Kent's Gusbourne on the hunt for new CEO after Charlie Holland to step down

By Giles Gwinnett

28 June 2023

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CEO of Gusbourne Charlie Holland

English sparkling wine producer Gusbourne said its CEO Charlie Holland will be stepping down with effect from September 6 this year after a decade with the company.

Gusbourne, which has vineyards in Kent and West Sussex, said Holland was taking a new role as winemaker at globally renowned Jackson Family Wines but would be retained as a part time consultant for a limited period.

Holland said: "It is with great sadness that I will be leaving Gusbourne. It has been an amazing ten years during which we have forged a wonderful Gusbourne culture, established an experienced and collaborative team to help drive further business growth, and made many award winning wines.

"I am sure the Gusbourne team will continue to excel and build upon the achievements of the last decade".

Jon Pollard, Gusbourne's chief vineyard manager and chief operating officer, will continue to oversee harvest operations and the supply of Gusbourne's grapes, while as part of long-term succession planning, Holland has recruited and trained a winemaking team of four with over 16 years of combined experience in making Gusbourne wines.

"The production of Gusbourne's sparkling wine remains a long term process and the company has wine inventories in its cellars to support over four years of future sales," the company said.

Gusbourne chairman Jim Ormonde said: "We are enormously grateful to Charlie Holland for his invaluable service over the last ten years and we wish him well in his future role. He has led the business and built up a highly talented team in all key areas of the company through a period of significant growth and strategic progress.

"He has also further developed and enhanced Gusbourne's luxury brand status with a growing range of highly acclaimed and award-winning products."

The search for a new CEO will now begin and a further announcement will be made in due course, said Gusbourne.

Gusbourne was founded by Andrew Weeber in 2004 with the first vineyard plantings at Appledore in Kent, while the first wines were released in 2010.

Following additional vineyard plantings in 2013 and 2015 in both Kent and West Sussex, Gusbourne now has 93 hectares of mature vineyards. The NEST visitor centre was opened next to the winery in Appledore in 2017. It offers tours, tastings and a direct outlet for wine.

Earlier this month, the company reported that revenue rose 49% to £6.2 million in 2022, which it attributed partly to successful product launches, including the luxury wine 51 Degrees North.

By Giles Gwinnett

Giles Gwinnett is a writer at The Business Magazine. He has been a journalist for more than 20 years and covered a vast array of topics at a range of media settings - in print and online. After his NCTJ newspaper training, he became a reporter in Hampshire before moving to a news agency in Gloucestershire. In recent years, he has been covering the financial markets along with company news for an investor-focused web portal. His many interests include politics, energy and the environment. He lives in Dorset.