| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Wine retailing |
| Founded | 1963 |
| Founder(s) | Ahmed Pochee |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Area served | UK |
| Products | Wine, beer, spirits |
| Operating income | £8.6m (loss) (2006) |
| Net income | £121.3m (2006) |
| Owner(s) | European Food Brokers |
| Website | http://www.oddbins.com/ |
Oddbins is a United Kingdom-based wine and alcohol retail chain, established in 1963 by Ahmed Pochee.
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In 1963, entrepreneur Ahmed Pochee starts up a small business delivering bin-ends and oddments of wine to the restaurants and clubs of London's West End. Ten years later, in 1973, Nick Baile and Dennis Ing bought the company, but it was not until the early 1980s that the company discovered its distinctive style when Ralph Steadman was asked by then marketing director, Gordon Kerr, to produce 10 drawings similar in style to his illustrations for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Steadman continued working for Oddbins for the next 12 years.
In the late 1980s, Oddbins experienced financial troubles, due to the levels of debt within the business, and was acquired by US drinks distributor Seagram. During this period, the height of the business, it was largely permitted to develop with autonomy, albeit with incentive to strongly promote the Seagram brands.
It built up from 100 to 278 locations and was regarded as the favourite of a generation of wine drinkers.[1] It was during this period that character Patsy Stone (played by Joanna Lumley) of Absolutely Fabulous fictionally lived in the storeroom of an Oddbins off licence in London.
Sold to French Groupe Castel, who also own the Nicolas chain, from 2002 until August 2008. It was then bought by the son of Nick Baile, Simon.[2] Oddbins operated 158 stores in the UK, including 20 in the capital, 4 in Ireland and one in Calais, France.[3]
In early 2011 Oddbins closed a third of its branches, taking the number open to under 100, and proposed to enter a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA).[4] In April 2011 Oddbins went into administration, following the breakdown of talks over the CVA after objections from HMRC, which is owed nearly half of the chains' total debt of £20 million.[5] On 26 April, Whittalls Wine Merchants, part of Raj Chatha's European Food Brokers (EFB) Group, bought 37 of the shops from the Administrators in a move that saved 200 jobs.[6] and acquired the exclusive rights to the name. The remaining 48 shops were closed by the Administrators.
Based in Wandsworth, London under the leadership of Managing Director Ayo Akintola, Oddbins currently operates 37 branches with 19 in London and 10 in Scotland with the remainder split across the rest of England. They operate a trade arm, Oddbins Wholesale, which supplies restaurants, pubs, bars and other businesses throughout the UK.
In mid-2011, Oddbins radically changed their pricing strategy to move away from deep case discounts to offer customers a better price on individual bottles. In addition, Head of Buying Emma Nichols overhauled their range.
On 19 October 2011, the new owners officially relaunched Oddbins [7]