Majestic Wine toasts a merry Christmas

Simon Burke to take chairman role
Majestic Wine has appointed former Hamleys boss Simon Burke as chairman, with the change at the top announced as the by-the-case retailer celebrates strong Christmas sales

Like-for-like UK sales at Majestic were up 10.4 per cent across the nine weeks to January 3.
Chief Executive Tim How said: “We are delighted with our sales performance over the Christmas period. Wines from Bordeaux, Italy, Chile and New Zealand sold very well and Champagne sales grew strongly.”
Burke will replace John Apthorp, who will retire as chairman following the compnay AGM in August. 2005, when he will have reached the age of 70.
Burke has been a non-executive director of Majestic since March 2000, with his CV also including stints as chief executive of Virgin Retail Group and chairman of Hamleys.
Burke said: “John Apthorp has set a very high standard for me to follow. I am very much looking forward to working more closely with Tim How and his colleagues to continue the Majestic success story.”