At nearly 250 years old and as Royal Warrant Holders to Her Majesty The Queen and His Majesty The King, Corney & Barrow is indisputably one of the most important suppliers of premium and fine wines to the UK on-trade.
They might almost be seen to be doing it all: from sourcing and supplying exclusive wines for the on-trade; handling en primeurfor clients; broking, through to running tastings and educational events, from London to Hong Kong.
And yet, the business would likely argue that the most important piece of work it has delivered over the last five years has been undertaken and delivered in a rather more innocuous part of the world: an industrial park in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire.
A crucial part of Corney & Barrow's highly respected service to the trade is its state-of-the-art logistics and supply chain operations
It is here that three years’ worth of work and nearly £3m of investment has seen Corney & Barrow develop a state-of-the-art warehousing facility. And it is this which acts as the mothership to Corney & Barrow’s total logistics and deliveries operation, which includes another warehouse up in East Kilbride, Scotland.
This set-up gives Corney & Barrow a truly nationwide service, offering reliable, accurate deliveries to all parts of the on-trade, something which its peers can only look on at in envy.
Why was it time for a change?
In late 2018 the leadership team decided a change was needed in their operational and supply footprint. At that time, it stored all stock – from “everyday drinking” wines to fine wines – in two separate warehouses: one at the Great Bear warehousing facility in Hoddesdon and the other in Corsham, Wiltshire, where it held customer reserves, mainly fine wines.
Mark Baskett, supply chain director, says there were no significant problems, but a change was needed: “The Corsham site did the job it needed to well enough. But being underground it necessitated a lot of extra work moving stock around and as cost pressures were predicted to rise [and little did they know at that time what was shortly to happen with Covid] we felt streamlining the operation would be the best option.”
He adds: “We needed to move everything onto one site. We felt it would deliver a lot of operational benefits around staffing, deliveries, stock counting and systems. We knew if we did it right it would be money well spent, as it would set us up and future proof the business.”
The big move
Corney & Barrow has been able to bring all its warehousing and logistics into one faciity
The project started in December 2018. The first step was the creation of the 70,000 sq ft space at the back of the Great Bear warehouse, the space that would become known as the “Wine Chamber”. This transformation process saw the installation of new racking, shelving, temperature control and sprinkler systems, making it state-of-the-art – as well as moving the “everyday wines” stock that was already held in Great Bear.
Then started the tricky process of moving the precious customer stock from the old site in Corsham. This started in June 2019 and was finally completed in January 2021: 21 months of Fine Wine stock moving on the road.
As Baskett explains: “We had one driver move 500 cases per day, five days per week every week as part of our ongoing operations. Over that period, there was no disruption to our service: wines always ‘landed’ the same day.”
The result is that the business can now offer everything from house level to the finest wines in the world – all from one warehouse. And Baskett says that feedback from the on-trade has been hugely positive, as having such a comprehensive offering all under one roof is a rarity.
Seeing it with your own eyes, gives you a sense of why there is such pride in the site. As you enter the Great Bear warehouse, down at the far end there is a large Corney & Barrow logo on a 20 foot plus blue screen – very much the doorway to the Corney & Barrow world. So closely guarded are the secrets to this world, that actual entry can only be made by fingerprint identification on a secure revolving door.
And the first thing you can feel when you enter the Chamber – when really all you are doing is moving from one wine warehouse to another – is the temperature difference. Not many big warehouses make such an effort to keep the temperature down at 12 degrees C and humidity at 70%.
They insist on this environment to ensure that all their wines – both those that are stored and those ready to go out to their on-trade customers – are handled with the highest level of care.
Impact of The Chamber
Corney & Barrow's Great Bear warehouse has a footprint of 220 sq ft
So, now four years on, has the Wine Chamber had the impact Baskett had hoped?
“Yes, absolutely. In many ways it’s my baby and I am incredibly proud of the work we have done and what we have created. It has enabled us to be more efficient, and I believe it has helped improve service to our customers,” he says.
“Service has always been the biggest selling point for Corney & Barrow.It is all about getting it right as often as you can the first time – and when you don’t, then fixing any problem that might exist as soon as possible. We go the extra mile for our customers. And this facility helps us do that.”
He gives several examples of how the move to Great Bear has helped them improve on their already outstanding customer service to on-trade:
- Accuracy: “We offer an outstanding level of accuracy on our orders. And having everything under one roof at Hoddesdon, as well as in East Kilbride for Scottish on-trade, ensures our orders are delivered on time and in full. We currently run at 99.5% accuracy – most of our competitors don't achieve such levels. The cost of wrong deliveries to an operator can be significant and we understand just how important it is to get it right.”
- Delivery vans: “We have 10 dedicated vans just for on-trade deliveries, which run as far as the Isle of Wight and we have just introduced a dedicated delivery service for Devon and Cornwall. They also run on postcode routes, which means that drivers get very familiar with their customers and their specific delivery needs.”
- Stock management: “We work very hard to avoid stock outs – a potential nightmare for anyone in the on-trade. Having all of our stock under one roof really helps with this.”
So, what is a typical day at this fantastic facility?
The morning shift runs from 7am-3pm. Orders that were picked and prepared the previous day are loaded up and sent out on their new, liveried vans.
“We deliver daily into London with a 3pm cut off, and on fixed delivery days to areas outside London, the cut off is 1pm,” says Baskett.
“This gives our customers great flexibility with at least two delivery windows a week outside of London. With the vans leaving so early in the morning we can deliver to on-trade customers before service starts so as not to cause disruption at the busiest part of their day.”
Once the vans have left, the team then focuses on goods in from suppliers all over the world.
The afternoon and evening shift takes place from 3pm-11pm. This is all about picking and preparing orders, getting them ready to go out early the next morning.
This does, however, change in December when, naturally, the pressure is on for the Christmas season – so the work is picking, preparing and goods out only, to ensure that full focus is on the accuracy of customers’ order out for delivery.
The team on-site
The two shifts are spread out across 16 warehouse operatives. While they are Great Bear employees, they are dedicated to Corney & Barrow, right down to the uniforms. Indeed, on my tour, I found it very telling how Great Bear’s account manager Mark Adlington, while walking me around The Chamber, distinctly called it “our” space – very much a Corney & Barrow site.
Drivers and warehouse staff were ever present, but safety always top of mind.To that end, all MHE (Material Handling Equipment) vehicles had fingerprint IDs, all programmed to the fingerprints of those fully qualified to drive them.
Importance of sustainability
And what of next steps? Much of this focuses on a key plank of Corney & Barrow’s long-term strategy, which is sustainability. They are well aware how important this issue is for many on-trade customers. In the short term, the plan is to bring in a new fleet of delivery vans – all compatible with biofuels (which will reduce CO2 emissions by 82%).
Why don’t they go electric across the board? Baskett admits this had been mooted but after looking into it in more detail, it was clear that weight – especially the weight a truck or van would be submitted to on the longer routes – would cause significant issues for power and range in an EV vehicle.
“Range is far less of an issue in and around London,” he says. “But outside London, with longer routes, maybe in hilly environments, you lose range and so it is not the best option right now.”
The Corney & Barrow Chamber – key stats:
- Size – 70 sq ft (within total Great Bear warehouse footprint of 220 sq ft).
- Temperature in the Chamber: 12 degrees C; Humidity 70%.
- Temperature monitoring: Over 100 sensors with alerts and sprinkler system.
- Security: 24/7 on-site security, External CCTV; Fingerprint access only to the Chamber.
- 16 Warehouse operatives.
- 10 Drivers,
- 7 administrative staff.
Corney & Barow is a commercial partner to The Buyer. You can read more about what it can offer the trade here.
