By David Brown, Bevica Implementation Consultant
22 June 2026, Woking - English Wine Week feels like a good moment to pause and look at where the English wine industry is today — and what it may need next if it’s going to keep growing successfully.
All the signs show that the industry is heading in the right direction. More vineyards are being established. More wine is being produced than ever before, which is noticeably improving in quality. And consumers are now much more comfortable choosing English wine, whether they’re out for dinner, browsing in a shop or buying directly from a winery. What used to feel like a niche choice now feels like a serious option for many of us.
That progress is worth celebrating. Campaigns such as Wine GB’s English Wine Week have played a big part in encouraging wine drinkers to step out of their comfort zones and try English wine. They shine a light on the outstanding quality of many English wines and give people a reason to come back and try them again. And again. And again, hopefully.
But from where I sit, working with wine businesses every day, there’s another question worth asking: can the industry keep pace with its own growth?
Growth sounds great, until you’re the one dealing with it
From the outside, business growth looks straightforward. More demand means more orders, greater brand visibility and, in theory, more opportunities to grow.
From the inside, it can feel much messier. You may start selling through more channels. You may increase your product range, and a few more SKUs can quickly turn into a lot more SKUs. Stock may move faster than expected. Or it may not move at all.
Before long, you’re checking three different places just to work out what stock you actually have. Your finance reports say one thing, your sales reports say another, and no one is completely sure which version to trust. Decisions that should be made with a clear view of the business end up being made on gut feel, simply because it takes too long to pull everything together.
If that sounds familiar, don’t worry. It isn’t unusual. It’s often what growth looks like from the inside.
A winery isn’t just about making wine anymore
A lot of the conversation around English wine is still focused on production: planting new vines, the quality of the grapes, the weather, the harvest and the yield. And of course, all of that still matters.
But once your winery reaches a certain size, the challenge starts to shift. It’s no longer just about how much wine you can produce. It’s also about whether you can stay on top of the business of making and selling that wine.
Can you see what you currently have in stock? Do you know which wines are selling well, and where they are being sold? Are you making money, or simply shifting volume? Can your team get the information they need without chasing spreadsheets, emails and separate systems?
Over time, those questions become more important to the long-term success of your winery. That’s often the point when wineries start to realise that the systems and processes that got them this far may not be enough for the next stage.
What growth looks like in practice
We have seen this first-hand with one of our clients, Chapel Down.
As the UK’s largest winemaker, Chapel Down had already built strong demand for its wines. But as the business expanded, the work behind the scenes became more complex too. They were growing more grapes, adding more products and increasing their routes to market.
Demand wasn’t the problem. The challenge was making sure the systems behind the business could keep pace with where Chapel Down wanted to go next.
Their finance and operations teams were juggling multiple software platforms. Manual processes were taking up too much time and increasing the risk of mistakes. Reporting was also harder than it needed to be, which made it more difficult for the team to get the insight they needed to make key business decisions.
This was the point where TVT came on board. As a Microsoft partner, we helped Chapel Down implement Bevica as their new business management system. Over the course of the project, they moved their financial and operational processes into one more connected solution.
That change has helped Chapel Down streamline reporting, reduce manual input errors and give key team members more time to focus on higher-value work. In practical terms, it means less time spent pulling information together and more time spent using that information to run the business.
Systems that support growth (not slow it down)
When I meet new customers for the first time, I always reassure them that moving to a system like Bevica isn’t about making daily operations more complicated. It’s about giving your team a clearer, more reliable way to run the business day to day so you can see what’s happening without chasing information from different places.
I used Bevica in a previous role before becoming a Bevica consultant, so I’ve seen both sides of it. I know what it feels like to use the system in a busy wine business, and I know the difference it can make when it is implemented well.
Because Bevica is built for the wine trade, it reflects how wine businesses actually work. From how you manage duty through to where your stock is held, it understands the details that matter in this industry. It gives wineries the processes, structure and visibility they need without forcing them into a generic way of working.
Is your winery ready for your next stage of growth?
English wine has earned its moment. The next step is making sure the businesses behind it have the right foundations to keep building on that success.
Speak to the TVT team to find out how Bevica could support your next stage of growth.