Here we talk to each of the wine training and educational bodies that Laurent-Perrier supports to see what imact its investment has.
Wine Scholar Guild
Preston Mohr, managing director
Can you set out the work the WSG does to help the next generation of talent working in the wine and hospitality sectors?
Wine Scholar Guild provides independent, academically rigorous wine education programs focused on the culture, history and need-to-know producers in major European wine regions.
It supports early-career and emerging professionals through scholarships and provides flexible online learning opportunities. It offers structured certification pathways that help young professionals build credibility and long-term careers in wine and hospitality.
We provide country- and region-specific knowledge that can’t be found in other traditional wine education curricula. We connect students with leading producers, educators and industry figures through our network of over 130 course providers, events and our active online community of 5,000 plus students, alumni and faculty.
How important is the support you receive from Laurent-Perrier in achieving those goals?
Laurent-Perrier’s support, specifically through its funding of the Laurent-Perrier Scholarships through the Gérard Basset Foundation, is instrumental in helping to give the next generation of wine professionals the concrete, product-specific and sales knowledge they need to excel in the workplace. We were honoured to participate in this scholarship by registering all winners in the one-year, online Champagne Masters program.
Initiatives like this reflect a shared commitment to nurturing future talent, especially those who may not have immediate or available access to traditional wine education.
Support from a leading Champagne House adds credibility and visibility to our educational initiatives aimed at professionals and serious wine enthusiasts. It also lowers financial barriers to advanced wine education while providing access to Champagne-focused study resources and expert-led educational content.
It enables recipients to continue their development beyond a single experience, tasting or vineyard visit, through structured and ongoing study.
Upon successful passing of the Champagne Masters, students will be able to use this new credential on their CV as a way to call out their specialised knowledge.
We recently worked with Laurent-Perrier’s Cellar Master Olivier Vigneron to create an educational video on the production of rosé de maceration for our Champagne Masters students.
Opportunities with houses and winemakers allow us to bring real and current examples of viticulture and winemaking to our students, who may be thousands of miles away from the region and never able to visit themselves.
How are you looking to work with Laurent-Perrier in the year ahead?
We hope to continue our collaboration around education-driven scholarship initiatives that support diversity, mentorship and long-term career development in the trade.
Continue building bridges between formal education and real-world professional experience, which is often lacking in the theoretical knowledge-focused world of wine education.
Institute of Hospitality
Robert Richardson, chief executive
Can you set out the work the Institute of Hospitality does to help the next generation of talent working in the wine and hospitality sectors?
As the world’s largest professional body for hospitality professionals, the Institute of Hospitality plays a central role in supporting people at every stage of their career, from students and apprentices through to senior leaders. Our focus is on helping individuals build long-term, sustainable careers through professional recognition, continuous learning, mentoring and access to industry networks.
For those entering the hospitality sector, this means practical support that bridges education and employment. We work closely with educators, employers and industry partners to provide free and low-cost access to student careers conferences, development programmes, mentoring and professional qualifications. As a charity, we also operate a funded membership scheme that removes financial barriers for individuals who may otherwise struggle to stay connected to the profession.
Our aim is simple. To retain talent in hospitality by helping people feel supported, recognised and confident in their career choice, while raising professional standards across the global industry.
How important is the support you receive from Laurent-Perrier in achieving those goals?
Support from businesses such as Laurent-Perrier is critical to the work we do.
Laurent-Perrier’s involvement brings more than financial backing. It adds credibility, visibility and a clear signal to emerging professionals that leading global brands value skills, professionalism and long-term career development. That endorsement matters, particularly to those at the beginning of their journey.
What specifically does its support allow you to do, and can you give some recent examples?
Joshua Oliver Ndirmbita, restaurant manager at Estelle Manor, Oxfordshire, won the Institute of Hospitality Restaurant Manager of the Year 2026 sponsored by Laurent-Perrier pictured here at last year's ceromony with Alana Quigley, restaurant manager at Gleneagles, Scotland who won the award in 2025 when Joshua was runner up
Laurent-Perrier’s support has directly helped us deliver the Restaurant Manager of the Year 2026, one of the most respected professional competitions in the hospitality sector. The competition provides finalists with a rare opportunity to test their skills at the highest level, gain national recognition and engage directly with senior industry leaders and judges.
Support from partners allows us to run rigorous assessment days, host professional judging panels, and stage finalist events that reflect the standards of the modern hospitality industry. These experiences are career-defining for many participants and often accelerate progression into senior leadership roles.
More broadly, partnerships like this help us reinvest in student and graduate activity, mentoring programmes and free access events that encourage people to stay in the industry at a time when retention is a major challenge.
How are you looking to work with Laurent-Perrier in the year ahead?
Our first collaboration was the Institute’s prestigious Restaurant Manager of the Year 2026, which was an important starting point. We see strong potential to develop the relationship further through continued involvement in professional competitions, careers events and initiatives that support early career professionals.
The Gérard Basset Foundation
Romané Basset, co-founding trustee.
Can you set out the work the Gérard Basset Foundation is doing to help the next generation of talent working in the wine, retail and hospitality sectors?
Through our work, we aim to make education, training, mentorship and community within the wine, spirits and hospitality industries more open and accessible to talented, passionate and hard-working individuals who do not necessarily have the circumstances or background which will open these doors for them.
The form that work takes is twofold: on one side, we create bespoke scholarships with industry partners and educational institutions across the globe which offer the winners funding for specific educational courses, usually combined with mentorship and professional training; on the other side, we offer grants of funding to projects which fulfil the same mandate as ours to ensure that we can have a profound and meaningful impact in many countries globally, tailored to their local circumstances.
Through both of these sides to our work, we have benefited more than 1,600 people globally living in more than 30 countries.
How important is the support you receive from Laurent-Perrier in achieving those goals?
Tremendous. In partnership with Laurent-Perrier, every year we organise the Laurent-Perrier Champagne Scholarships programme here in the UK to support professionals from a wide variety of backgrounds and circumstances, in both the on- and off- trade sectors. The aim of the programme is to provide the winners with industry leading certification, alongside a workshop to develop their commercial skills in ways which are useful across the industry.
Without the support of Laurent-Perrier, we simply would not be able to run this programme.
Thanks to the Laurent-Perrier Champagne Scholarships the Gérard Basset Foundation is able to offer 12 scholarships for UK-based wine professionals to go through the Wine Scholars Guild programme
In the first year we were able to offer 12 scholarships to UK-based wine professionals in both the on- and off- trade, with profiles ranging from sommeliers to wine shop managers to buyers to marketing managers, among others. Each of them has been funded to undertake the Wine Scholar Guild Champagne Masters programme, and in addition to this we have organised two days of sales and negotiation skills training with the scholars to hone their skills in these areas.
Laurent-Perrier also organised a tutored tasting of its range for the scholars. All of this has enabled us to create a very impactful scholarship programme which aims to support the talented and passionate winners in their personal careers, opening doors for them and as a result strengthening the UK wine and hospitality trades.
How are you looking to work with Laurent-Perrier in the year ahead?
We have opened applications for another round of Laurent-Perrier Champagne Scholarships this year. We hope to receive inspiring applications from a wide group of professionals, and we hope that through this partnership with Laurent-Perrier we can have a positive impact on the UK trade and open paths to new talent and new perspectives - most notably at this time when the industry is facing headwinds on an ever-increasing number of fronts.
Wine & Spirit Education Trust
Ami Wilkinson, WSET head of events and partnerships
Can you set out the work WSET is doing to help the next generation of talent working in the wine, retail and hospitality sectors?
At WSET, we want everyone to have the chance to learn and succeed in the drinks industry by making it more inclusive. That means removing barriers that hold people back, whether it’s financial challenges or being part of an underrepresented or marginalised community.
Through a growing programme of scholarships, funded initiatives and partnerships with charities and industry supporters, we’re helping more people access high-quality drinks education and gain the skills and qualifications they need to enter and progress within the wine, retail and hospitality sectors.
Over the past two years alone, our social impact work has supported more than 1,000 individuals across 14 countries, reflecting the global reach of our approach.
How important is the support you receive from Laurent-Perrier in achieving those goals?
Thanks to Laurent-Perrier support WSET is able to fund educational programmes around the world like here in Angola
Support from partners such as Laurent-Perrier is crucial to our ability to deliver meaningful and lasting social impact. Its commitment to drinks education enables us to extend our reach and create opportunities for individuals who might otherwise face significant barriers to entry.
More broadly, the financial backing and shared values of our partners are fundamental to the success of our partners programme.
Collectively, this support allows us to scale our activity, deepen our impact and make a tangible difference for the next generation of drinks professionals.
Partner support allows us to expand access to drinks education by delivering WSET qualifications in regions and communities where opportunities have traditionally been limited. It also enables us to remove financial barriers through scholarships and funded programmes that help individuals build confidence, develop skills and unlock new career opportunities.
The WSET runs initiatives to support women working in the beeer industry with its Women in Beer Programme
Crucially, it supports our work to advance diversity and inclusion across the drinks industry by directing resources towards underrepresented groups and those facing systemic barriers.
Recent initiatives include programmes supporting women in beer, empowering women working in wine in India, building wine knowledge and opportunity in Angola, and providing professional training in the Solomon Islands, each tailored to local needs while aligned with a shared global goal of widening access to education.
How are you looking to work with Laurent-Perrier in the year ahead?
We’re delighted to welcome Laurent-Perrier as a Gold Partner and have a number of initiatives planned for the year ahead. This includes a three-year headline drinks sponsorship of the WSET Graduation ceremony, our flagship annual event celebrating the achievements of Level 4 Diploma alumni and welcoming a global audience of graduates, guests and industry leaders.
At the 2026 Graduation guests were served Laurent-Perrier Héritage.
Laurent-Perrier US also sponsored the Laurent-Perrier Prize, recognising the top-performing Americas student in the WSET Diploma Sparkling Wines exam, with the winner announced at Graduation.
Looking ahead, we’ll also be exploring further social impact initiatives and educational webinar opportunities together, with a shared ambition to create collective, long-term impact for the drinks industry.
Court of Master Sommeliers Europe
Ronan Sayburn MS, chief executive officer
Can you set out the work the Court of Master Sommeliers is doing to help the next generation of talent working in the wine and hospitality sectors?
The Court of Master Sommeliers exists to support and develop the next generation of wine and hospitality professionals by providing structured, globally recognised education rooted in integrity, consistency and humility.
Through a clear four-level certification pathway, the Court equips candidates with the practical service skills, tasting ability, theoretical knowledge and commercial awareness required to succeed in modern hospitality. Our courses are designed specifically for people working on the restaurant floor, recognising beverage as a key profit centre that must be managed intelligently, ethically and profitably.
Beyond technical knowledge, the Court emphasises professionalism: communication, leadership, teamwork and an understanding that the guest experience comes first. We actively work to keep our courses accessible, maintain consistent worldwide standards, and keep our focus firmly on developing capable, confident sommeliers who add real value to their businesses while respecting the responsibility that comes with alcohol service.
How important is the support you receive from Laurent-Perrier in achieving those goals?
The support we receive from Laurent-Perrier and other supporters is essential to achieving our goals.
While the Court is best known for the Master Sommelier Diploma, most of our candidates begin at the Introductory level, where we certify around 1,200 students globally each year. At this early stage of a hospitality career, salaries are modest, and without external support, course fees would be a significant barrier to entry.
Financial backing from partners such as Laurent-Perrier enables us to keep fees accessible, reach a broader, more diverse pool of candidates, and invest in the long-term development of the profession. Quite simply, without this support, our ability to nurture the next generation of sommeliers at scale would be severely limited.
What specifically does its support allow you to do - can you give some recent examples?
Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle is poured at Court of Master Sommelier graduation ceromonies
Laurent-Perrier uniquely provides Grand Siècle as the Champagne served to candidates when they receive their results and certificates at the Introductory and Certified levels in the UK. This is often their first experience of a true Prestige Cuvée and marks an important milestone at a formative moment in their professional journey.
The highest-scoring candidate in each class is also awarded a magnum, which is a meaningful and memorable recognition of excellence.
Beyond financial and product support, we are particularly impressed by Laurent-Perrier’s genuine engagement with education.
Adam Guy, managing director of Laurent-Perrier UK, attended our Introductory course anonymously and subsequently passed the Certified examination. He did this not for career advancement, but to better understand the challenges faced by aspiring sommeliers. That level of commitment speaks volumes about how seriously Laurent-Perrier values the profession.
How are you looking to work with Laurent-Perrier in the year ahead?
As well as their continued support in the UK we are discussing with them serving their Champagnes to our candidates across more of our global courses, including Asia and Europe.
Other activities that Laurent-Perrier is involved with includes:
Institute of Masters of Wine: Laurent-Perrier was able to provide a masterclass on Champagne for its stage one Masters of Wine student seminar hosted in Rust, Austria.
Laurent-Perrier was able to give Masters of Wine students a masterclass into Champagne at an event in Rust, Austria
The IMW says: “Laurent-Perrier’s masterclass at the MW student seminar in Rust gave MW students invaluable access to taste, network and learn. The IMW seminars are week-long, globally diverse programmes consisting of an array of tastings and tutored sessions all curated by Masters of Wine. Hosting such programmes and making them financially accessible to students relies on support from the industry.”
Working with the Association of Wine Educators to give its members a specialist tasting, hosted by managing director Adam Guy, taking them through each of its Champagnes.
Laura Clay, council member of the Association of Wine Educators, says that not only did the tasting give a “thorough, clear and concise” analysis of its wines it was a key part of its members on-going education and development work that they can pass on to their students.
She says: “The Laurent-Perrier tasting was a wonderful tasting but it is was more importantly a class in continued professional development, especially appreciated now that the annual Champagne tasting is no more.”
* In part one of this report published earlier this week The Buyer spoke to Lucie Pereyre de Nonancourt, Grand Siècle global ambassador and fourth-generation member of the Nonancourt family, owner of Champagne Laurent-Perrier, about why it puts so much investment into supporting wine training and educational bodies. Click here to read.
* Laurent-Perrier is a commercial partner to The Buyer. You can find out more about the Champagne House here.
