Morrisons appoints two new wine people

Wm Morrison Supermarkets has taken on a new head of wine operations as well as a new wine sourcing manager, in response to the increased focus it is giving to its multi-channel wine offer.

Mark Jarman will head up the wine operations team and will be responsible for the range and quality of the Morrisons wine portfolio, NPD, product sourcing and setting up a UK bottling operation. Mark has a wealth of buying, marketing and sales experience spanning 25 years, including prominent roles within multiple retailing and the wine industry.

Specialising in wine early in his career, Mark has spent the past ten years in the supply side of the wine industry with roles at Allied Domecq, Waverley TBS and most recently Seckford Agencies, where he held the position of business development director. He brings with him a range of skills and a wide breadth of knowledge of the wine supply chain, through all stages from production to the end consumer.

Mark says: “I am thrilled to be joining Morrisons. They are a retailer evolving at pace and this role is a fantastic opportunity. There’s great potential for development and growth in the wine category and I’m looking forward to working with my team to develop and implement strategies to achieve this."  

Supporting Mark in his new role will be Clive Donaldson, newly appointed wine sourcing manager, who will work closely with the wine buying team to source wines ‘worth crossing the road for’. This newly created role within the Morrisons wine team has been developed to further strengthen Morrisons’ portfolio of wines, in order to help customers discover new and exciting wines they will love.

Starting his career at Oddbins to gain experience in hand-selling wines direct to consumers, Clive quickly progressed to working for Australian Vintage with responsibility for multiple retailers.  In addition to his knowledge of brands, Clive brings extensive experience of own brand and merchant brand development to his new role.  He is currently working towards his Master of Wine qualification.

Clive says:‘”Becoming part of the Morrisons wine team at this time is extremely exciting. With increasing store sales, extended online offering and a fast growing convenience channel, I am really looking forward to helping deliver a really good-value, interesting range of wines which appeal to all Morrisons customers.”

11 March 2013 - Felicity Murray