Majestic boss: Fortress ‘our preferred bidder from the beginning’

Speaking to Retail Week, Majestic’s managing director Joshua Lincoln said American investment group Fortress was fully engaged with his vision for the business and prepared to back the retailer with the necessary investment to achieve his goals.

“We met with Fortress a few times. They were our preferred bidder actually from the beginning because they were the most engaged with the brand,” he said. “They were the most engaged with wanting to grow the business and doing that more than any of the others, and they were most engaged with the vision we put in front of them.”

Lincoln said no Majestic stores would be closing as a result of the sale, and all job roles “are to remain and are secure now”.

Majestic stores

In terms of its store estate, Lincoln said “40 or 50” stores had already been refit to offer the new “Wineify experience” and the process would be complete next month.

“Over the next few weeks we’ll be putting our new Wineify experience into every single store,” he said. “So, by September, every single customer will be able to do that and shop with a bit more confidence.”

In terms of wider store refurbishments, Lincoln said there were “15 full refits for stores planned this side of Christmas and then another 20 after that”, but said he wasn’t sure when the process would be complete.

“We’re not going to chuck out 50% of our range and start again. We want to make sure that we’ve got the best product”

Joshua Lincoln, Majestic

As part of the sale announcement this morning, Majestic also said it would be conducting a full review of its range.

Lincoln said the review was being conducted by new buying and merchandising director Robert Cooke, whom he described as “a real rock star”.

“When you bring someone like that in, the first thing you should do is completely review the range. It won’t be anything dramatic – we’re not going to chuck out 50% of our range and start again. We want to make sure that we’ve got the best product.”

Lincoln, who previously spent nearly 14 years working first with Virgin and then the Naked Wines brand, said it felt “a bit weird” to now be in competition with former boss Rowan Gormley. However, he said, “we’re going to be friendly enemies moving forwards”.