Gusbourne announces senior appointments

Wine producer Gusbourne announced a series of management changes on Wednesday that come into effect immediately.

Charlie Holland, who has been head of wine making at the group for over three years, has joined the board as chief winemaker and chief executive officer. He will remain responsible for winemaking but also represent the company as CEO and manage the day-to-day running of the business along with Jon Pollard and other members of the executive team.

Holland has held a number of overseas wine making positions including in France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand and California. Prior to joining Gusbourne, he was winemaker for four years at English sparkling wine producer Ridgeview.

Gusbourne also announced the appointment of Mike Paul as deputy chairman. Paul, who has worked in the wine industry for over thirty years, will work closely with Andrew Weeber in his role as chairman. He will also head up the sales and marketing function of the business and help further develop the distribution of premium sparkling wines both in the UK and in additional overseas markets as production volumes increase over the coming years.

Finally, Jon Pollard – currently the vineyard manager at the Gusbourne Estate – will join the board as chief vineyard manager and chief operating officer. He will continue to be responsible for Gusbourne's vineyards and work closely with Charlie Holland on the day-to-day operations of the business.

Andrew Weeber said: “I am delighted to welcome Mike, Charlie and Jon to the board of Gusbourne. Each of them bring their strong professional skills and experience with them and their appointments will ensure that all key functional areas of the business are represented on the board. Gusbourne remains committed to the production and distribution of the highest quality English sparkling wines and the new appointments reinforce our commitment to that end.”

At 1220 BST, the shares were up 7.6% to 51.10p.