Majestic confirms Vagabond wine bar rescue

Majestic Wine has bought Vagabond out of administration for an undisclosed sum, saving nine of its 11 wine bars from closure.

Vagabond’s “underperforming” bar in Canary Wharf, east London and its two sites at Gatwick Airport were not part of the acquisition. The rest of the group’s outlets across London and Birmingham, along with an urban winery at Battersea Power Station, will remain open.

The two parties began talks last month following Vagabond’s appointment of administrator Quantuma to restructure its balance sheet, after building up debt during the Covid pandemic and losing its Heathrow Airport bar earlier this year.

The strategic acquisition has saved 171 Vagabond jobs, as well as marking Majestic’s first move into the hospitality space.

The wine retailer believes the Vagabond partnership will further support its growth strategy by building on its existing customer base and allowing it to engage with a younger demographic of wine consumers.

Majestic plans to invest in the long-term future of the Vagabond business, with ambitions to open more wine bars, leverage Majestic’s customer relationship management capability, and further develop both companies’ offerings of Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) qualifications for staff and customers.

Since its acquisition by Fortress Investment Group in 2019, the retailer has opened 16 new stores and supplied thousands of hospitality events through its on-trade division, Majestic Commercial. This arm’s goal is to work alongside Vagabond to become one of the UK’s biggest suppliers to the on-trade and hospitality sectors within the next five years.

Meanwhile, Vagabond itself was founded in 2009 and offers customers more than 100 wines by the glass from self-pour machines.

In its most recent publicly available accounts, covering the year to 27 March 2022, the company made a gross profit of £5.2m on revenues of £7.4m.

The wine bar group’s managing director Matt Fleming feels that Majestic is the “perfect partner” to enhance the business’s strength and drive a new profitable growth phase, adding: “We are looking forward to working with the Majestic team to accelerate our expansion, and help even more wine consumers to discover new and interesting wines."

Majestic CEO John Colley commented: “The completion of this deal marks the start of a long-term partnership and we are committed to investing in the Vagabond business, with the potential to open new wine bars across the UK when the right opportunities arise.”