Meet our Council
Fuchsia Adamthwaite
With 10 years’ experience training in London with various Master Sommeliers & Masters of Wine, visiting vineyards & winemakers around the world, Fuchsia gained valuable industry experience & knowledge, so decided to start her own wine business back home in the Midlands and was awarded Leadership Champion in Harper’s Top 30 Under 30 List.
In 2020 Fuchsia founded and became CEO of Adamthwaites Wines, then in 2025 she merged her business with The Liquorman, another award-winning independent drinks business based in the West Midlands delivering to the whole of the UK. Fuchsia is passionate about the world of wine striving to make it more accessible & welcoming to consumers, whilst being proud to champion diverse, positive & sustainable change in the industry. Going above & beyond your wine-related needs all in one place, with an exciting portfolio of wines online and subscription boxes, as well as supplying the on-off Trade, alongside hosting educational wine tasting events. Fuchsia chooses to work in a sustainable, innovative, inclusive and environmentally friendly way as much as possible: by stocking a range of ‘Eco-wines’, the inside of your wine box is biodegradable, the outside recyclable, the tape sustainable and they have invested in the planet with their own electric vehicles.
CHAIR
David Sharland
Pictured holding the trophy when the MWSA won a blind tasting competition, David captained the winning MWSA team in the blind wine competition in London 2015 & 2017.
His journey in the wine trade started in December 1976 working for Barwell & Jones, the wine department of Tollemache & Cobbold, managing their flagship retail branch on Trumpington Street in Cambridge. Moving through the company, area managing tenanted public houses, then onto Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries in 1984 followed by a move to Greenalls in 1989. In the early 1990s, David passed WSET Diploma, combining opening million pound pubs and coping with two young children under 10 years old. He was promoted to group Wine Buyer for the Greenalls group in 1997 buying wine for over 500 public houses and De Vere hotels, including The Grand, Brighton and The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield until the Greenalls group sold in 1999.
Following this David went on to become Wine Buyer and Sales Manager for Telford Wines in 2000 and finally joined Tanners in January 2013 as Area Sales Manager until his retirement in 2023. During this time, he also joined the MWSA Council in 2004 and was our Chairman until April 2023 when he became our President.
PRESIDENT — TANNERS WINES (Retired)
SECRETARY & HONORARY TREASURER — Signature Food & Beverage
Antony Davis
Antony started his wine journey in hospitality in the Midlands with a strong focus in Food & Beverage, worked his way through to Senior & General Management. In 1999 his career path changed (before transferable skills was even a phrase in the wine trade!), moving to Everton’s of Ombersley as Key Accounts Manager. In 2001 Antony joined Mentzendorff as Regional Sales Manager South West, to ensure the distribution of the company’s principles and their wines into key regional accounts. This included direct to on trade, independent specialists, cash & carry’s and working closely with key restaurants & hotels.
Looking for a better work life balance, Antony retired in June 2024 after 24 years to start a new slower journey with his consultancy business, Signature Food & Beverage, passing on his knowledge and skills to the next generation
Joining the MWSA in 2001, Antony was then asked to become a member of the Council, becoming Vice Chair in 2008, Chair in 2009 & 2010, in 2014 he became Secretary and then took over a Treasurer in 2020 both rolls which he still holds today.
Antony’s interests include (no surprise) food, wine & hospitality, travel & tourism, music and photography. He is also an Ambassador for The Drinks Trust.
Our chosen Trade charity
If you work, or have worked, or if you aspire to a career in the drinks hospitality industry, then The Drinks Trust can help you. Their services to industry colleagues include financial assistance, wellbeing support and industry training.
Please contribute to our charity fundraising if you can.
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Sam Olive
WINE FREEDOM
Sam is a wine entrepreneur specialising in natural wine. Directing Wine Freedom an award winning wine business working with many Michelin-starred restaurants across the UK. Sam is also a wine educator (qualified WSET APP Wine Educator) with twenty years experience in the wine industry with qualifications to Diploma level. Previously trained as an interior architect with a love of 20th century art & design.
Sam also gets nerdy when it comes to vines and soil health (it goes with the natural wine territory) - an important subject we all need be more clued up on!
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Laura Clay
BYWINE
Joined the wine trade & MWSA simultaneously in 1988. Her wine career began with Hallgartens, followed by several years with Churchill Vintners. She has been a freelance educator and presenter for the last 20 odd years. Her specialist areas include Bordeaux and Champagne but her expertise covers wine regions from all around the world and with a strong interest in, and love of, South African Wines.
She is proud to be an International Accredited Bordeaux Tutor since 2006, the longest serving tutor worldwide, and was UK Champagne Ambassador in 2010. She is also an accredited Rioja and Cava educator. Laura teaches WSET and is one of the wine tutors at Leiths School of Cookery and Wine.
Laura is a past Chairman of the Association of Wine Educators as well as of the MWSA and is a member of the Circle of Wine Writers. She is a Senior Judge at the International Wine Challenge and has been a lead judge every year of the 100 Everyday Best Bordeaux (now Bordeaux Hot 50) since it began over 15 years ago. She is also a judge with the South African Michelangelo Awards.
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Andy Morris
BERKMANN WINE CELLARS
Andy joined the wine trade in 1982 after sampling some outstanding Rieslings from the late 1970’s. Growing up wine was always served at the dinner table, which he was allowed to enjoy (from a legal age, of course).
From picking grapes in Bordeaux (Chateau La Tour de By, Medoc), to working initially for Oddbins, then Enotria and Bibendum, Andy has always been in the trade. He is currently at for Berkmann Wine Cellars in the Independent retail sector in the Midlands area.
Andy is actively seeking new recruits for the MWSA to encourage new members to join this fantastic organisation.
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Christina Albon
TANNERS
A wine tasting course whilst at university sparked Christina’s passion for wine; she quickly discovered there’s more to life than £5 plonk and set out to master the art of blind tasting (still a work in progress!).
From there, Christina moved to London to manage a wine bar for Corney & Barrow, which opened her eyes to a whole new level of wine, tasting icons like Petrus, Leflaive and Salon. She then spent several years travelling and working abroad, including a summer at Craggy Range in Hawke’s Bay. On returning to London, she joined Davy’s Wine Merchants before moving back to the Midlands to raise a family.
For the past eight years, Christina has been Head of Marketing at Tanners Wines, where she also leads sustainability initiatives and teaches WSET. Passionate about food as well as wine, she champions provenance, seasonality and flavour – values she believes belong equally in the glass and on the plate.
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Callum Gardener
NICKOLLS & PERKS
Callum is a 4th generation family member and director of Nickolls & Perks Ltd. one of the oldest wine and spirit merchants in the world, dating back to 1797.
Having helped out in the company's 16th century cellars as a young lad, Callum's passion for wine was truly ignited at university while tasting a 2000 Domaine Dujac, Clos de la Roche, and a 1997 Ducru Beaucaillou.
In 2012, Callum joined Nickolls & Perks full-time and soon after achieved his WSET Diploma qualification.
Callum enjoys everything wine but has a keen interest in the wines of Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Champagne and commits to an annual pilgrimage to all three regions, whether that's for business or pleasure!
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Dan Ruell
METZENDORFF
Dan started his journey into the Wine and Spirits Industry at Majestic 6 years ago, which is where his love and passion for wine began. From there he moved onto Remy Cointreau spending 4 years as a Key Account Manager looking after the Midlands On Trade. He is now a Regional Account Manager at Mentzendorff, looking after the West and East Midlands.
Dan has taken a real keen interest into wine over the years and what is happening in the industry. He very much looks forward to contributing to the MWSA and helping grow the membership further.
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Bryn Stephens Vice Chair
ALLIANCE WINE
Bryn first fell in love with wine on a trip to south Africa in 2003. However it took a few years of failing at a career in Opera before he considered a career in wine, eventually taking the plunge in 2007 working for Oddbins, Majestic, Averys, DBM Wines, ABS and eventually ending up at Alliance Wine where he currently works.
In between all this he has managed to squeeze in 3 harvests in Bordeaux and South Africa, and run a sea shanty group called The Roaring Trowmen performing at festivals and events up and down the country, including twice at Glastonbury. He is a big fan of rugby, both playing and watching, certainly more of the latter nowadays.
In his spare time, he is happy! He loves spending time with his family, cooking, and enjoying a glass of something whilst travelling the vineyards of Southern France and Northern Spain.
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Phil Innes
LOKI WINES
Email — LinkedIn — WebsiteOver a decade ago, Phil Innes took over a unit in Birmingham city centre, convinced that there was an audience ready for interesting wines, individually selected for each customer. After stints in Oddbins and Wine Rack, Phil was determined to put taste and quality at the centre of his selection, rather than outdated notions about labels, regions or sales targets.
He installed top-end tasting machines and introduced regular guided experiences to demystify wine, with prices as varied as his selections. Fast forward ten years, a major expansion plus two additional sites, some of the best-attended online tastings ever, and more awards than a trophy room could house. You could say a lot has changed. But at its core, quality, interest and a love of wine backed up by constant learning, is what underlies every drop of wine enjoyed under Loki’s name.
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Joy Clayton-Smith
Frasier Jones Wine Merchants
Joy’s journey into the world of drinks started with Taunton Cider Co working in the take home division, where she was the only female sales rep externally hired. After 5 years Joy spread my wings and moved to W A Gilbey / IDV selling wines to hotels, pubs, shops and earning her WSET Diploma. She stayed there until having her daughter in 1988 (they’d never had a Rep have children before so didn’t know what to do!), she left in 1989 and finally moved to a 3 day week with what was to become Freetraders. Joy eventually moved back to full time and worked with the set-up team who founded what is now Mathew Clark. They bought Grants of St James & Grierson Blumenthal & Sacone and Speed which meant she was back working with lots of people she had previously met on her journey through the trade.
Joy has enjoyed many visits overseas, particularly to Burgundy/Jadot and working with Andrea Ruggeri their Buyer. She left to join specialist wine co Alliance wine in 1996, staying for 12 years before branching out on her own for 12 months-ish. Joy then joined Hallgarten Druit for almost ten years, then from 2019 onwards she has been working for S H Jones in Banbury.
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Sam Sandbach
LEDBURY WINES
Sam’s career started in Bordeaux, grape-picking, wine-making, then joining Bordeaux University to study Oenology and Viticulture under Professor Emile Peynaud. A move to Jerez followed, with 12 months work in a sherry Bodega before travelling home via Oporto, the Douro valley, and northern Spain. In London, Sam continued training as a wine-buyer with Percy Fox & Co. - later absorbed into the Diageo group - completing the WSET Diploma, followed by an MW study course (no success!).
Ten years on, Sam founded Winepress with a popular wine-bar in Baker Street, at the same time supplying private customers through an importing & wholesaling business. Relocating to Gloucestershire, Sam developed the Winepress agency business, importing from Champagne, Bordeaux, Rioja, South Africa and Chile. He became a director of Broadwell Vintners, near Stow on the Wold (later taken-over by Edward Sheldon). He was consultant to Windrush Wines of Cirencester, also to a new South African group near Paarl, and to Cremaschi Furlotti of Chile.
With a mission is to seek out and bring to market new producers of distinctive quality and origin, a valuable portfolio developed with growers in France, Spain and Italy. In 2009 Sam acquired Ledbury Wine Cellar, supplying a loyal band of private customers and selected restaurants. Discovering vineyards in lesser known areas has always been a fascination - so often a source of fine quality wines at excellent value. Key criteria for an interesting wine list.
