Finalists
Louisa Payne
Founder & CEO
Brixton Wine Club & The Wine Tap Van
Louisa Payne is the CEO and Founder of The Wine Tap Van, a mobile events bar business and Brixton Wine Club, an e-commerce wine shop and subscription service. She was shortlisted as an emerging talent in Wine in 2023.
Louisa was inspired to begin her entrepreneurial journey through unrequited love. That is, a love of wine but a serious lack of nice wine at festivals. The Wine Tap Van was started to bring the best quality wines to events and festivals and managed to launch during a tricky 2020. The business is self-funded and has grown to consist of two vintage vans converted to serve the most delicious wines on tap. Serving on tap is the most environmentally friendly way to serve wine and reduces CO2 emissions by 70% compared to glass bottled wine. The business employs up to 12 staff during the events season. They regularly serve at the F1 Grand Prix, Royal Windsor Horse Show, Park Life Festival and Warehouse Project events to name a few.
Brixton Wine Club is Louisa’s second business. It began in 2017 as a wine club run from her Brixton flat and then launched as a wine subscription in late 2020. Brixton Wine Club aims to help break down the stigmas attached to wine by championing canned wine which also happens to be better for the planet. Canned wine uses 4 x less CO2 than glass-bottled wine. It has been featured in ‘best wine club’ round-ups several times alongside industry giants. The business was launched using a £5k COVID business diversification loan and is currently on a journey to re-brand and fundraise.
Louisa’s vision is to grow the wine subscription business, build a team and start canning her own wines to share with the wine club subscribers.