Just weeks after one of the UK's fastest-growing wine businesses announced that it sold 3.6 million bottles over the festive period, an Irish man has been appointed its managing director.
Eamon FitzGerald (pictured), a 29-year-old from Dublin, has been named as the new managing director of Naked Wines UK. The online wine retailer, which offers same day-delivery, had sales of €73 million last year, an increase of 67% on the previous year.
Fitzgerald, who according to The Scotsman is a former financial services consultant, started with Naked Wines just two years ago. Previous to his work with Naked Wines UK he was a blogger and writer for wine trade magazines. His new appointment means that he will have responsibility for 105 staff and more than 140,000 customers.
In an interview with The Scotsman, Fitzgerald reflected upon some of the company's recent achievements. “They said we would never be able to take on the supermarkets, and we have. They said we would never be able to recruit great winemakers, and we have. And they said we would never be able to make money from it, and we have.”
Naked Wines was founded by Rowan Gormley, who previously set up Virgin Money for Richard Branson, and he continues to run the overall group, which is now also focused on expanding into America and Australia.
Based in Norwich, Naked Wines is expanding outside the UK but has no plans to go into the Republic of Ireland.
