Cellar Trends Ltd, a leading British distributor of premium spirits brands, has agreed with Mast-Jägermeister SE, the brand owner of the world’s best-selling herbal liqueur Jägermeister, to transfer the Jägermeister part of Cellar Trends activities into a new daughter company of Cellar Trends.
The new company, trading as CTJM, will be operational in October 2013.
“After 13 successful years helping to build the brand and the business in the UK, we are very proud of the achievements and will closely work with Jägermeister to establish CTJM and ensure a smooth transition. We all agreed that this is the best way forward for us, the brand and our people. Cellar Trends will continue to operate as a leading independent family owned distributor and we will further build our premium spirits portfolio for our international partners with the same passion and quality as before,” said Martin Watts, joint managing director at Cellar Trends.
It is intended that around fifty employees of Cellar Trends, who currently work on the Jägermeister business in the UK, will be transferred to the new Cellar Trends subsidiary. This team will continue in their existing roles servicing the Jägermeister brand in the UK, so there will be no change for trade and business partners. There will also be no changes to order office, invoicing and payments points, nor any changes to existing supplier contracts.
Once CTJM has been successfully established, it will be transferred to Jägermeister to become their first distribution subsidiary outside Germany. Even after the transfer, Cellar Trends will continue to provide services to Mast-Jägermeister UK Ltd to ensure business continuity.
According to Watts: “We create the new subsidiary to ensure that there is a seamless continuity of service as we enter the busiest period of the year. This way we can also ensure that when the business transfers to the brand owner, it will be a fully operational business.”
“The decision to establish a fully owned distribution company would not be possible without the outstanding success and capabilities of our partner Cellar Trends in building consumer relevance and a substantial business for Jägermeister. The UK has become the third largest and one of the most dynamic Jägermeister markets in the world. The British spirits market also often sets the trend for the category elsewhere, so managing the development of the brand here has become of major importance to us,” said Michael Volke, member of the executive board at Mast-Jägermeister.
Mast-Jägermeister has appointed Guy Lawrence to run Mast-Jägermeister UK Ltd after it has been transferred from Cellar Trends and is intending to set up its UK head office in the London area. It is anticipated that Mast-Jägermeister UK Ltd will recruit additional staff to develop the brand and business in the UK.
“I am delighted that we have been able to attract a figure like Lawrence to run the new entity,” added Volke. “He has has held various senior positions at international spirits companies, most recently as European managing director for Russian Standard Vodka. We will be working closely with him, Cellar Trends and our business partners to ensure that the outstanding Jägermeister growth story in the UK continues to succeed. We see great potential and we are committed to invest in our new organization and the brand.”
Source: Mast-Jägermeister
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