The Buyer | How wine industry can get behind National Wine Careers Week

What are you hoping to achieve with National wine Careers Week?

National Wine Careers Week is to raise awareness and understanding of careers in wine with a wider audience who may not know much about the wine industry and trade and the many roles there are across the whole sector.

In this inaugural year, our aim is to get the trade and our own domestic wine industry to get behind a united voice to help highlight the many career options offered across the UK wine sector.

According to the Wine & Spirit Trade Association the wine and spirits sector in the UK currently employs over 400,000 people* and generates significant revenue in Gross Value Added to the UK economy – it’s a big industry and a big employer – yet it’s a sector that careers seekers are seldom made aware of – if at all.

It is also going to get a lot bigger with exponential growth in vineyards (now over 1,000) and hectarage planted (up 123% in just10 years) and forecast to rise by a further 85% by 2032.

We’ve been hitting the ground running and already have plans ready to put into action next year as we build activity and awareness.

How has the initiative come together?

The campaign is the brainchild of Jeremy Kerswell, principal of Plumpton College. Plumpton’s Wine Education Centre is at the forefront of research and training of the next generation of wine industry leaders. Their courses range from short CPD, viticulture apprenticeships to two-three-year degree courses, covering viticulture, winemaking and wine business.

These and other fantastic training and wine education in the UK provide a rich and diverse range of opportunities to learn and grow professionally - yet there seems to be a gap in knowledge of the sector within the wider talent pool out there. It’s time to bring that awareness to a much wider audience.

We’ve been talking to contacts across the trade and wine industry and received a very positive response, and we’ve had fantastic support from Nyetimber, our founding partner, who is one of the largest employers in the UK wine industry.

Why are you looking to do this now?

With the prominence of the overall wine sector to the UK economy, coupled with the boom in British viticulture and production and growing recruitment needs, it seemed like a positive move to shine a light on this sector and the many job roles there are within.

Plus, we’re coming to the end of the academic year; students are looking at their future and exploring where they might want to work. It’s a timely opportunity to highlight this wide and diverse sector to them and to those supporting them in their decisions – careers advisors, parents/carers/friends, for example.

As well as those at the very beginning of their careers, we’re also keen to reach those considering a change of career too – in all cases spread the message the opportunities open to many different skillsets and abilities.

What sort of careers and skills are you most looking to offer and attract to take the sector forward?

We’re really looking to promote all careers and skills. Years of working in this industry has shown us that there is such a huge spectrum of opportunities for those looking to enter the wine job world and with transferable skills.

Just look at Nyetimber, our sponsor – they employ around 150 people across such a variety of skillsets and even locations; from the production teams to those working in the head office in London who cover sales, logistics, export, marketing, IT, HR, finance and plenty more.

This initiative is being coordinated by Plumpton College but it is a cross industry campaign - who else is involved and how have you all come together to make this happen?

Nyetimber has been a key supporter of this campaign. The brand already works closely with Plumpton College to offer work experience for its students, so it felt like a very authentic coming together of bodies and people who really care about wine careers in this country.

We are also delighted to have the support from WSET, WineGB and Drinks United. We’ve also had very positive responses from different businesses across the trade and production – most employers welcome the opportunity to recruit from a wider talent pool. There are some other great initiatives within the trade and we look forward to working with many more over the coming years.

There really are opportunities for everyone to get involved and share their story, we’ve developed toolkits to help those in the industry share online and help spread the word and provide on-the-ground insights.

What particular things will you be doing during the careers week itself to help promote it?

Our main push will be via social media and across trade media, together with some consumer coverage as well. We’re building a series of ‘Talking Heads’ – short videos created and supplied by individuals (or teams) across different businesses, sharing what their roles are, or perhaps their journey into wine. They are the best advocates for the wide range of roles there are and the skills needed.There are some events taking place too (see below).

Plumpton will be launching two new scholarships to help with access to degree programmes – watch for more news of these over the week.

Beyond the week itself, we’re looking to provide more signposts to explore further and to link with other information providers.

How are you looking to engage and talk to people who would not normally consider a career in wine?

We will also be sharing case studies to showcase real people who have carved out a career in wine (even if in some cases they might not have set out to do so from the beginning). We are pitching to consumer media outlets with this interest-worthy and positive news angle to attract interest.

Talk to most people operating across the wine sector and you sense that there is a great satisfaction gained from working in wine – you are constantly learning. That’s a great message to send out too.

How can the industry and companies and individuals get involved?

Spread the word as widely as possible via social media – help amplify the campaign to your followers and other communities. There are other hints and tips that we’ve included in our toolkit – these include creating stories or reels on socials, to putting a piece out about careers in wine in an upcoming newsletter, and if you’re a vineyard, highlighting the message to your visitors.

What sort of consumer PR are you doing to help raise awareness?

We are working with our PR team to generate some consumer media interest in the sector which we’ll continue to build on. We’ll also be attending events during the week that aren’t directly related to our campaign – such as the launch of Nyetimber’s summer terrace with J Sheekey, where we will be able to speak to press and influencers about this campaign.

You are holding guest speakers and events - what are they and who do you hope will attend them?

Plumpton College is hosting an open day just ahead of the start of the week on Saturday 10 May 10 – its Wine Education Centre will be open to visit and highlight some of the many careers across wine production and wine business matched to the different skills required.

WSET is hosting a panel session on May 13 – Careers in Wine – with a great panel who are all in different careers and stages of career, to illustrate some of the range of roles out there.

How do you hope to build on the campaign?

This is the start of a growing campaign, where we can engage businesses and agencies across the UK to ensure that the wine sector can provide a great career path. It’s a great industry with a whole range of different jobs from science through to sales and so much more in between, and offering opportunities to build a successful career, grow in knowledge and gain lifelong qualifications. I think many reading this will agree.