Wine firm collapse threatens top drink brands

CARIBBEAN business group CL Financial, the owner of Scotch whisky firm Burn Stewart Distillers, is to close its wine distribution company Paragon Vintners, throwing the future of some of the most prestigious drink brands into question.

Paragon, which distributes a number of well-known wine labels, including Chile's De Martino, Alsace's Trimbach and Portugal's Quinta do Noval, and beverages such as Angostura Bitters, Hine Vintage Cognacs and Barbancourt Rum, has entered into consultADVERTISEMENTation with its 28 staff and is expected to be wound up within weeks.

Paragon, set up as a joint venture by Baron Philippe de Rothschild and Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, blamed the business's collapse on the way it had been left by its previous owners before it was bought by Trinidad-based conglomerate CL Financial in 2004, the economic downturn and the weakened pound.

The firm said: "We have made significant progress in reviving the business over the last year despite the many legacy issues that were inherited. The economic climate coupled with the rapid devaluation of sterling has made the ongoing trading position of Paragon unattractive."

Meanwhile it has emerged that Diageo plans to save several million pounds a year by leaving its central London headquarters in Henrietta Place, near Bond Street, and relocating all of its 1,100 staff to Park Royal in north-west London. The move comes as the owner of Johnnie Walker whisky cuts £100m in costs.