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Fine Wine Recruitment | Meet Faye
Fine Wine Recruitment | Meet Faye
We interviewed our very own Specialist Fine Wine Recruiter, Faye Rillstone. Hear her industry insights and her career journey into the wine recruitment market in our blog below.
Tell us about you!
I’m a massive Theatre & Art geek! I try to catch a show as often as I can when I am in London.
I just fell into recruitment. When I was a candidate looking for work, dealing with recruiters always felt like a scene off ‘Wolf of Wall Street’… Then I decided to move to the UK, met a specialist recruiter who really changed my opinion. He recommended ‘New Chapter Consulting’, and I was sold. I packed up my life, moved to England, became a Fine Wine Recruiter, and haven’t looked back!
What do you find interesting about recruiting in the Wine industry?
People in the wine industry are super passionate. It made me want to learn as much as possible about this market. I remember my first client meeting in the UK vividly – I was so nervous. To give you some context, I didn’t even know what ‘Majestic’ was because we don’t have that in New Zealand. Terms like broker, merchant, importer, and the difference between 1st and 2nd growths, or primary and secondary purchasing were foreign to m. The industry practically schooled me, and it’s the people that make it so interesting.
What skillset do you recruit for in the Wine industry?
I work on a bit of everything, but mostly focus on wine recruitment in sales, buying & marketing positions, combining various different business models. I really enjoy recruiting for companies that offer Fine Wine as an asset class as their central service. That aspect of the wine industry is really fun to recruit for.
Has there been any recent changes in the Wine industry that has impacted your clients?
Cool…so the UK market is on the mend. There’s more emphasis on this being a buyers market currently. Liv-ex has shown positive returns compared to the last 13 months. The Asian economy is still quiet, but more people are back to buying, purchasing in volume, and bidding hard. The US auction market seem to be flying, and while there are trade enquiries in the EU, they haven’t yet translated into performance. However, the market still maintains a surplus. People are listing and willing to accept aggressive stock. There’s anticipation that things will turn around in Q3 or Q4 for investment, so the wine market outlook is looking more positive for this year compared to last.
Has there been a recent change in the type of candidate your clients are looking for?
I am seeing more sales than anything else at the moment. Start-up companies abroad are eager to develop competency for sourcing in the EU, so there’s early discussions around the mechanics on how to implement that into existing frameworks and what types of profiles we should explore. Expanding producer portfolios has motivated new market penetration across the trade, including nationals, so there’s a demand for the right experience as well.
Where do you see the future of the wine industry going?
Watch out for new up-and-coming brands about to disrupt the scene, potentially some new mergers, and senior appointments. There’s a more positive turn of events for investment. Ambitious growth plans already pipelined for 2030 have kicked into action now, and I’m looking forward to seeing how Bordeaux En Prim shapes up this time.
What is your favourite thing about working in recruitment?
Working within a niche market has given me the license to put all my energy into this industry! I just want to learn everything about wine recruitment… who is who, business models, the product, the people, the producers, the market, future plans, the challenges. The more I know, the more I realise I don’t know, which makes this all the more interesting. Nothing is certain; the impact you can have on a person or business is simply the best. Being a middleman backstage is fun!
If you work within the Fine Wine industry and are looking for a speciliast in wine recruiter, Faye would love to have a chat with you. Whether you’re looking to expand your team or seeking a new role, browse our vacancies below or request a call with us.
We can’t to hear from you!
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