On 28 August, a judge approved a winding-up petition against Wild Ferment, the parent company of former wholesaler Propeller.
The Official Receiver will now act as liquidator.
It has been a steep and rapid decline for Propeller. Founded in 2020 by Jamie Wynne-Griffiths, a longtime trade veteran, the business launched with the promise to ‘disrupt the UK wholesale model’ and offering ‘distribution as a service’.
Propeller initially received a lot of press coverage for its innovative model and quickly amassed a portfolio with some impressive names, including the Rolland Collection and Abbotts & Delaunay.
But the business has now been forced into liquidation, the extent of its debts and number of creditors currently unknown, with multiple individuals, both suppliers and employees, left professionally, personally and financially embarrassed by their association with the company.
What went so wrong at Propeller?
Launching the landing pad
Wynne-Griffiths had formerly worked for Bibendum, OW Loeb and Enotria, among others.
Initially acting as a ‘matchmaker’ with his consultancy group Wild Ferment, the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 caused a rethink and career pivot to setting up Propeller, as he told The Buyer in a 2021 interview.
The idea was that suppliers would consign with Propeller, which would in turn take a stipend for handling the wines and payment for storage costs.
Wines would be priced with all associated costs (costs of goods sold, margin etc) baked in, with the aim being that they would be ‘cost-positive’ after six months.
Furthermore, Propeller advocated itself as a ‘landing pad’ from which suppliers might one day find an established and long-term agent after Propeller had built their brand.
Early warning signs
All appeared to start well and the company quickly grew its portfolio. But, by the end of 2023, there were outward signs that Propeller was in serious trouble, with rising debts and a growing list of unpaid creditors.
In early October of that year, a supplier got in touch voicing concerns about the company, principally that they had not been paid for several months for stock that had reportedly been sold by Propeller.
There had been ‘a lot of promises’, they added, and ‘a lot of excuses’. They said they were ‘increasingly sceptical’ of what they were being told by Wynne-Griffiths and had concerns the company was going under.
After that, events accelerated. Decanter understands the sales team began to quit, the last one doing so by the end of the year, according to ?
The company’s bonded warehousing provider, London City Bond (LCB), said it froze Propeller’s account over an unpaid duty bill in November 2023.
Decanter understands that a number of frustrated suppliers chasing unpaid invoices of their own had started refusing to pay their storage invoices in retaliation.
Several then sought out distributors ready and able to take them on, but had to pay the outstanding storage to LCB to release their stock.
The one who had initially voiced concerns had a bill of just over £4,000 to take back control of their wine.
Initial probes to find out what had gone wrong got nowhere. People didn’t want to talk. What was there to say? Sometimes, companies go bust.
A discreet auction
But Propeller hadn’t quite gone bust. It turns out that in August of 2023, Wynne-Griffiths, had opened a wine shop in the smart Dorset town of Sherborne, where he lives, called The Drinksmith (though a Facebook page hinted at plans for an opening in 2022).
In December 2023 the shop opened a bar area as well. Although by 2024 Propeller’s activities seemed minimal, its founder was still selling wines consigned to Propeller through this other venture.
Since the summer, the shop has been advertising a ‘massive warehouse clearance’ with cuts of 30-50% on all wines.
A screenshot of The Drinksmith’s website with clearance sale pop-up
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Source : https://www.decanter.com.master.public.keystone-prod-eks-euw1.futureplc.engineering/wine-news/tailspin-tracking-the-downfall-of-propeller-537611/
