Brower says, “After the announcement of wine.co.za’s acquisition, we are delighted to report that we have received an extremely positive response from stakeholders and industry at large. There is a great buzz around the office, and the team is excited with the new energy that the purchase brings.”
“We are equally pleased to announce the arrival of our new board members, with Andrew Douglas, founder and group managing director of Southern Skies, joining as executive director and Andie Steele-Smith, chairman of Southern Skies, joining the wine.co.za board as chairman,” says Kidson.
Douglas adds: “We look forward to serving alongside Judy and Kevin - long-serving founders of wine.co.za. They have both agreed to remain on the management team for the foreseeable future. We have only just got our feet under the desk, however, we already have managed some quick wins with the talented team in place.”
“In many ways, it’s a classic case of…the more things change the more they stay the same,” adds Douglas. “Partners and stakeholders can still expect the same great levels of service and personalised attention, but now with an expanded offering and increased footprint backed by greater resources and new investment.”
New Chairman Steele-Smith finishes by saying “We are particularly excited to utilize this incredible platform to help further economic and social transformation within the South African wine industry. We will be announcing new initiatives and some key appointments to our social justice and upliftment teams over the coming weeks.”
For media enquiries please contact Judy Brower via email at: judy@wine.co.za
Concluding the deal: Judy Brower, Andie Steele-Smith, Andrew Douglas & Kevin Kidson
More about Andrew Douglas
Andrew founded Southern Skies in 2011 and first entered the wine industry when he acquired The Wine Show in 2014. Over the next five years, Andrew and team scaled South Africa’s favorite wine event touring 7 major metros and connecting over 200 wine producers to 30,000 consumers nationwide.
After running his own successful event production company in London from 2000 to 2002, Andrew returned home to Australia to oversee the production of the Croc Festival, a 3-day cultural festival promoting positive lifestyle messages to indigenous learners in remote communities of Australia. Croc Festival is a sister event to the Rock Eisteddfod Challenge – a large-scale performing arts competition for government-funded high schools that was active between 1980 and 2012.
At the invitation of the WHO and UNAIDS, Andrew and partners established the Be Your Best Foundation and launched Rock Challenge in South Africa in 2004. Douglas secured significant financial support from Title Partner Aware.org (formerly ARA) providing a 5-year runway for the production of the event.
Andrew left the not-for-profit sector to lead 2010 FIFA World Cup activities for iconic mixed-use developments - the V&A Waterfront (Cape Town) and Melrose Arch (Johannesburg). He was the Australian Honorary Consul from 2009 to 2011.
Andrew is now 100% focused on delivering high-impact marketing, sales and research solutions to the South African wine industry and recently acquired industry stalwart, SA wine marketing/media and “wine online” pioneer wine.co.za.
More about Andie Steele-Smith
Andie is often fondly called "The Gang Pastor'' and divides his time between various boardrooms, Cape Winelands farming communities, and the most dangerous gangs-ridden communities in South Africa in order to broker peace and help return a little dignity and hope to the many ‘forgotten people’.
Andie has had a successful career in investment banking, private equity and corporate turnarounds. He has invested in and mentored many companies across Europe, the United States, Australia, and Africa.
Most recently he led the acquisitions of Wine.co.za and the Doolhof Wine Estate.
He has acted in a strategic or corporate advisory capacity for a number of highly successful public and private companies including Norton Gold Fields, Dimension Data, Gloria Jeans Coffee, RAB Capital, MTN, Tricon / Yum, and Nike.
Andie regularly advises NGOs including the World Fair Trade Organisation, Hillsong Africa Foundation, LABIT, Jubilee Campaign, and the Cornerstone Institute.
Andie is passionate about using best-of-breed businesses and commercial initiatives to create and drive high-impact, sustainable social transformation.