In this month’s Kukla News, we take a closer look at the 2025 edition of the London Wine Fair by catching up with the person at its helm: Event Director Hannah Tovey.
Since taking over in 2018, Hannah has steered the Fair through a time of unprecedented change. From the challenges posed by the pandemic to navigating the complexities of a post-Brexit trading landscape, she has worked tirelessly to uphold the Fair’s reputation as one of the industry’s most respected events.
The London Wine Fair, which began modestly in Kensington in 1981, has grown into a key fixture in the global drinks calendar. Under Hannah’s leadership, it continues to evolve, reflecting the needs of a dynamic industry while championing innovation, diversity and value for its exhibitors and attendees alike.
In this Q&A, Hannah reveals her reflections on the event, insights into the planning process, and her thoughts on what lies ahead — including her proudest moments and, yes, even her go-to post-Fair drink.
Chris Porter: Hannah, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to Kukla News – three words to describe your mood right now?
Elated. Proud. Exhausted.
The Fair is a cherished institution, with humble origins in Kensington in 1981. In recent years it has survived a pandemic and the challenge of attracting potential buyers, suppliers and exhibitors on a post Brexit world. How did you manage this?
You’re right that we have experienced a very challenging few years in the wider wine industry which is reflected in the annual three days that make up London Wine Fair. The dual headwinds of Brexit and Covid-19, coupled with the current global economic and political turbulence have battered the drinks and hospitality industries. But I would argue that it is these challenges which make London Wine Fair even more relevant. Facilitating business and providing a platform where the industry can come together and debate and discuss is absolutely essential when times are good, and critical when times are difficult. Attracting great exhibitors and visitors, go hand in hand. We need to create a draw for visitors to make the show unmissable and we need to put on a brilliant array of exhibitors to attract the buyers and key decision makers of our industry.
(In the UK), we are a mature market with consumers who are open to discovering new producers and regions.
What is the USP of the London Wine Fair that still appeals and attracts visitors, especially with arguably more competition from other Fairs all over the world?
The UK is still a buoyant market for many wine-producing regions. We are a mature market with consumers who are open to discovering new producers and regions, which makes us a very attractive proposition. The Fair’s location in London is no doubt part of our USP; being located in one of the World’s most exciting cities, with amongst the finest selection of restaurants is undoubtedly a draw. The Fair itself attracts everyone from supermarket buying teams to independent wine merchants, sommeliers and bartenders to media and influencers simply because it is relevant for their business needs and it is also very manageable across a three-day period.
Hannah Tovey (in the middle) and the London Wine Fair 2025 team. Photo credit: LWF.
One thing that strikes us is that you have support from key trade institutions such as the WSET, the WSTA and the Drinks Trust. Are there any industry sectors for whom you have a “wish list” whose presence here could be useful and mutually beneficial?
We are delighted to have the ongoing support of such well-respected institutions. We have also been developing relationships with the core bodies active in the sustainability sphere as well, such as the Porto Protocol.
We are pleased that Kukla has been such a loyal supporter for The Fair. We feel it is really useful for our exhibitors to meet with their logistics providers.
As specialist leading shipping and logistics providers to the UK drinks industry, Kukla have been supporting the LWF since 2019. As specialist service providers, it’s important to be where our own customers will be, to support them, those who are visiting and the LWF. The “under one roof” nature is very appealing to suppliers to the industry such as ourselves. Do you see this expanding into areas such as packaging, bottling and glass producers and warehouse providers?
To date we have limited our service providers to the logistics industry, and we are so pleased that Kukla has been such a loyal supporter for The Fair. We feel it is really useful for our exhibitors to be able to meet with their logistics providers, but we are also aware that their principal objective for exhibiting is to do show their portfolio and sell, so we will continue to keep this section of the show limited.
The LWF has traditionally had good support from a number of key partners over the years. How difficult has it been to secure such reliable support in such unreliable times?
Some of our exhibitors have been with us for decades; the likes of Awin Barrett Siegel Wine Agencies, Hatch Mansfield; Les Producteurs et Vignerons de France; and Felix Solis for example. And we are grateful for their continued support for the show; they are an integral part of our Trading Floor. Likewise, the key generic bodies – largely European – have been a very valued part of the show, almost since the outset. We are always aware that budgets are finite, so we work incredibly hard to ensure we provide value for money and work with our exhibitors to ensure they meet their business goals.
We see ourselves as an essential component of the drinks industry and are very in-tune with topical issues and challenges and the needs of our audiences.
The Session Schedules offer not just tastings and tutorials, but panel debates highlighting an increasingly diverse number of topical subjects that are so vital to bring into open forum for the here and now. How do you go about planning these, selecting subjects and punch titles to appeal and the panellists themselves?
We see ourselves as an essential component of the drinks industry and as such are very in-tune with topical issues and challenges and the needs of our audiences. We work particularly closely with Miles Beale and the WSTA team on their “State of the Nation” address which always opens the show. We also work with show ambassadors, including Sarah Abbott MW for wine and our new Signature Serve ambassadors, Millie Milliken, the award-winning drinks and hospitality writer and Liam Davy, Head of Bars for Hawksmoor Restaurants, who helped shape the content for the Signature Serve Theatre.
We’ve spoken about the challenges but what gives you the most satisfaction from running the LWF and what is your proudest moment (ok so that’s two questions?!)
Undoubtedly, it’s positive feedback from our exhibitors and visitors which gives me the most satisfaction. That’s when we know we are doing our job to both sets of our clients. Am I allowed two proudest moments? Last year’s inaugural Icon Tasting – an updated version of Stephen Spurrier’s iconic Judgement of London. We managed to secure a brilliant panel of the UK’s best palates, many of whom were Masters of Wine and Master Sommeliers and we received global recognition when we published the results. And then going back to the pandemic, it was launching and running the world’s largest digital wine event to date in 2021. This was a team effort that saw us pivot from a planned physical event to a virtual one in less than three months, resulting in a two-day London Wine Fair with 28 sessions and around 250 exhibitors, with 5,000 samples despatched. It was quite a feat!
We are seeing exhibitors looking to increase their stands as well as those signing up for the first time.
Kukla are very proud to have been here at the LWF since 2019 and this year has been no exception. All readers of Kukla News are drinks industry clients – some readers’ companies will exhibit here, some will not – what good reason would you like to give to those in the latter category that they should be here at Olympia next year?
Judging by the feedback we have had over the last three days, London Wine Fair 2026 is already set to be a very exciting and busy show. Our rebooking figures are comparable to 2019, and we are seeing exhibitors looking to increase their stands as well as those signing up for the first time. Companies should probably look and see if their competitors are here, and if they are, then why aren’t they?
Hannah Tovey and Chris Porter, Marketing Collaborator, Kukla UK. Photo credit: Kukla UK.
You and your team here have once again produced a great London Wine Fair – many thanks and congratulations – apart from one huge exhale, will you allow yourself a little tipple in some well-earned down time and if so, what’s your post Fair drink of choice?!
It’s always a gin and tonic!
Hannah, thank you for talking to us at Kukla News.