Wine business toasts move to new premises

Jonathan Craig, Finance Yorkshire with Bön Coeur’s James and Samantha Goodhart

A Business Loan from Finance Yorkshire has enabled a leading independent wine merchant to complete its relocation to new premises.

Bon Coeur Fine Wines Limited, which is currently based near Masham, has used a £100,000 investment from the funding body to finalise a long-awaited move to a 32,000 square foot site at Melsonby, close to Scotch Corner.

Bon Coeur was founded in London in 1994 by Yorkshireman James Goodhart, who relocated the business back to his homeland in 2008. During that time it has established itself as one of the UK’s leading independent wholesale wine merchants, serving a range of trade, corporate and private clients nationwide.

Samantha Goodhart, who runs Bon Coeur alongside her husband James, said: “We have been looking for the right property for over two years. This is the ideal location for the business and features 8,000 square feet of offices, showroom space and tasting rooms.

“It will also feature a demo kitchen as we firmly believe that wine is as much about enjoyment as education. Yorkshire is home to many first-rate chefs and restaurants and has become something of a gastronomic powerhouse. We are aiming to achieve the same level of sophistication and knowledge when it comes to wine.

Samantha concluded: “September will be our 21st anniversary, so it is fitting that we will be settled in our new premises by then.”

Bon Coeur prides itself on employing local people and has an established graduates programme. It is an independent company holding no agencies, buying wine direct from producers and importing from all over the world. Mark Hunter, from the firm’s accountant, Murray Harcourt, introduced Bon Coeur to Finance Yorkshire.

Finance Yorkshire Investment Manager Jonathan Craig said: “Over the last 20 years, Bon Coeur has become a leading name in the industry, and the relocation to state-of-the-art premises will cement that further. We are proud to be associated with the business and have every confidence in Jamie and Samantha and the rest of the team.”

Finance Yorkshire’s investments to date have created and safeguarded 10,196 jobs across Yorkshire and the Humber, increased turnover by £309 million and generated private sector leverage of £179 million.

Finance Yorkshire provides seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2m to help a range of small and medium sized businesses to meet their funding requirements for growth and development.

The project is supported financially by the European Union. It has attracted investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of Europe’s support for the region’s economic development through the Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme, UK Government and match funding from the European Investment Bank.

For more information about Finance Yorkshire, please visit www.finance-yorkshire.com or call 0300 030 6060.

Note: this news article is from Finance Yorkshire’s previous fund. Read more about Finance Yorkshire