Scotland has a new off-licence chain

The BrandInvestGroup has opened 15 off-licences in Scotland under its Winehouse and Cellar No.1 brands. The firm is planning to open 50 stores across Scotland over the next two years creating 300 jobs.

This comes after First Quench closed 128 of its 219 off-licences in Scotland in November 2009. Threshers, Wine Rack, The Local, Haddows, Bottoms-up and Victoria Wine all came from the First Quench stable, and its closure equated to 688 job losses in Scotland alone.

BrandInvestGroup was established in 2009 by former investment banker George MacRitchie and drinks industry manager Philip Craig. They have already taken on the lease on 15 former First Quench outlets.

Winehouse's key focus will be on wine from small and mid-size producers, while Cellar No.1 will be a more mainstream dedicated off-licence.

Small chain off-licences have continued to suffer at the hands of supermarkets and bulk sales and the recession has accelerated their demise. So it will be interesting to see how Winehouse and Cellar No.1 fare.