Baile out of Surbiton and East Sheen@Ex-Seller

Ex-Cellar shop@East Sheen with closing down sale from Twitpic (newgenwines)  

Reports and pics on Twitter show that two of the five ex-Oddbins shops that Simon Baile's Ex Cellar Ltd bought in May will closing shortly. The East Sheen and Surbiton branches both have closing down 40% off sales. Records at Companies House shows that the latest company accounts are overdue – they should have been filed by 30th September 2011. 

Surbition (photo – Richard Hemmings)

Oddbins: six monthly admin report: money for creditors in future....but no date given

Deloitte has issued (31st October 2011) its six monthly report on the Oddbins' administration, which can be downloaded here. Lee Manning and Matthew Smith are the joint administrators.

Some of the main points:

£495,000 has been returned to the secured creditor on account. All preferential claims received have been agreed. 732 staff were made redundant under administration. Claims on unpaid wages and holiday pay are estimated at £120,000.  No unsecured creditors claims have been agreed to date. So far claims total £12.6 million. 

No dividends have been paid to preferential or secured creditors to date. It is anticipated that there will in time be a dividend paid but how much and when is still unknown due to 'unresolved issues' and the ongoing sale of the business. 

The administrators' gross time costs up to 3rd October 2011 total £2,065,964. To date Deloitte has received £1,050,000 renumeration and has agreed to write off time costs of £350,000. £353, 592 has been paid to Squire Saunders & Dempsey (UK) for legal advice. Other professional fees totalling £153,782 have been paid to various companies.

37 stores and associated stock was sold to EFB.


Goodwill and intellectual property sold to Layburn Enterprises Ltd.


One store in Scotland was sold to B & GS Landa Ltd.


Five leaseholds were sold to Simon Baile.


Two leaseholds to Amathus Drinks plc


Leaseholds and stock on four Irish stores. 


As required under law the administrators investigated the director's conduct and submitted a confidential report to the Insolvency Service on 28th September 2011. 

'The Administrators are aware of a number of transactions with Ex Cellar Limited, a company controlled by Simon Baile, a Director of the Companies, during the two years prior to appointment. The review of these transactions remains ongoing.'

   

Baile's verdict on Oddbins – 'calling himself an arse'?

On Friday The Drinks Business carried an exclusive interview (Baile: Back end "killed' Oddbins) with Simon Baile, formerly managing director of x-bins. Baile explains that Oddbins failed not because of the shops but because of the "back end of the business". They had a lot of fixed contracts and couldn't cover the costs.   

Baile's interview prompted a classic response from a member of the wine forum on Tom Cannavan's wine pages: 'Simon Baile's calling himself an arse? Sounds remarkably honest.'

Baile's comments rather confirm that Baile and his partners hadn't done their due diligence properly when they took over Oddbins in 2008. If fixed contracts were the problem why did Baile's Oddbins rack up debts well in excess of £20 million, while assuring suppliers that they would be paid? Remembering that £8.4 million of that is owed to the UK Government – ie you and me. 

Baile goes on to talk about his newly expanded ExCellar business. 'As would be expected, it hasn’t been straightforward securing suppliers. “Some have been supportive, others less so – they know who they are,” Baile said.'

Arrogant? Moi?

Fortunately some companies take care over who they supply, otherwise Oddbins' debts might have been even higher. There were a number of companies, such as Bibendum, Patriarche UK and I believe Moët Hennessy, who declined to supply Oddbins well before they went pop. Talking with one of Bibendum's most treasured senior executives it was clear to me that they wouldn't touch Baile's Oddbins with a bargepole. I somehow doubt if they are supplying ExCellars.   

Layburn Enterprises Ltd: new owner of Oddbins' name registered in Isle of Man

Details from IOM companies register: 

LAYBURN ENTERPRISES LIMITED
Burleigh Manor
Peel Road                          
Douglas IM1 5EP 
Isle of Man Company Number: 125751C 

Who is Oddbins.com        

David Peter Craine
Layburn Enterprises Limited
Burleigh Manor
Peel Road
Douglas
Isle Of Man IM1 5EP
United Kingdom

http://www.whois.net/whois/oddbins.com.com 

Brief Biography
David Peter Craine, F.C.A J.P is Non-Executive Director of Hotel Corp. He is a former Chairman of the Isle of Man Society of Chartered Accountants, Mr. David is a founding member and Director of Peregrine Corporate Services Limited. A born and bred Manxman, David is also a Director in the Isle of Man firm of Browne Craine Associates Limited, an accountancy practice he founded with Maurice Singer in 1982. This firm being the successor to a long established and regarded local practice that was absorbed into the new partnership. Mr. David was also the Finance Director and Company Secretary of Webis Holdings plc formerly Betinternet.com plc which is an AIM listed company.

(From Hotel Corp Plc site) 

ex-Oddbins employee not amused by wine offer from Simon Baile

Dear Jim,

 

I am the ex-manager of Oddbins Westminster.

I have just got this email from Simon, which I consider an ultimate insult from the person that is responsible for the demise of our company.

I have not found back a job in the wine industry yet, and the market doesn’t look very good for ex-oddbins employees. I hold him personally responsible for the financial difficulty I am in (and I really am…) and cannot believe the cheek of it.

 

Anyway, I thought you might want to publish this, if you do, feel free to include my name.

 

Yours sincerely,

Gwenole Quiel

From: Simon Baile [mailto:simon@excellar.co.uk]
Sent: 10 June 2011 18:55
To: gwenquiel@
Subject: Ex Cellar 35% Off Wine Voucher

"In quick time they were at the wine-pipe; for a moment the new hands seemed at a loss for the means of getting the wine to their mouths; but the "wide-a-awake" boy sliped (sic) off one of his shoes in a twin­kling, dipped it into the cask and drank. "Drink, you devils, drink!" he said; "its all one how much you drink, only don't get drunk!" And again he filled his shoe, and again he drank. The previous debauch in con­nexion with the new, soon tum­bled him on the ground; and he lay there gradu­ally sinking into stupidity; but, as he took his leave of conscious­ness, he admon­ished the others to take care of themselves; to take as much as they could rightly carry; but not to get drunk, saying, as he sunk lower and lower him­self, "Fill your boots, boys-fill your boots! Give me one small drop in a shoe to make me well again, for I'm- I'm-." Alas, poor hu­manity! There lay in the deep­est degradation, as good a fight­ing soldier, and, when he could not get drink, as cleanly and ac­tive a fellow as ever the English army pos­sessed."

* Terms and conditions apply: purchases must be made by people over 18 - offer is subject to availability - a valid email address is required - offer only applies to wine - no further discounts - other discounts & deals do not apply

Interesting discussion on Tom Cannavan's Wine Pages' Wine Forum over whether the sending of these emails has contravened the Data Protection Act.

 

Oddbins: couple of extracts from administrators' report: 20th May

7.1: As part of their statutory duties, the Administrators will consider the conduct of the Directors and any person they consider a shadow or a de facto director in relation to the management of the affairs of the Companies and the causes of failure and will submit a confidential report to the Insolvency Service, a division of the department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

As part of their investigation the Administrators will consider, among other matters, the following:

• statutory compliance issues;

• misfeasance or breach of duty; and

• antecedent transactions (including transactions at an under value and preferences)

Creditors who wish to draw any matters to the attention of the Administrators should write to the Adminitrators at the address given on the front of this report.

••

7.2 SIP13 (E&W)

In accordance with the guidance given in SIP13 (E&W), the administrators are aware of a number of transactions with Ex Cellar Limited, a company controlled by of the Directors of the Companies, during the two years prior to the appointment. The review of these transactions remains ongoing.

 

Oddbins: tale of two shops + Deloitte's report

Oddbins: Farringdon Fine Wine shop

Quick trip today up to the Holborn Viaduct area of London to look at two contrasting Oddbins shops. Firstly Farringdon, the shop under the Holborn Viaduct, which was the original fine wine branch. This is one of the five acquired recently by Simon Baile's ExCellar chain. There were signs of activity inside presumably in preparation for reopening.

Other shots of Farringdon store (above and below)

The old Chancery Lane branch is just a short distance away – closed and for the moment it has no new owner. It would seem that the Chancery Lane staff and Oddbins' senior management did not part on the best of terms.

Staff choice – sin bin: Simon Baile and Henry Young

'When it's gone, it's gone!'

Bins Ends in Lambs Conduit Street recommended

A report (20th May 2011) from the administrators at Deloitte can be downloaded from their site here.

From Oddbins to Nobbins: some reflections

The old Inverness branch, which used to have a fine selection of malts

(On 4^th April 2011 Oddbins Ltd, a UK national wine merchant chain, went into administration owing over £22 million including £8.6 million in tax and excise duty. Oddbins was founded in 1963. In the 1970s Dennis Ing and Nick Baile bought the company. Then in the 1980s it was bought by Seagrams, who sold it to the French drinks company Castel in 2002. In what proved to be the final change of ownership Simon Baile, Nick Baile’s son, and Henry Young acquired Oddbins in August 2008 through Ex Cellar Investments Ltd.)

Who’s to blame?

“Beware the son!” warned a senior member of the wine trade in mid-April during this year’s Decanter World Wine Awards.

There are plenty of examples of sons of successful fathers driven to emulate or cap their father’s achievements. All too often it ends in disaster as Oddbins has for many – staff, suppliers plus UK citizens through the £8.6 million owed to HMRC.

When Simon Baile bought Oddbins in August 2008 was he blinded by sentiment? Did he do his due diligence properly? Did he have a carefully considered plan detailing how he was going to reverse the decline of Oddbins under Castel and how he would find a way of being different from the supermarkets that would also be profitable?

It is all too facile to blame the supermarkets and the public’s love of a bargain for the final collapse of Oddbins. It won’t wash. In August 2008 the challenge posed by the supermarkets was known all too well – wine merchants Unwins had already collapsed and Threshers (First Quench), the UK’s largest wine merchant chain, was decidedly sickly and would be in administration just over a year later. Baile and Young should have been well aware what they were taking on. Baile’s subsequent complaints about hidden clauses in the deal with Castel, which gave Baile and Young Oddbins without putting any of their own money up, only suggest that they failed to do the necessary due diligence and didn’t read all the small print.

In a deal typical of the era Oddbins lent them the money to buy itself through their company – ExCellars Investments Ltd. This arrangement was memorably described in the High Court on 4^th April as ‘a whitewash procedure’.

It may well have been that Baile and Young hoped that once they had secured Oddbins that they could attract investors to join them. It wasn’t their fault that the long boom hit meltdown in September 2008 just a month after they struck the deal. But even given the changed landscape were they able to offer enough to attract investors in the changed times? Did they offer equity in exchange? Did their apparent reluctance to put their own money on the line deter investors? Did investors have sufficient confidence in Baile’s abilities?

Did they decide that he was trying to punch well above his weight – that he was out of his depth as subsequent events appear to bear out?  

The lack of investment is now all too clear. Oddbins is often feted for its quirky charm. But, today, looking at the state of the shops, admittedly now closed, it is obvious that they were shabby, run-down and badly in need of a facelift. 

Unrealistic discounts and virtually no net presence

Baile and Young chose to offer significant discounts for buying a dozen bottles or more, while putting a high price on smaller purchases. This was later reduced to a discount on six bottles.

This policy might have worked if the shops had good car parking facilities along the lines of the Majestic Wine Warehouse model. However, the majority of the Oddbins stores were on the high street with no parking facilities, so few people could take advantage of the discounts. Inevitably customers felt they were paying well over the odds for single bottle purchases. 

Although this pricing policy was widely criticised, Baile and Young stuck with the principle.

The net

Oddbins failed to embrace the net, leaving the field open to more nimble and switched on operators like Naked Wines. I suspect that Baile just did not understand its potential. Soon after the Baile-Young takeover the Oddbins’ the majority of the wines shown on the Oddbins’ site were listed as unavailable, which immediately gave the impression, rightly or wrongly, that the company was having problems sourcing stock.  

2010: on the slippery slope

Oddbins’ financial position deteriorated sharply during 2010.
  

Oddbins’ balance sheet plunged into the red during 2010 dropping £6.3 million in 10 months. By October their net assets were in deficit by £2.6 million.

The trading position of the stricken drinks company deteriorated dramatically during the 2010. In December 2009 the company’s balance sheet showed net assets, after removing the debt owed by Ex Cellars Investments Ltd, of £3.7 million. By February 2010 this had dropped to £2.15 million and continued falling to £491,000 in June and by September it was minus £1.85 million before dropping nearly another £1 million by mid-October. It is understood that the equivalent position in 2009 was a surplus of around £3.4 million.

Over the same 10-month period amounts owed to trade creditors increased as did the debt to HMRC for unpaid duty and PAYE. It is also known that an increasing number of UK agencies and importers as well as producers around the world were either declining to supply or requiring cash with orders.

The balance sheet suggests that Oddbins was in very serious trouble by October-November 2010. It may well be that Simon Baile and Henry Young pinned many of their hopes on being able to trade into a more favourable position by a spectacularly good Christmas.

It is understood that, under Castel, Oddbins had typically seen a big spike in sales, believed to be in the region of £2 million, close to Christmas. Under the new regime this had not happened in either 2008 or 2009. But perhaps 2010 would be different!

However, putting a big promotional campaign together for Christmas 2010 would doubtless have been a real challenge given the number of suppliers now declining to supply as well as those who had been supplying presumably getting increasingly concerned, angry and frustrated that their bills were not being paid despite assurances that their accounts would be settled.

In the event there was no big 2010 Christmas campaign. Instead there were complaints from the staff of shortages of stock that would get steadily worse in the chain’s last few months.

Early in 2011 Baile and Young called in Spectrum Corporate Finance to try to save the business. But it was too late: the debts were around £22 million including £8.6 million owed in tax and excise duty.  

Was the CVA viable?

It is now apparent Deloitte, the administrators, have only been able to sell of the Oddbins’ branches piecemeal with the largest chunk (37 shops) going to EFB, which will trade as Whitalls. Baile has now bought five shops. Clearly even the slimmed down version of Oddbins has not been considered to be viable. This must surely call into question the assumptions made in the CVA. Had the CVA been accepted, it seems all too likely that Oddbins would have run up further debts. HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) look to have been right to reject the CVA.       

Oddbins – winners and losers

Now that the Oddbins’ saga appears to be nearing its end, it’s time to take stock and consider the winners and losers.  

The staff

The staff has long been some the real assets of Oddbins. Alone among their competitors, Oddbins were the only wine street chain in their heyday to get their staff training right. They attracted keen, knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff – ready to share their enthusiasm with clients. A number of the current leading members of the UK wine trade served their apprenticeship at Oddbins. 

Sadly the staff appear to have been the most notable losers in the Oddbins debacle. Some of those made redundant have worked for Oddbins over many years and some clearly feel betrayed by Baile as comments on twitter and my Jim’s Loire blog show. (http://jimsloire.blogspot.com/2011/05/simon-baile-acquires-five-shops-from.html)     

Simon Baile and Henry Young

Financially Baile and Young must be counted as winners. Both drew salaries of £150,000 a year – admittedly not a huge salary but considerably higher than shop managers. Three of Young’s daughters worked for the company.

However, the debacle has certainly bruised their reputations both men with their disillusioned ex-staff and the wine trade, in particular those suppliers owed substantial sums by Oddbins. 

Suppliers

Several wine importing companies took very big hits in the collapse of Oddbins – prominent among them Hatch Mansfield (£310,000) and Pol Roger UK (£273,612). Some companies feel that they were misled over the true position of Oddbins in 2010 and report that promises of payment were made to them that were not realistic.

A director of one of major creditors told me that they will be happy to supply Whitalls, especially as Emma Nichols, ex-Oddbins, is joining them as wine buyer. They will, however, be more reluctant to supply ExCellars.  

ExCellars Ltd

The company, which was founded in September 1998, had two stores (Ashtead and Paris) in August 2008 when Simon Baile bought Oddbins. During his tenure with Oddbins Baile added another two branches to ExCellar – Claygate and Fulham Road, London. Very recently Baile has bought a further five stores from Deloitte, the administrators, taking the chain to nine stores. The additional stores are Canonbury, East Sheen, Farringdon, Surbiton and Summertown (Oxford).   

It will be interesting to see how Baile manages the expansion of ExCellars – what staff he can attract and how easy it will be to find suppliers prepared to sell to him on favourable terms.  

Will lessons from Oddbins be learnt?

When I spoke to Baile on 17^th May he appeared to indicate that it would be more of the same: "Our first task is to get the shops, which have now been shut for a few weeks, trading again, to get a team together and get energy back into the stores. We intend to continue to do what we do best: to offer interesting wines from small independent growers."

Some of the signs are not promising notwithstanding that ExCellars Ltd has been trading since 1998. The pricing policy is the same as Oddbins, the website is dated and the company has been slow to comply with UK company law.

Pricing

ExCellars offers a discount on six bottles but single bottle purchases tend to be expensive. The 2009 MD from Henri Bourgeois costs £24.99 a bottle on six bottles the price is reduced to £19.99. See www.excellar.net/onlinePriceList.html However, the same wine can be bought for £18 from wine2laydown.com (www.wine2laydown.com)

Internet

The current ExCellars Ltd site is clunky, old fashioned and kept up to date – there are still tastings listed from earlier this year.  To date wine cannot be bought on-line.

UK company law

On 11^th January 2011 UK Companies House issued a first gazette against ExCellar Ltd for failing to file its accounts on time so being in breach with UK company law. This is the first step to dissolving a company. The offending accounts were speedily filed and the dissolution notice has been withdrawn.

Baile has declined to talk of the finance required to fund the expansion but the five shops will need to be restocked, renovated and rebranded.

À suivre!

Oddbins: 29 closed stores up for sale.

Inverness branch

On instructions of Deloitte administrators, Lee Manning and Matthew Smith, 29 further ex-Oddbins stores have been put up for sale by Christie & Co. There are nine in London including Leadenhall Market in the City of London, Hampstead, King's Road, Wardour Street, Maida Vale and Notting Hill Gate. The rest are spread around the country with several in the Glasgow area, one in Edinburgh, Nottingham, Circencester, Sheffield, Wetherby and Canterbury. Final offers have to be submitted by 5pm Friday 27th May.   

Simon Baile acquires five shops from Oddbins' administrators

Closed Oddbins@Canonbury, London – soon to reopen as an ExCellar branch

It has now been confirmed that Simon Baile has bought five shops from Deloitte, the administrators of Oddbins. The sites are: Canonbury, East Sheen, Farringdon Street, Surbiton and Summertown, Oxford. Simon Baile told me that the new stores will trade as ExCellar, whose existing stores comprise Ashtead, Claygate, Fulham Road and Paris.

"Our first task is to get the shops, which have now been shut for a few weeks, trading again, to get a team together and get energy back into the stores. We intend to continue to do what we do best: to offer interesting wines from small independent growers." Asked whether they would need a new wine buyer, Baile replied: "No as we already have plenty of experience and intelligence at ExCellar Ltd."

Asked what level of investment would be required to restock and open the shops, Baile declined to discuss the company's internal finances.

Undoubtedly expanding the four-store ExCellar chain to nine shops – there were two when the Bail and Young Oddbins adventure began in August 2008 – will present a challenge with a need for investment. Initial investment to allow restocking of the shops. Although Baile's long term aim is to rely on selling 'interesting wines from small independent growers' sourcing these wine will take time. It also assumes that producers will be happy to supply again considering the Oddbins debacle.

To restock the newly acquired shops quickly is likely to mean relying at least in part on stock held in the UK and it will be interesting to see what terms suppliers will want and feel able to demand.

**

See also news story on decanter.com

Oddbins: Update on situation in Ireland

 

'3 shops have closed down, Blackrock, Churchtown and Clontarf. There was an interested party that was supposed to buy the 4 shops. stopped trading yesterday.

One remaining shop open which is Baggot St.'

**

The failure to find anyone apart from EFB to buy a substantial number of the Oddbins' estate suggests that HMRC were realistic in giving the CVA the thumbs down.

**

Blogger has been down for most of today. It still hasn't restored some of the recent posts. Hopefully that will happen soon. 

Oddbins – a walk along Upper Street, Islington, London

The Canonbury Oddbins branch due to become part of the expanding ExCellar chain?

One of the great advantages of the new Overground service that runs through Forest Hill is that it makes getting to East and North London much easier than previously. Believing that the deal between Simon Baile (ExCellar Ltd) and Oddbins was due to be consummated today, I took the train to Highbury & Islington to have a look at the Oddbins Canonbury branch – rumoured to be part of the deal – and also then to the Upper Street branch closer to the Angel.

Despite expectations that the deal between Baile and Deloitte would be formally signed today, there was still no news at 3.30pm today. A last minute financial hiccup?

 The 101 Upper Street branch

Spring is here but Oddbins' isn't anymore

 A farewell message – staff relations will have to be better if the expanded ExCellar chain is to prosper

 

 

Oddbins – Baile – deal is done

Around 4pm today Simon Baile (Ex-Cellar Ltd) concluded a deal with Deloitte to take over 6/7 shops. One of them is believed to be Farringdon – apparently also Canonbury, if anon's comment in previous post is correct. Am hoping to have further details later. Baile will now to have to negotiate with the landlords of the shops concerned to take on the leases.

More details when I have them.

Oddbins: brief update – deal with Baile expected to be completed today

Lee Manning of Deloitte expects that a deal with Simon Baile will be concluded today. The deal involves some six shops – all in the south east/London area. Apparently there was one outside the south east but it may no longer be included.

Ireland

Manning's colleague works on this, so Lee wasn't able to update me on this. However, it is likely that there will be a deal at some point on one of the shops. Will try to get more information on this.

RPL form

The advice for those having problems contacting Deloitte regarding queries on this form is to keep trying. The person to speak to is Jane Harley and you should have her contact details. 

Oddbins: still bailles up in the air – no news

I gather from Lee Manning (Deloitte) that no deal has yet been done with Simon Baile – hopefully Monday or Tuesday of next week. Apparently it is six or seven shops, which presumably will trade as Ex Cellar. I'm surprised this deal hasn't yet been sorted out – could it be a question of getting the necessary finance in place?

The third party that has bought the Oddbins' name remains unknown. I suppose Baile could always trade as 'Ex-Oddbins Ltd' as this company name appears to be available.

   

Oddbins web team made redundant + new wine buyer for EFB

As previously predicted the oddbins.com team were made redundant yesterday. The other news is that Emma Nichols, previously Oddbins wine buying consultant, is understood to being recruited by EFB to strengthen their wine buying team. This news comes as some disquiet is being expressed here at the stock currently going into ex-Oddbins now Whittalls shops:

'Much dismay at the new wines arriving at the remaining Oddbins/Whittalls stores this week - not even cheap and cheerful lines, but overpriced and nasty ones. The kind of stuff you see in newsagents, only worse. How much does Whittalls know (or care) about what Oddbins stood for?'

Still early days and EFB are probably concerned to get some stock into the increasingly empty shops as soon as possible. Also EFB would doubtless point out that their businesses are successful and make a profit.

No news of who has bought the rights to the Oddbins name.
 
(Apologies an earlier similar post inexplicably disappeared due perhaps to some internet connection problems today.)

Oddbins: HQ staff to be made redundant on Tuesday + job offers

Closure notice

I gather that the remaining Oddbins' HQ staff are to be made redundant on Tuesday.

A couple of possible job offers:

All very sad. but here's a silver lining. Any ex-Oddbins staff in the Wimbledon area who would like some part-time work, call Mark @ Revelstoke Wines. 0208 879 1810

Tweet from Carte Blanche Wines:

cbwines Carte Blanche Wines

Message to all Oddbins staff. Please DM us if you would like a job. Would you all mind rt'ing this? Thank you.

 

Carte Blanche Wines

Oddbins - Baile to buy six or seven shops

Brief conversation this morning with Lee Manning of Deloitte. Most of the remaining 48 shops are closing but Simon Baile is in the process of buying six or seven shops. Henry Young is not involved in this deal. The Oddbins shop on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh has been sold to a separate company with the brand name sold to another unnamed company. It would appear that Baile has not bought the brand name.   

Oddbins: welcome email sent by EFB to the 37 shops - 26th April 2011

Subject: Message From EFB To Oddbins Branches Recently Acquired By EFB

WELCOME TO THE EFB GROUP OF COMPANIES

Late on the 25th April 2011 an agreement was reached and you have now become part of the EFB group of companies and we would like to welcome you to the team. EFB is a family owned Private Company that celebrated its 20th Anniversary this year.

The Group is one of the largest independent drinks distributors in the UK.

Whittalls Wines Merchants, a subsidiary of EFB Retail has acquired the trade and assets of 37 stores from Lee Antony Manning and Matthew David Smith joint administrators of Oddbins Limited effective from Monday 25th April 2011; we have now become one of the largest Independent drinks retailer in the UK with over 130 stores.

Please bear with us over the next few weeks while the transition takes place. We will work very hard to get to know our colleagues in the branches we have acquired and start the process of rebuilding.

It is not our intention to rush into widespread changes but we are acutely aware of the poor availability of key lines that you have been experiencing for many weeks.

We have already started work on restocking you with some essentials to enable you to trade as well as possible. By the very nature of the urgency to restock your stores, you will be shortly receiving your first delivery. Our intention is to ensure you are kept in a reliable and consistent supply of a basic core of Wines, Spirits, Champagnes and Beers overlaying this by continuing to source an exciting range at competitive prices.

You will no doubt have many questions and queries and to this end I have attached a question and answer sheet as well as assigning a temporary team of people to help.

There is also a list of names and contact numbers for you to call. In the first instance you have been assigned someone on a temporary basis from EFB retail as your first point of contact. These individuals will direct your calls to the right person in the business and this will improve the speed with which we can answer your questions. The Business Heads are also there to help during the transitional period and their numbers are there for you to use should you feel it necessary.

Oddbins: remaining shops have closed

Closure notice on Monmouth Street Store  – one of the branches closed in March

From the number of messages I have received it appears that the remaining 48 Oddbins shops, excluding the one on the Royal Mile, Edinburgh and the ones in the EFB deal (37 shops), have now closed with apparently the loss of 300 jobs. It looks as though the 'imminent deal' as reported by the BBC* on Tuesday did not materialise.

* 'Deloitte said it hoped the remaining Oddbins would be sold soon.
"We are currently engaged in a range of discussions regarding the sale of the remaining 48 open stores and are confident of an imminent deal," said Lee Manning, joint administrator and partner at Deloitte.'

See article here in The Drinks' Business on unanswered questions over Oddbins.