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On this episode of Talking Shop I’m joined by Alain Bejjani—former Group CEO of Middle East retail giant Majid Al Futtaim, and author of the definitive new book, NEXT: Leading Through the New Realities. Drawing on his childhood in war-torn Beirut, and his experience steering a $9.5bn dollar retail and lifestyle empire through a global pandemic, Alain brings an unmatched perspective on leadership under pressure. Today, we break down his crisis survival playbook for retailers operating in distress. We discuss why resilience must always outpace efficiency, the four assets a brand must protect at all costs, and how to turn macro-turmoil into a long-term direction that scales.

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Virgin Wines has reported that pre-tax profits fell to £1.6m in the year ended 30 June 2025, down from £1.9m in the previous year. Despite the decline, this was ahead of market expectations by 23.1%.

Meanwhile, EBITDA fell to £2.3m, down from £2.8m the prior year, which the group attributed to ongoing investment in its growth strategy. This was again ahead of market expectations by 4.5%.

Over the year, Virgin Wine’s revenues remained flat at £59m in spite of the subdued consumer environment.

In its latest results, the company also stated that Warehouse Wines, its newly launched value proposition, has delivered £1.8m of revenue in its first full year of trading.

Following a rise in alcohol duty alongside the introduction of a new sustainability tax (EPR) and the associated significant increase in cost of goods, gross product margin decreased from 37.6% to 35.6%.

However, the company stated that these cost pressures were largely mitigated due to disciplined cost control that led to a year-on-year reduction in marketing costs of 13% and a decrease in operating costs of 6%.

CEO Jay Wright said: “As we celebrate our 25th anniversary this year, I am delighted to report excellent progress across all our key growth drivers. Both EBITDA and PBT were ahead of market expectations, and we have seen impressive growth in both our Commercial channel and our value proposition, Warehouse Wines, two key elements of the growth strategy which we set out in March.

“We have continued to drive increased levels of loyalty from customers on our key WineBank subscription scheme, whilst our marketing and operational costs have both reduced substantially year-on-year despite the inflationary environment.”

He added: “In a highly competitive sector, we have been delighted to see healthy market share gains with customers continuing to rate highly our exclusive portfolio of wines, and our outstanding levels of service.”

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