Charlotte Shek was bitten by the wine bug while studying for the WSET Diploma. She left a career in accountancy to set up shop in a Lincolnshire town that was in need of a proper wine merchant, and she’s never looked back. By Nigel Huddleston
There would appear to be no more natural place to find an independent wine merchant than a picture-book Georgian town in the heart of England that’s been used as a film and TV location for adaptations of Middlemarch, Pride & Prejudice and Bleak House.
So it’s something of surprise that Stamford in Lincolnshire had to wait until the second lockdown of 2020 to get one. That it did was thanks to Charlotte Shek, who founded Shekleton Wines after stumbling across an empty standalone unit bang opposite one of the town centre’s most popular street-level car parks – useful for loading cases of wine into the boot – while on a lockdown dog walk from her home five minutes away.
Having previously done a WSET course with her husband, the idea for a wine business of some sort had already taken root.
“We thought the course was interesting and just carried on doing more,” says Charlotte. “We both took the Diploma and part way through thought perhaps we should do something.”
Both were then working as accountants. “During Covid everyone had lots of holiday owing to them because no one was taking it, so we thought, it’ll be fine, we’ll just take a couple of days’ holiday [to set it up]. But after a month we thought: ‘This is ridiculous. How on earth did we think we could do another job and this at the same time?’. I gradually quit my job to do it.”
Charlotte grew up in Clitheroe, Lancashire, and her family were loyal customers of the fabled D Byrne. That business, and the wider local wine trade network, was helpful in getting Shekleton started.
“There was a bottle on display in Byrne’s old shop from my grandpa’s cellar that he had drunk with Philip and Andrew Byrne. Maybe that’s where my love of wine started; I don’t know. My dad actually asked people in Byrne’s who supplied them, and we were customers of Fullaloves in Longridge who did some tastings for us. So we basically got some people who we knew in the industry and picked their brains about who supplied them and what they would recommend. That was very helpful and, of course, they aren’t direct competition because we’re not anywhere near them.”
When you saw the place, what were your first thoughts?
It was always going to be something to do with wine, but it just felt like a shop rather than a bar, so we ended up doing a shop. I didn’t want to do a bar anyway. I don’t think I’m enough of a night owl. It probably requires a different kind of person. I’m more interested in the wine than hospitality. I used to wash up when I was 14 and then did waitressing and bar work when I was about 18, but it’s a very long time ago now.
Lots of people were out and about doing lots of walking during lockdown, so at least people saw us. And as alcohol was considered an essential, we were one of the few shops that was open when we first started.
How did the look of the shop come about?
My sister used to work for Oliver Bonas as a visual merchandiser, doing store designs, and she helped with the design and the layout. She had access to computer programmes where you can have a look at what it all looks like before you actually do it, which was very helpful.
At first we had a big long table down the middle of the shop and she did really lovely displays on that, but people were afraid to touch it. Weirdly, if you mess it up a bit more people are a lot happier touching it. She was used to clothing, where it has to perhaps be a bit more perfect – and in wine people don’t want it to be quite so perfect.
We’ve changed the layout a few times. The till has moved because it made more sense from a space point of view.
The look du jour is very much scaffolding planks and poles, which you’ve avoided. What was your vision?
I wanted it to be cosy and welcoming, and I suppose feel a little bit more like a sitting room. And I wanted the colour of the walls to be like a red wine, so it feels a little bit like you’re inside a bottle. One of the things when you “do wine” is that people can find it a bit intimidating, and I didn’t want it to be that. And I didn’t want it to be too trendy because that’s not quite the right thing for where we are.
Stamford’s not a trendy town. People are more traditional in what they want to buy: claret and Burgundy, that kind of style. Or they like something a little bit different, such as Georgian wines and other more unusual countries. They fall into two camps.
How does your range reflect that?
I wanted to make it easy to understand. Unless you know about wine you don’t necessarily know what all the countries’ wines taste like, so we merchandise it by taste profile, because generally speaking people prefer heavy wines or lighter wines. Customers say it’s easier to find things they like. And they try things within the sections that they might not have known about otherwise.
We grouped it that way and then tried to cover good examples of traditional wines and a few more quirky ones thrown in: Georgia, Uruguay, Slovenia. The average price is probably around £18. During Covid we sold more lower-end wines but as time’s gone on we’ve sold more at the higher end.
What are some of your best sellers?
Our Georgian red has done particularly well, because it’s a nice bottle, a little bit different and soft like a Malbec; people like that. Bordeaux always does really well. Italian wines. Châteauneuf-du-Pape styles; Riojas. In whites, Grillo always does well because it’s a little bit different.
What principles guide your approach to buying?
Sometimes if you’ve got gaps you’re looking for something in particular. It’s a combination of many different things. Would I pay money for it? Is it good value for money? Is it what I would expect to taste when I’m drinking that wine? If people want a Malbec, they want it to taste how they would expect it to taste. Sometimes you taste something and just think, people will really like this.
Is Stamford ready for natural, biodynamic, orange?
We have done some natural wine. We have one orange wine and I’ve got a new one coming in. They’re more of interest to the younger crowd – people coming home from university.
Tell us about the events side of things.
At first it was a bit a strange because it was still in that lockdown time. We did some tastings over Zoom at first with little bottles and people tasting them at home. Now it’s much better and easier, obviously, because we can do them in person.
Now, we generally do about two tastings a month. Cheese and wine is always the most popular one. I’m on about version seven now and I’m going back and doing some of the earlier ones.
I also do private tastings. We had a lot of them in the early part of the year which meant I was doing less of our own. A lot of people were doing them for 50th and 60th birthdays. We hold all the tastings in the store and just change the layout. The most I can fit in is 16.
Do the tastings pay their way?
They’re very much worth doing. People usually buy wine from you when they come to a tasting, but if not they always come back later. It creates a sense of loyalty to you.
I don’t think advertising really works: word of mouth works best and a lot of the time that’s generated by people coming to tastings. We’ve even had some people who came to a tasting who are coming back to do the same one and bringing some other people with them. I did ask them: “Are you sure you really want to do this?”
Are internet and wholesale on your radar?
Internet business is quite small. Most of the business is walk-up retail. It helps being next to a car park.
We do a little bit of drinking in, by the glass. Again, I put wines into kind of categories and generally try to pick something that people are familiar with and things that are a bit different as well.
Wholesale’s something we’ve not got round to. My husband was a credit and risk manager and I know you have to be really careful in assessing credit limits and what you give to people. Accountants are generally risk-averse.
How has the cost-of-living crisis impacted on the local economy?
I suppose it’s strange because we have no other benchmark apart from the weird times. We started during Covid times and we don’t really know what it was like when it was normal. But it’s all good really so far.
Any regrets about the change of career direction?
No, definitely not. The best thing about it is you get to do what you enjoy – and you’re doing lots of different things. In accountancy it’s just dealing with numbers.
I’m trying to get to grips with social media now. I wouldn’t say I’m a natural Instagrammer, but I’m trying, because my husband did it all and I thought I should be doing it myself.
When you’re learning about wine, you’re not just learning about what it tastes like: you’re learning about how the grapes are grown, the geography and the science aspects. It’s similar running your own business: you do lots of everything.
