Ten minutes with... Vinopolis

London's unique wine and spirits tasting destination is celebrating its tenth anniversary throughout 2009.
Managing Director Rupert Ellwood talks about the venue's lasting appeal.

Questions & Answers

Happy 10th birthday, how have you been celebrating?
We took the decision not to throw a lavish party but to invest in giving our customers great deals and added value. Promotions and offers included wine and dine at £19.99 to mark the year we opened, a special ten-year cocktail, top five wines on the Grapevine tour, as well as our first Latin Fever evening, monthly Laughter Lounge comedy nights and our second ceilidh. It all began back in June with the launch of 1,000 balloons, each containing two Vinopolis tour tickets.

How is business in the current economic climate?
Overall the corporate market is down by 18% year on year but we're picking up business that may otherwise have gone to private bars and clubs by showing that we have the flexibility to stage events in every part of the site. For the summer we put together a barbeque package at Brew Wharf. We've sold six to date but all of sudden we're seen as a summer venue. It's this diversity that has kept us moving forward.

How has Vinopolis changed over the last decade?
The wine tour is still our core theme but the site is 2.5 acres in size and we possess 6,781sqm of available events space, which we now use to its absolute maximum. Over the years we've developed the on-site bars and restaurants including our micro brewery Brew Wharf and we're now staging events in these spaces as well.

You've also staged comedy nights, Latin salsa evenings and two ceilidhs. What's the strategy behind this?
For me it's about maximising the potential of the existing space. These are consumer facing events but we've converted private event bookings from people who have enjoyed one of the nights, seen how the events space works and, as a result, been inspired for their own event. Companies have also used our events as a cheaper alternative to booking a private space.

The diverse range of business at Vinopolis over the past year has included some higher-profile bookings as well we understand?
That's right. The Apprentice final was filmed here, Sony Ericsson staged a gig in complete darkness with the Friendly Fires, Britain's Next Top Model came here, plus we've had pop promos and concerts for acts such as Scouting for Girls and Sharleen Spiteri. We've seen a really broad range of activity.

What has been your most memorable highlight?
The Friendly Fires played a completely unique gig here on 15 June on behalf of Sony Ericsson. It needed to take place in total darkness so that the band could treat an effectively blind audience of 200 to a music experience like no other. For us that meant demonstrating our uniqueness and flexibility as a venue and changing our procedures.

What advice would you offer other unique events spaces?
Venues have to keep reinventing themselves and their offer. It's no longer good enough to just be a unique venue, you have to create identities and get your venue talked about by different audiences. It's also about offering value. We have all the audio and lighting equipment in house which makes Vinopolis very competitive on price.