Expansion of Europe’s Largest Wine Bottling and Distribution Facility
Accolade Wines, the leading global new world wine company, has officially opened a £8.5 million bottling line at Accolade Park, Europe’s largest wine warehouse and distribution centre in Bristol, England. The new sixth bottling line means the state-of-the-art facility can fill 1200 bottles of wine every minute. Thirty new jobs have been created taking the onsite workforce to 500. The supply chain that enables wine to be delivered to the consumer employs nearly 3000 people – including glass, carton and label manufacturers as well as logistics experts, haulage workers and sales teams.
Accolade Park is one of the businesses that comprise the wider UK production network producing around 600 million bottles, nearly one third of all wine consumed in Britain each year.
The facility, which last year was recognised as ‘World Class Manufacturer of the Year’ in the Manufacturer MX Awards against competitors including Rolls Royce and Siemens, delivers quality, value and better environmental outcomes through bottling wine from around the world in Bristol.
Paul Schaafsma.
Shipping in volume halves the transportation greenhouse footprint as a container can carry 25,000l of wine, compared with 10,000l transported as pallets of bottles. Volume shipping and bottling in the UK allows lighter, recycled glass to be used, rather than the heavy glass needed for long-distance shipping, delivering additional environmental benefits.
Paul Schaafsma, chief executive of Accolade Wines, says: “Accolade Park is the lynchpin of Accolade Wines’ European marketing strategy allowing the business to deliver quality, reliability, flexibility and range to its customers in the UK and in mainland Europe. Accolade Park allows our business to provide leading brands such as Hardys, Mud House, Viña Anakena, and Stowells– all from one world-leading facility. The facility is critical to our ability to deliver quality wines and packaging innovation to the major retailers in the UK and our customers across Europe.”
Accolade Wines is one of the world’s largest wine companies, delivering over 35 million cases to 143 countries. It is the largest wine company in the UK with a 13% share of the market. Brands include Hardys, Echo Falls, Kumala and Stowells.
