NXG PR OFILE GEORDIE WILLIS: Nepotism’s a no-no


Geordie Willis, next-gen creative director at 320-year-old wine merchant and royal supplier Berry Bros & Rudd, spoke to Alexandra Newlove about being benevolently cast out, his grandfather’s love of screw-cap merlot, and why two families can be better than one


eordie Willis had been working in the cellars of his family’s iconic wine business for several years when one day, his uncle—then the chairman of Berry Bros & Rudd—called him upstairs.


With the creative flair of a fine arts degree,


a way with words thanks to his second major in English literature, and a good grounding in branding after two years working in magazines, he made his way to Simon Berry’s office secretly thinking to himself, “Maybe it’s time for a promotion?”. Instead: “He said to me, ‘When are you


leaving?’” Willis says. Nepotism is a no-no at the 1698-founded


merchant, and Berry explained to the young Willis that, as of now, he would need to get some more “real world” experience. “There are several rules [of the business] for


family members,” Willis says. “You have to have a degree or equivalent,


and you need to have done a considerable amount of experience outside the business.


ISSUE 72 | 2018 “At the time he (Berry) said ‘We’re going to


start this from now’, I thought ‘That’s slightly unfair’. However, I appreciated what he was doing and so left to start work for a design consultancy.” The wry and playful way Willis tells this


story is typical of him. This penchant for communicating a good yarn is a family trait and probably one of the unexpected keys to their success in a business where most consumers are guided by romance above rationality. Willis concedes that leaving the business


temporarily was “the best thing I ever did”. “I think there is a real danger with family


businesses that if you work in them throughout your career, two things tend to happen: You learn all the good habits, but you also learn all the bad habits. You become insular and I think there’s a risk of a degree of entitlement you wouldn’t have elsewhere.” Willis talks to CampdenFB from the


“spiritual home” of Berry Bros—a shop on St James’s Street with walls that once belonged to King Henry VIII’s tennis court. It’s the same site the business was founded on as a coffee merchant in 1698, by a mysterious female ancestor of the Berry clan, Widow Bourne.


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