Matthew Clark appoints new wine category manager

Drinks wholesaler Matthew Clark has appointed Tony Allen as wine category purchasing manager.

Allen's previous roles include a 12 year stint with Oddbins and a spell running his own company importing wine and working as a consultant.

His new role will involve purchasing responsibilities for countries including New Zealand, Australia, California, Chile, Argentina and South Africa.

"We are delighted to have Tony on board as he brings a wealth of wine purchasing experience, having worked for Oddbins as their senior wine buyer and just recently independently within the wine trade managing his own company," said Matthew Clark group director of purchasing Andrea Ruggeri.

"We are confident that with his passion and trade experience he will be a real asset to Matthew Clark's purchasing team."

Allen added: "I believe that with my background and experience I can bring a number of facets to my role here at Matthew Clark. As well as being an experienced taster, buyer and category manager, I also have a good understanding of the consumer and wine styles and have experience of sourcing everything from quality boutique to bulk wines.

"One of my main passions however is food and wine matching. I have recently returned from Sydney where I was one of two UK judges at the Sydney International Wine Competition, judging wine with food, so I hope that this is an area of expertise that I can bring to my role here."