THOUGHT

Mortimers Solicitors
Family and Employment
Law Specialists
offering expert advice when you need it most
With over 20 years of experience
dealing with complex matrimonial
cases in Shropshire, Herefordshire
and across the country, Ann is
an accredited Specialist Family
Law Lawyer by Resolution and a
member of the Law Society Family
Law Panel.
Contact Ann at Mortimers’
Hereford office on 01432 355572
or the Bridgnorth office on
01746 761000 or email:
Ann@mortimers-solicitors.co.uk
Experienced Employment Law experts Christopher Waters and Joanne Briscoe
specialise in all aspects of Employment Law including:
Disputes from boardroom
level to ‘the shop floor’
Exit Arrangements
Settlement Agreements
Redundancy Issues &
Employment Tribunals
Ann Vowles, whose areas of expertise include
Advanced Financial Provision and Children Law Matters
Contact Christopher and Joanne at Mortimers’ Bridgnorth office on 01746 761000
Christopher@mortimers-solicitors.co.uk // Joanne@mortimers-solicitors.co.uk
Ancillary Relief Cases
(financial)
Divorce & Separation
Co-habitee Disputes
Private Law Children Matters
65 Whitburn Street, Bridgnorth WV16 4QP // 01746 761000
Windsor House, Windsor Place, Shrewsbury SY1 2BY // 01743 298629
15 King Street, Hereford HR4 9BX // 01432 355572
www.mortimers-solicitors.co.uk
BIG INTERVIEW
t But conversation again returns to the vineyard
and its evolution.
“I have my sister to thank for my getting to know
Shropshire, as back in the 1970s she had worked at
Hawkstone Park. I subsequently bought a property in
Weston-under-Redcastle but on one occasion, when
I was over from the Middle East, I realised I had
inadvertently let it out to the RAF and had nowhere
to stay.
“My wife and I stayed in a nearby country
cottage, and then one day I followed my instinct
up Hencote Lane and found my way to the farm
buildings here which were derelict. I managed to
persuade the vendors to sell the buildings, along
with three acres, to me. Restoring the buildings has
been a massive labour of love and over the years I
have brought more than 60 further acres.
“When I returned from Qatar I loved the freedom
of walking around the open spaces here. There
were 164 vines here at the time and I watched the
vineyard develop; that year we got a phenomenal
crop of grapes which made 250 bottles of wine, over
a bottle a vine which is enormously productive.
“I thought, is there something here? I asked a
leading viticulturist to inspect the soil and the estate’s
potential and the feedback was that there was no
reason to suggest this couldn’t be a successful site
for a vineyard.
“I was and am quite determined to compete
with the very best, and this meant the production of
sparkling wine. I made my decision early in 2014 and
by the end of that year we had prepared the land.”
Andy and his team have planted 22,000 vines
over seven hectares on the most fertile eight-hectare
plot on the estate – south facing on a nice gradient
on glacial till overlaying Kinnerton Sandstone
Formation. They planted grape varieties - 12,000
pinot noir, 2,000 Pinot meunier, 2,000 chardonnay,
3,500 seyval blanc, 2,000 solaris, 1,000 pinot noir
precoce to be exact – with, according to Andy, “the
express intent of making the best possible English
sparkling wines”.
He makes particular mention of the unstinting
support he has received from wife Dora. Not only
has she moved around the world with him since
they first met 33 years ago, but she has also had in
invaluable input into the development of Hencote.
“Dora has been a role model in terms of creating
the agricultural footprint on the domestic property,”
according to Andy.
In a good year, he estimates the vineyard has
the capacity to make up to 70,000 bottles. However,
he aims to nudge that figure up to 100,000 by
augmenting what is grown at Hencote by buying in
fruit from other grape growers.
Hencote, as he admits, is a work in progress.
The wellbeing retreat is now set up and has started
receiving visitors. Its reputation as a luxurious
centre of excellence for cleansing mind and body is
growing.
The vineyard still has a way to go – but it’s a
case of so far, so good.
“I am a very aspirational person and quite
defiant,” admits Andy. “However, I brought in very
qualified people to ensure my gut instincts were
valid.
“If we have an average growing year I would
expect to be harvesting grapes in the autumn of
2017. We should bottle some of that wine by the
late spring of 2018, but due to the slow fermentation
process for sparkling wine it won’t be on the shelves
until 2020 at the earliest, though there will be a small
amount of still wine which will be out before then.”
It is some project. As he says: “I have put in my
own equity into all this but the results will hopefully
more than exceed the outlay.”
If the vineyard even remotely follows the
trajectory of Andy’s commercial career, that won’t be
a concern; wine lovers and Shropshire in general will
be toasting the success of a remarkable enterprise.
The spectacular view of Shrewsbury from Hencote
19
“I asked a leading viticulturist to inspect the soil and the estate’s potential and the
feedback was that there was no reason to suggest this couldn’t be a successful
site for a vineyard,” says Andy Stevens.
At a glance...
At work
Current position: Chairman of Hencote and advisor to Investcorp Bank
Most career defining decision: Resigning from Standard Chartered
Bank in 1989 to join Commercial Bank of Qatar – Goliath to David!
Advice to aspiring business people: Belief and instinct are powerful
enablers
Three heroes with whom to share a boardroom table (alive or dead):
1. Margaret Thatcher
2. Alan Sugar
3. Richard Beaton (ideal if you could have your best friend around the
table – it also helps that he has a great track record in business!)
At home
Family: Wife Dora and children Charles, Mark, Vivienne and Suzanne
Desert island disc: Hotel California – The Eagles
Desert island book: How England made the English by Harry Mount
Desert island film: Phantom of the Opera
Favourite holiday destination: Europe
Three heroes with whom to share a dinner table (alive or dead):
1. Sir Clive Woodward, the visionary World Cup winning England rugby
coach
2. Sir Richard Burton (the great Victorian explorer, not actor)
3. Charles Leonard Stevens, my father