Just a coincidence. No heart attack....but Boy! Do I have a bunch of hard-driving people! Of course they are all 30/40 and I'm 65 this year. It shows. No way can I keep up.
Customers, though, should know the truth. If you enjoy your Laithwaites it really isn't down to me. I just hog the limelight. In reality there's a group of people here who - whilst they say they love the job - regularly work themselves into the ground keeping this train steaming ahead, growing and evolving quite amazingly.. All around the world.
Why the world? - I get asked that a lot.
"Because it's there", I say. But that's stupid really isn't it?
Thing is ... it's tougher running a wine business in the UK than it was in my young day.
We have wine taxes now out of all proportion.
We have all the Puritans endlessly wittering on "wine is a bad drug!" NO!!! it's not, it's been a much-needed comforter for western civilisation for 5000 years and you ain't going to take it away now when we need it more than ever!
We have those five huge UK megagrocers crushing the life out of all small business.
We have a pathetically weak £, and everybody is feeling the pinch one way or another.
But... hey-ho, life goes on. Mustn't grumble. Could be worse. British Spirit, Eh!
So thank you, Laithwaites people, all of you, customers especially, keep it up, we'll not let the Bbbbbb's get us down will we. No. Cheers, then!
Meantime we'll see how the Americans, Australians, Swiss, Germans, Chinese and..... like our wines. (Turns out they like them a lot)! Which is a reassurance.
Visit laithwaites.co.uk
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