We are saddened by the demise of both Southern Skies Investment Holdings (SSIH) and CyberCellar. See this announcement HERE from Andrew Douglas for more information.
However, we can ensure all wine.co.za clients that this does not impact WineNet (wine.co.za)'s financial stability or viability in any way. The transaction by SSIH to acquire WineNet has been dissolved, and as a result, WineNet remains independent and in good standing.
Kevin Kidson and Judy Brower, founders of wine.co.za, remain at the helm and are, as ever, committed to providing a consistent and reliable service to the South African wine industry, as they have done for 27 years.
"This is extremely disappointing for us and also for the industry at large, as the vision and ideals which Andrew Douglas brought to the table were expansive and exciting, but unfortunately in the current economic climate, sufficient investment was hard to secure to achieve the long-term vision. We feel deeply for Andrew and all the staff and clients affected by the liquidation and will help wherever we can," says Judy Brower.
The transaction by SSIH to acquire CellarDirect has been reversed, and as a result, the ownership of CellarDirect now resides with WineNet.
We understand that this may cause concern for some of our DtC clients, and we are doing everything we can to ensure their businesses are not disrupted in any way and that there is no financial risk to any CellarDirect client.
We are committed to managing the CellarDirect wineries' shops and we will work closely with each client to answer any questions they may have.
Kevin adds: "We have learnt a lot in the last 18 months, and many great ideas were incubated. We will be looking at rolling some of these into our service offering in the near future."
For anyone looking for clarity or needing assistance, please email judy@wine.co.za or call 021 851 2737.