Eliott Flack

I was approached by WineCap after a very short spell at my previous employer after a very successful Youtube video I feature in received over 24m views. The role I was hired for was to develop business within the wine market for their UK office and head up the sales team. With a proven track record within the industry, alongside a refreshing approach to the drinks industry, they believed I was the perfect candidate. At this role, I am responsible for running sales initiatives, developing and creating B2B and B2C relationships, alongside creating new ones on a daily bases.

As I looked to move towards a larger company with better growth opportunities, I was approached by Decant Group (Whisky Partners), I was recruited to help start and expand a wine team to work within a whisky based company. I was in charge of hiring a new team to help rival the huge success the company had had within the Whisky Sector. After working for the same company for the past 5 years, it was a big step for me to leave and sought opportunity at a different company. It was after only 3 month's that the company decided they were going to 'stick with what the know' and offered me the sales director role within the whisky team. I learned a great deal from the short tenure at a large corporation which included conducting board meetings, meetings with large drinks industry leaders and managing the largest team to date. Unfortunately, when I was approached by winecap, they made me an offer I was unable to refuse.

After impressing the company for just over 2 and a half years, I was given my promotion to Senior Portfolio and Sales Manager, where i managed a team of 15 whilst also expected to hit my monthly target of £85,000 per month, which I exceeded on a regular basis. My average sales monthly sat at £118,000 since the start of the financial year in 2024. I brought on 3 new members of staff since August 2023, none of which came to me with any sales or wine knowledge, I have personally trained them into a new position and new market that none of them had any prior experience in. My day to day included setting regular targets for my team, helping them to achieve those targets and also maintaining my relationships with my circa 400 clients of my own. I enjoy new challenges and have frequently put my name forward for extra work to help boost my profile within the fine wine world. My chosen specialist area within the fine wine market is the Champagne market and have made it my duty to try my hardest to conquer this sector to the best of my ability.

I started this position in 2020. I had no experience in wine or investments. Since starting this role I have gained my WSET level 3 award and created and maintained client relationships within a sales environment. I had over 4m in assets under management, all of which I had personally bought on myself. This role involved me over seeing a team, helping them achieve sales and managing their clients portfolio's. I take my clients to wine tasting events, sporting events and vineyard tours around the world. I use online systems, phone dialling and face to face skills to maximise my sales numbers. There is no challenge too large or too small for me in the work place.

This is my company, I created it just before pandemic started. I used my family connections to create foam mattresses and pillows for the public. I opened my shop in 2020 where I had 4 people working for me. We used outbound sales calls to reach people that may be looking to upgrade their mattresses and take advantage of our recycling scheme. It was upon realising the amount of mattresses that I saw outside peoples houses that I came to realise that over 200m tonnes of mattresses end up in landfill every year. We turned over £350,000 in our first year and turned a net profit of £15,000. It was in 2020 that me and my wife decided to start trying for a baby. One morning at 4am when I was filling out a tax return and writing some invoices that I realised it wasn't the right time in my life to be running my own business. I left it to my 4 employee's whilst I sought other employment to give me more security and more benefits than being your own business owner.

Hendy's is one of the Largest ford and other manufacturer main dealers in the south. I worked within the commercial vehicle sector here. It was here that I spoke with many sole traders, ltd company owners and business owners that taught me a lot about business. I created some valuable contacts at this position, many of which I still speak with today and call upon them for business advise. Whilst working at Horsham's branch I was personally selected to go to their smallest branch in Redhill to inspire sales, which i did. I ran a 3 person team at the commercial vehicle section at this branch which is where I received the salesman of the year award. I was offered the Sales Manager role at Hendy's but declined due to the location of the branch and how far it was from my home and it required working every weekend which, at the time, interfered with my sports career.

This is my Fathers company. He started it along side his father in 1975. It was here where I was welcomed to the world of hard work. 6am starts and 6pm finishes certainly taught me a lot about life and aspirations. This company currently turns over around £10m per year after being started in a small shop in West Norwood high street. I was little more than a tea boy here but it made me appreciate how hard you needed to work in order to provide for your family. To this day my 60 year old father still works 7am to 6pm every day. It was also here that I realised, one day, I wanted to achieve what my father had and run my own successful business.