Laithwaites, the internet wine retailer, has awarded a £3m contract to City Link to deliver wine from its Gloucester distribution centre.
The shipments account for almost one-third of the volume of Laithwaites wine business. Laithwaites will use the 48 hour service as standard with next day delivery being offered to customers as an option.
Carrier operations manager Lee Andreas said: “The improvements in technology which City Link has introduced over the last couple of years have given us the opportunity to enhance our customer service offering. Additionally the new MyCityLink service gives us a much higher level of visibility than would normally be experienced in the market: it is a superior service.”
Laithwaites was founded in 1969 when Tony Laithwaite bought a Ford van to bring wines back from France. Called ‘Bordeaux Direct’, the original business had just five wines on the list and only 150 customers.
The company now retails direct to the public as Laithwaites Wine, Sunday Times Wine Club and a number of corporate wine clubs. It despatches more than three million deliveries a year.
