Fancy a job in wine? New campaign launches to uncork thousands of career opportunities

A brand-new national campaign is shining the spotlight on the huge variety of careers in the UK wine sector proving that wine isn’t just for drinking, but for working in too.

National Wine Careers Week, taking place from 12th – 18th May, is here to show how your existing skills, or just a love for wine, could lead to a surprising new career path. Whether you’re a student, a recent graduate, or someone looking to change careers, the campaign offers a fresh look at how your experience could translate into one of the UK’s fastest growing sectors.

The UK wine sector is a major and growing contributor to the economy, generating over £10 billion in Gross Value Added and supporting around 413,000 jobs nationwide. It’s expanding fast with the number of vineyards surging past 1,000 and land under vine increasing by 123% in just the past decade. From wine tourism and hospitality to homegrown wines rivalling the world’s best, this is a sector with serious momentum.

Yet despite this, wine remains an under-considered career path. Many people simply aren’t aware of the breadth of roles available – from grape growing and winemaking to importing, exporting, quality control, investment, logistics, marketing, buying hospitality and more.

The campaign is being led by Plumpton College, one of the UK’s top land and environment colleges and the home of the UK Wine Education Centre and leading English sparkling wine brand Nyetimber. It is supported by WSET, WineGB and Drinks United.

Jeremy Kerswell, Principal of Plumpton College said:

The wine industry is an exciting and dynamic sector, offering many different opportunities and entry levels to many people. We want to highlight the various skills and talents that can be tangibly applied to any number of jobs at whatever level of experience and expertise. Ultimately, we want to showcase the fabulous career opportunities that exist whilst also allowing the wine industry to appeal to a wider pool of talent for their future workforce – at such an important time for business.

Eric Heerema, Owner and CEO of The Nyetimber Group comments

We are very proud to be supporting the inaugural National Wine Careers Week, which shines a light on the breadth and diversity of jobs within the UK wine industry. At Nyetimber, we think in generations, not in years, and as one of the largest employers within the UK wine industry, we want to welcome in new talent who can help this fantastic sector continue to grow. Each year we work with Plumpton College to offer work experience to its students, and it’s been amazing to see the different areas of specialism that our hires go on to pursue; demonstrating that a career in wine can take people in so many exciting directions.

Throughout the week, a series of open days, career events, expert panels and digital activity will aim to inspire and inform those interested in exploring wine as a career. You can find out more about it here: http://www.winecareersweek.co.uk/ 

Categories: College News, Careers, Wine Division