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Their names might be above the door, but there was nothing pre-ordained about Geordie, Charlie and Ned’s path to work at Berry Bros. & Rudd. Here, they tell us about what it takes to be part of the family business – and what they hope the future holds

 

Geordie Willis

Creative Director

 

Geordie Willis, Berry Bros. & Rudd’s Creative Director, may have been born in the Berry family, but he never felt destined for the business. “Early on, I wanted to work in the magazine world,” he says. “It was only when I’d started work experience at a magazine and needed to supplement my income that I applied for a job in the cellars.”

Amongst the boxes and the bottles, Geordie began to learn what the business was really about. “It surprised me how quickly I fell in love with it,” he says. “There’s something extraordinary about Berry Bros. & Rudd; the buildings, the history. There are so many layers.”

As it turned out, the cellars were a tough but excellent wine school: “I could identify any bottle by the foil,” he says. “And I quickly learned one of the great benefits of working in the cellars: I had the responsibility of opening and decanting some very special wines destined for the Directors’ Dining Room upstairs.” Checking the wines meant the cellar team were able to taste “extraordinary” bottles.

“It’s a tough, physical job, and I was desperate for everyone to think I was a hard worker. But my three years there gave me greater standing in the business.”

Geordie’s stint in the cellars wasn’t followed by a smooth ascent to the boardroom. “One day, Simon, my uncle who was the Chairman at the time, called me up to his office. Normally this meant you’d done something very wrong, or very right,” says Geordie. “Simon asked me when I was leaving. It wasn’t what I was expecting. As a family member, I thought I had a job for life.

“Simon told me that I needed to work in another industry for at least three years before I could come back to the business. With the new generation coming through, I think he recognised the need to free people from the obligation to work here. The hope was that only those truly interested would come back. Also, he wanted me to gain skills that would allow me to bring something meaningful into the business rather than learn everything from within.

“It felt tough at the time. Like I was being turfed out of a job I was enjoying. But, now I look back, it was the best thing I ever did.”

Geordie started work for a creative agency, where he stayed for four years before Simon asked him back. He headed to the Hong Kong office to help develop the brand internationally. “People assume that in a business such as Berry Bros. & Rudd you either work as a wine salesperson, or you don’t work in the business. But it’s so varied in terms of the opportunities,” Geordie explains. “I could’ve been a chef; on the legal side; in marketing, etc. A family business needs different skillsets from the family, and we’ve always benefitted from the diversity of thinking between the two families.

“I think the fact we are two families is genuinely one of the secrets to our success. Traditionally, you probably bring a lot of family life into the work arena. And, as we all know, conversations one might have around the dinner table aren’t always appropriate for the boardroom. The fact that we are two families means that there is always an inherent respect for the other family involved. There will be challenges and different points of view, but you have to think as one body to make this business work.”

In practical terms, difficulties seem to get ironed out in the same way as in any family: by talking things through. “We all make an effort,” says Geordie. “We have the Owners’ Board, so the two families regularly come together to support the business. We have the Family Council, which is about bringing all the generations of the family together. You want all the family, whether they work in the business or not, to be ambassadors for it. And that works best when they understand it – perhaps more than we did as children.”

In business, and beyond, the Berrys and the Rudds are close. “I think of Edward and Lizzy [Rudd] as cousins. I found out from Lizzy recently that her father John was my grandfather’s best man. It shows that there was real friendship there as well as a business relationship. And that remains true. The two families are great friends. And to consider that’s been true for over 100 years is pretty extraordinary really.”

What, then, are the most challenging aspects of working in a family business? “I think, when your name is above the door, you naturally take everything very personally. But the main thing is this huge sense of responsibility. After being in a business for eight generations, making sure we continue to thrive can feel like a huge responsibility.”

Three centuries of heritage is quite something to have on your shoulders. But, of course, it’s a privilege too, as Geordie is quick to point out. “You get this immense sense of pride working for a business which has endured for 323 years, so the positives outweigh the negatives every time.”

So how is the business going to take on the next 323 years – and beyond? “Today, we innately know who we are. We’re clear what we’re going after. We’re focused. We’re doing things we’ve done for generations. We are more Berry Bros. & Rudd than we’ve ever been before. And part of that innate DNA is innovation. We are always looking at ways to do what we do better. We’re always looking forward. It would be so easy to rest on our laurels, on our past, but actually we’re on a journey here. And – in so many ways – we’re just getting started.”

 

Charlie Rudd

Private Client Sales Manager, South East Asia

 

“It’s a lovely thing, when you hand out a Berry Bros. & Rudd business card,” says Charlie Rudd, our Private Client Sales Manager. “It’s got my name on it, of course. And then it’s got the name on it. You see the recognition on a person’s face.” It’s clearly a huge source of pride for Charlie, and he takes pleasure in his family’s story.

“When people make the connection that I’m a Rudd, I’m often asked about my grandfather John Rudd, who so many people remember. And my mother – Lizzy, the current Chair – I’m so proud of her, and of what she’s doing with the business.”

Charlie, who is based in Singapore, always dreamed of working internationally – though not necessarily for Berry Bros. & Rudd. After his masters at Durham, and a role at Anchor Brewing in San Francisco, he ended up working for a tech start-up on Cannon Street in London. “Then I was on holiday in Singapore – my wife’s Singaporean – and an opportunity came up for a role with Berry Bros. & Rudd.” It seemed a timely chance.

“I’d always wanted to work internationally, rather than in London,” Charlie says. “Especially with Mum as the Chair of Berry Bros. & Rudd. I want to do my own thing, and not be known as the Chairwoman’s son.”

Now in his late 20s, Charlie’s looking after a huge international market – “everything below Hong Kong on a geographic line” he explains. “There’s a lot of untapped potential here. As little as five or 10 years ago, the region was being badly looked after by merchants – even we tried to have a big trade venture out here. It seemed to be running before we could walk. Now we’ve reopened here in a market with a lot of wealth and enormous growth.” So what is it like working for a British heritage brand in the Asian market? “We’re easy to trust,” says Charlie, quickly. “There are issues out here with provenance – the Rudy Kurniawan scandal was based in Indonesia. People always say there are more bottles of Latour in China than have ever been made by the Château. So, for us, it’s trust and provenance – being based in the UK, with our bonded shipments and storage is really important.”

And does carrying the family name help? “Yes, without doubt being part of – and proud of – a family business helps. Singapore is a very conservative society, it’s extremely wealthy and very tight compared to, say, how flashy Hong Kong can be.

“You need to be introduced to friends of friends. Everyone looks after their group of 10. When you earn the trust of a small group of people, you get the chance to tell the story of Berry Bros. & Rudd over a dinner and a few drinks at someone’s house.” While the family name may open some doors, surely there are challenges to having your mother at the head of the boardroom table? “I have a Sunday call with Mum every week – sadly I’m not able to travel back at the moment. And inevitably we end up talking about work. I’ll let her know what’s happening and what I think we can do better. I like talking to her about wine too – what she should be buying. It’s an interesting dynamic.”

For Charlie, the line between work and family is there, but clearly this is more than a job to him. “I work a lot harder here than I have in any other job. There’s your family name and reputation on the line, and it means I work ridiculous hours. I’ve got to know what I’m doing because I can be challenged on it – ‘do you know what you’re talking about; do you just work here because of your name’. Undoubtedly, it’s more than just a job.”

When it comes to what lies ahead, both for Charlie and the business, Charlie is excited: “Personally, I have a plan,” laughs Charlie. “But I’m hugely encouraged by the conversations coming out of the UK. This is a ridiculously exciting market. There’s so much opportunity out here, and we’re still not getting it 100% right. And I’m vocal about it. We’ve got huge room for improvement here.

“When we talk about ‘for the next 300 years’ we’ve got to be thinking internationally. The market here in Singapore is five years old; Hong Kong is 20 years old; Japan is virtually untapped. If we can reliably look after the market, there is so much potential for growth. And there’s no doubt that technology will be the driver for that – to being able to deliver the level of customer experience we need.”

What about bringing the next generation of family into the business? “We’re definitely better at doing that than we used to be,” says Charlie. “When you’re young, it’s obviously hard to understand the business. I always remember it hovering in the background as this alien thing. But there is always this sense that the opportunities will be there. You absolutely need to be qualified, but – when you are – you’ll be given the chance to succeed.”

 

Ned Roger

Private Account Manager

 

There’s an unwritten rule amongst the Berrys and Rudds that to cut one’s teeth in the business there’s no better place to work than the shops, warehouses and cellars. Aged 18, Ned had his first experience of working for Berry Bros. & Rudd in the Basingstoke warehouses. “It was hard – really hard. I was helping at Christmas,” says Ned. “I remember having blisters on the soles of my feet. But I’m really glad I did it. I know exactly what it takes to fulfil all those orders.”

The business has always been a backdrop in Ned’s life. “It was part of my childhood,” Ned recalls. “I remember being in the Napoleon Cellar at family gatherings and there being a children’s entertainer there while the others were in a board meeting. I have a lot to be thankful for because of my family. Berry Bros. & Rudd has been so much part of my life that it’s nice to give back to it.”

Having worked in educational technology sales and event space management, Ned is now firmly in the fine-wine world. What is it about his job he relishes?

“Talking to customers. I love it. I mean, it’s the bedrock of what we do, isn’t it? It’s the thing we’ve always prided ourselves on – the service we give to customers. I’ve been told stories of how they used to do it – stories of my grandfather, Christopher Berry Green, who was the Chairman before Simon Berry. I try to replicate that: to deliver excellent customer service; to go the extra mile.

“I think we all know how we feel when we receive great customer service from a company; it really does make you stand out. And you know when you don’t think of things in a black of white way, when you try to do the thing that makes a difference, it’s hugely rewarding.”

Aside from inheriting this sense of what makes exceptional customer service, was Ned given any advice from the family about working in the business? “Well, when I started, my grandfather told me to keep my mouth shut and my ears open,” Ned laughs. “I think that’s pretty good advice. He also said that the true showing of a company is how they deal with adversity – how do you react to mistakes and put them right. And I hope that’s something we do well because everyone cares so much. It’s one of the things I love about working here: that the whole team – whether family or not – have pride in the company and put 100% into it.”

It’s clear throughout our conversation that, for Ned, family is a touchstone. His grandfather’s influence shines through, but he believes it is something that his colleagues feel too. “Everyone acts like family,” he says. “People here make friends for life.”

When it comes to the future of the company, Ned’s certain that one thing is key: “sharing wine together” he tells me. “Grace, my wife, once asked my grandfather, what his favourite wine was. And he said, ‘It’s any wine that I’ve shared with friends’. And that is wine in a nutshell, isn’t it? If you’re drinking the best bottle in the world on your own, you're not getting any sense of enjoyment out of it. You want to be sharing it with people.

“That’s what we can do with our events. I’d love to see them in Hong Kong and Singapore – I think it’s where our strength lies as a merchant.”

And what about for Ned personally? “At some point, I’d like to work in another industry – I think it’s important to bring back different insights into the business. But for the time being, I just want to experience as much of the company as possible. I’m working harder in this role than in any other – there’s that level of expectation that you should work harder and put more in when you’re family.

“But working here isn’t really a job; I love every moment of it,” Ned says. “I never wake up and think ‘I’ve got to go to work’ and I know that makes me incredibly lucky. At the end of the day, I'm working for my future directly, and hopefully for my children’s future. And I’m incredibly proud of what we do.”