up ambitious growth plans.

Wine bootles from cellar in selective focus

It has added Beth Pearce MW as head of buying, along with Robbie Toothill as its head of commercial.

Pearce will assume buying responsibilities for all regions except Burgundy – which will continue to be overseen by founder and director Jason Haynes, working closely with Will Heslop and Heloise Castille as a buying team of four.

She joins the team from Lay & Wheeler, where she was responsible for growing the business’s portfolio, first as a buyer, and more latterly, as buying director. Prior to that, she spent nearly ten years at Majestic wine, rising from a trainee manager to the buying team, with a brief time spent with Sydney-based retailer Vintage Blue Wines. She earned her Master of Wine in 2020 and was also named as the Outstanding Young Person Award at the inaugural Vintners’ Company Awards in 2021.

She is joined by Robbie Toothill as head of commercial, who joins Flint Wines after nearly tens at Lay & Wheeler, During his time there, he has worked in various roles, including marketing, buying and, most recently, sales and merchandising as commercial director. During this period time, the wholly private client business grew from £9.7m in turnover in the financial year ending 2016 to £27m in the year ending 2023.

Pearce and Toothill both previously worked with Flint Wine’s managing director Katy Keating at Lay & Wheeler, who joined Flint Wines in June 2023. In April, the company also signed Maisons Marques et Domaines’ (MMD) Harry Roskilly as finance director as it announced an ambitious five-year growth plan.

In 2020, the UK fine wine importer purchased Burgundy specialist Domaine Direct.