A Warm Inn Express Welcome to Justin Sims

A Warm Inn Express Welcome to Justin Sims

09 November 2021 - Inn Express

Inn Express is an independent drinks wholesale distributor specialising in all aspects of the UK on-trade. One area we are excited to drive forward into 2022 is our wine portfolio.

So with this in mind, we are delighted to introduce our old friend and former long-standing wine supplier, Justin Sims. Justin will be helping us increase our wine knowledge base and create informative, relevant and interesting content using his extensive wine knowledge and experience.

We started working with Justin in 2005 when he joined Cockburn & Campbell, then the wine arm of regional brewer Young & Co, as a Regional Account Manager. As our business grew, Justin worked closely with us and actively helped us to grow our wine sales too.

Earlier this year and after more than 20 years out on the road selling wine, Justin took the bold decision to swap his car for a new laptop to become a full-time Wine Content Writer.

We talk to Justin to find out exactly what that means and what he plans to bring to Inn Express as we move into our next chapter…

What Exactly is a Wine Content Writer?

“Good question! In basic terms it’s producing wine related articles and specialist wine content for websites and other digital platforms. As anyone who has tried writing digital content for their own website knows, there’s a lot to think about and it’s time-consuming, plus a well optimised writing style is quite different to writing for print.”

So How Did You Make the Transition from Selling Wine to Writing About it?

“While I was working at Cockburn & Campbell, I was approached to write a monthly wine column in my spare time for a regional glossy magazine. The magazine was published in tandem with the Stamford & Rutland Mercury and I contributed articles for two years. I really enjoyed writing and always dreamed of being able to write to earn a living.

The pandemic made me really think about my future and re-evaluate what was important to me, as it has done for many people. I was also at the start of a new relationship when the first lockdown was imposed and my new partner had recently set up her own Digital Marketing Agency so you could say she gave me the nudge I needed!”

What Do You Hope to Bring to Inn Express?

“I feel very fortunate to have worked with you guys since the very early days and this has helped me to gain a really thorough understanding of the Inn Express business and your customers. Using my 25+ years of wine and industry knowledge, I hope to bring all this together to produce some really valuable content that your customers will find useful and engaging while also helping to reinforce Inn Express’ expertise in every drinks category.

The next chapter for Inn Express is an exciting one and a lot of work is currently going on behind the scenes to get a new online ordering platform and website in place ready for launch in January 2022. I especially like the way you are approaching the design and user interface to ensure your customers get the best possible experience. I cannot wait to be a part of that and help grow the business."

How Do You See our Wine Portfolio Developing When the New Site is Launched in 2022?

“You’ve done a great job curating a balanced range of wines for your trade customers with some nice representations under the Organic, Biodynamic and other Low Intervention categories too. Up until now, there has naturally been a bias towards wines that are priced to be sold by the glass so I would anticipate you adding more breadth to the mid and upper-priced ranges not only from the classic ‘Old World’ regions but across the ‘New World’ too.

As we become more focused as a society on sustainability and making more ethical lifestyle decisions, I expect to see more and more wine producers, alongside traditional farmers, switching to organic and low intervention practices, that will ultimately benefit the environment as well as all of us too. I would therefore expect to see these categories increase over time.”

Justin will be contributing to our blogs each month and writing in our seasonal portfolios. Why not read his excellent interview with Sonal Clare of the Wilderness Restaurant about wine sales post covid.

Post Lockdown Wine Sales - Sonal Clare

Pairing Wine with Game. The Ultimate Guide

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