UK on-trade supplier Jascots has appointed administrators as the restrictions placed on the hospitality sector prove too much to overcome.
The supplier posted on a note on its website that Matthew Wild and Matthew Haw were appointed as joint administrators on 30 November.
The company said in a statement to the drinks business: “I am sorry to report that on Monday 30th November Jascots Wine Merchants Ltd. was placed into administration. We will remain open for such time as a new buyer acquires the business and its trade or our wine stocks have been entirely sold.
“The challenges of Covid on an on-trade only wine supplier have proven too hard to endure despite the exceptional effort of a very talented team.
“We would all like to thank our amazing clients, suppliers and friends in the trade for the support that they have given us over the last 30 years and wish them all the very best for the future.”
A growing on-trade operator in the UK bar and restaurant sector, Jascots specialised in representing, environmentally conscious, sustainable small growers.
The imposition of the first lockdown earlier this year however presented a serious challenge to the company which pivoted its business to offer home deliveries to try and make up for the shortfall in trade.
Miles MacInnes, who is the managing partner at the merchant, told db at the time: “We, Jascots, are an on-trade specialist wine merchant and our sales went from 85% of normal on Friday 13th March to zero on Tuesday 17th with our beloved customers facing the heart-breaking necessity to close their doors.
“From zero sales on that Tuesday we turned home-delivery wine merchant overnight, offering our normal trade prices to isolated wine lovers and we had 45 orders to deliver on the Friday – with the support of friends, family and self-isolating customers we have since seen private client sales rise to contribute almost a quarter of our normal sales.”
Unfortunately having limped through the first lockdown and despite adding new producers in the autumn, this second lockdown proved to have been the final straw for the merchant.
Fellow on-trade specialist FMV was forced into a major ‘restructure’ earlier this year as the closure of restaurants and bars throttled its primary source of income.
