The Wine Owners Golden Vines Off-Trade Startup Scholarship will support the learning and business management platform operating costs of an entrepreneur with a dream – and a plan – to start a wine merchant, retailer, wine importer or distributor. Alternatively, the judges will consider an entrepreneur who has recently started trading (up to 12 months before the launch of the Scholarship).
The scholarship will comprise a 3-month paid internship with Lay & Wheeler, one of England’s oldest fine wine merchants, during which the Scholar will be exposed to all aspects of the business, from warehousing and logistics through to sales and marketing. The Scholar will also be assigned a mentor from the Lay & Wheeler management team.
Once the Scholar has successfully completed this internship, they will next complete a 1-month paid internship with IG Wines, who will provide them with hands-on experience using Wine Owners’ Wine Hub, providing invaluable training to seamlessly apply the software into their own business.
Following completion of these internships, the Scholar will receive Wine Owner’s Hub Pro plus integrated e-commerce free for 1 year. This will give the Scholar a decisive edge in setting up their business. During the course of their first year of operations, the Scholar will benefit from mentorship by Wine Owners senior leadership team.
The judging panel will comprise Nick Martin representing Wine Owners, Katy Keating representing Lay & Wheeler, Magnavai Janjo of MJ Wine Cellars, and Sasha Lushnikov representing Liquid Icons and the Gérard Basset Foundation. Applicants can apply from 9 January until 6 March by clicking HERE.
Nick Martin, the founder of Wine Owners, commented: “We feel privileged to be able to sponsor a diversity scholarship award for a qualifying, dynamic individual with a well thought through plan who may have been looking to start up their own wine company for some time, but have found access to capital and business support to be limited. Having worked with many wine startups over the last couple of years, we are attuned to their needs and the factors that underpin success. We’ll make sure the award winner gets exactly what they need in terms of technology, support and mentorship to establish and grow a brilliant wine business, which this scholarship award will make possible”.