Whistleblower alerts Wetherspoon to wine sales ploy

The sole wine distributor to pub company JD Wetherspoon has been shopped by one of its own staff for urging its employees to buy its parent company's wines from the chain to ensure one is chosen as the house brand.

Bristol-based Matthew Clark is trialling a number of wines from different sources at the 650-strong pub chain to determine which it will supply as house wine.

It is testing the Nottage Hill Chardonnay, Shiraz and Echo Falls wines made by parent company Constellation Europe in the Bristol area, along with other makers' brands in other parts of the country.

The volume-boosting exercise came to light when a whistleblower sent the Evening Bristol Post a copy of an e-mail circulated by managing director Steve Thompson to Matthew Clark's 300 employees.

In it, Thompson implored them to visit Wetherspoon pubs around Bristol to buy bottles of the Constellation brands, which they could then claim back on expenses, to to maximise volumes during the final two weeks of the trial .

Constellation Europe admitted that it had urged staff to buy its wines from Wetherspoon's Bristol pubs during the trial, but claimed this was to provide feedback on the buying experience, including wine temperature, freshness, and staff knowledge.

It said that the language used in the e-mail was "not consistent with the original letter". The company added that only 45 employees had participated in the "mystery shopper style exercise" and that this would not affect the outcome of the trial.

In a company statement Wetherspoon said: "We are more than happy to serve employees from Matthew Clark in our pubs, but we would not wish to be associated with any activities which might influence our decision on choosing the specific wine. The information from the Evening Post is interesting and we will take it into account when looking at the overall picture relating to sales of wines across the UK during the various trials."

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By Angela Frewin

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