It is a commonly held view that it is difficult to make money out of wine, not least because of the punitive rate of tax. Duty on a bottle of wine accounts for £2.16 of the purchase price and when you throw in 92p in VAT, taxes swallow an eye-watering 55 per cent of the cost of an average bottle of still wine.
Given the list of casualties among off licences over recent years, including Threshers, Parisa, Unwins and Oddbins (now reborn), it is hardly surprising that there are more than a few sceptics who reckon that the three-year turnaround of Majestic Wine being implemented by new management will also end in disaster.
Surprisingly, Rowan Gormley, the Majestic chief executive leading the turnaround, agrees that