Wine GB has confirmed the departure of its CEO, the second consecutive leader of the trade association to step down after three years.
Nicola Bates, who took over as CEO from Simon Thorpe in late 2023, is leaving the UK wine organisation with immediate effect. Further details behind the move were not disclosed, although Bates said today (10 November) that “it’s the right time to hand over the role”.
A successor has not been secured yet, with “the Wine GB leadership” poised to “work closely alongside the board to ensure that the organisation’s day-to-day activities and key priorities continue”.
“Three years ago, I joined Wine GB and kicked off a full consultation process with the membership to understand just what the sector needed,” Bates (above) wrote in a LinkedIn post today. “This distilled into our ‘Cultivating Success’ strategy 2025-2027, where we help members to MAKE wine, MARKET wine and TELL the story.
“It’s been an incredible privilege to serve the sector and to see improvements in our organisational resilience and our offer to members.”
Wine GB chair Charlie Holland added: “During her tenure, Nicola worked with stakeholders across the English and Welsh wine industry to help drive change for all our members, producers and the industry. On behalf of Wine GB and the board, we thank her for her contributions and the considerable impact she has made.”
Speaking to Global Drinks Intel at the start of September, Bates did not indicate a preparedness to leave the trade body, which celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2027. Indeed, in the subsequent interview, published in the October issue of Global Drinks Intel magazine, Bates said: “We expect to hit 1m bottles for exports (of wine produced in the UK) either this year or next. If we continue to grow this level of export penetration, while also deepening our involvement with existing and new consumers in the UK, then we’re going to be in a really strong place.
“In this economy, to be able to say there’s this really vibrant, fast-growing agricultural sector in the UK is a brilliant position to be in.”
