Ridgeview: Winners – Sussex Success Story

In a year when they were supposed to be celebrating their 25th Anniversary, opening their new winery and curating their third Ridgefest, Ridgeview’s plans were brought to an abrupt halt as England was plunged into the first lockdown.  2020 changed quickly from a year of celebration to a year of resilience and survival in response to the global pandemic.  The team had to be agile and quickly flip their business plans, diverting sales into the channels that remained open whilst ensuring a safe working environment was created to allow production to continue.  What a year for Ridgeview to voted by their peers as the Sussex Business Community ‘Sussex Success Story’.

Despite the challenges, there were plenty of successes during the year.

With an online platform already operational, a switch to digital marketing and free delivery paid dividends with web sales quickly outperforming the past in a significant way. Ridgeview also has a thriving members club called OurView which also increased in size with members receiving a Winemakers selection of wines delivered directly to their door twice a year.  Corporate clients increased as companies looked to new ways to treat their staff and clients, with a rise in online tastings as well as gifts of wines and specially curated hampers filled with local produce. During the months when Ridgeview was able to open to the general public, they adapted the offering in their Wine Garden to include wines by the glass and local produce sharing platters which resulted in an incredible amount of footfall with customers loving the opportunity to enjoy sparkling wine alfresco by the vines.  Some came back numerous times!

All of the above helped to re-gain a small proportion of the sales Ridgeview had lost due to the closure of the hospitality industry.  A decision was made early on to support their friends in hospitality who were bearing the brunt of the closed economy and a donation of £1 for every bottle purchased online was made to the charity Hospitality Action, resulting in close to £10k being raised to directly support hospitality workers who had lost their jobs.  They also continued with the planned launch of a new wine to celebrate their 25th Anniversary.  Developed over several years by Director of Winemaking Simon Roberts, the Ridgeview Oak Reserve received immediate critical acclaim from wine writers and it’s packaging, designed by local agency CookChick, gained three awards including label of the year in the UK Packaging Awards for best overall food and beverage label of the year – another first for the English Wine Industy.

Like all other manufacturing industries, Ridgeview had to contend with numerous changes to government guidelines in relation to making the workplace COVID secure on top of all the normal health and safety requirements. Ridgeview were able to carry on production in 2020 as wine was classified as essential (of course!) under the exemptions granted by the government for Agricultural Food and Beverage Production. The one thing we must all be thankful for during 2020 was the weather.  This is particularly true for Ridgeview as all the marvellous Summer sunshine meant that the vines could carry on growing uninterrupted and made for an excellent harvest, something good to come out of 2020!

What is next for Ridgeview? The visitor numbers over the summer were all the incentive Ridgeview needed to prioritise investment in their on-site hospitality offering, phase one being the launch of a new alfresco bar & kitchen in their Wine Garden in 2021. Tourism is so important to the future of English wine and Ridgeview are at the centre of this in Sussex. Working with Sussex Wineries, Sussex Modern, South Downs National Park, Tourism South East, Wines GB and many local tourism bodies Ridgeview see the very exciting future in Sussex Wine tourism with the key being many of the successful wineries working together.

Sustainability is also high on the company’s agenda, not just following sustainable practices in viticulture and winemaking but making sure a sustainable and ethical culture is present throughout the whole company. Winemaker Simon Roberts is a member of the founding group of the Sustainability Wines GB. 

Last, but certainly not least, Ridgeview are very aware of the increasing competition within the English Sparkling Wine industry with new brands coming onto the market regularly.  They need to continue to build their brand awareness and customer loyalty to maintain their position as industry leaders with increased investment into targeted marketing campaigns being planned. Never resting has always been a fundamental guiding principle at Ridgeview, leading the way, they look forward to continuing being central in the exciting future of English sparkling wine.

Cheers to 2021 and beyond!