A Rural Surrey LEADER (Liaison Entre Actions de Développement de l'Économie Rurale) grant helped fund a barn conversion and complete shop fitting to create the new shop and wine experience venue for Taurus Wines.
Taurus Wines is an independent wine merchant, operating since 2001 from a converted cow shed at Whipley Manor Farm. It operates in both the retail and wholesale sectors supplying corporate events and weddings as well as retailing fine wines in the shop.
By 2018 it had outgrown the 'cow shed' and realised that to compete with on-line sales, it needed to offer an 'experience' to its customers. The company was awarded a Rural Surrey LEADER (Liaison Entre Actions de Développement de l'Économie Rurale) grant to expand the business into larger premises at the farm. Taurus wanted to create an environment where customers can taste and learn about wine whilst purchasing. The business aspires to be the best and most innovative independent wine merchant in the south-east by offering impressive wine displays, a range of products to suit all tastes and a well informed and non-intimidating retail experience.
The project fitted out a beautiful, converted barn to create a new, larger wine shop. The grant helped to cover the costs of new flooring, a fully integrated, bespoke lighting system, bespoke wine shelving and a fine wine climate-controlled cabinet. The project also introduced innovative technology for wine tasting - a wine-dispensing machine to allow customers to taste a selection of the products.
Project costs, grant awarded, and job created
- Wine retail shop fittings
- Total project cost £171,312
- Grant awarded: £49,201
- Jobs created: 3 FTEs (Full time equivalent)
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