Aitken Wines was established almost 140 years ago. The Courier speaks to Patrick Rohde, the man behind the modern business.
Q What market do you cater for?
A We have two retail outlets, a bottle shop in Broughty Ferry and our warehouse shop in the west end of Dundee, selling wines, whiskies, speciality spirits and beers to the public.
We also supply local bars and restaurants on a wholesale basis, and have an e-commerce website allowing us to sell wine nationwide, with over 80% of this business going to southern England.
We do a mixture of direct importing and buying from specialists.
Q How many staff do you employ?
A Three full-time and three part-time.
Q How did you start in business?
A I took the business over in 2007, having set up my own specialist drinks import business back in 2004.
Q Who has helped along the way?
A My first boss has been a mentor.
I also required some initial investment when taking over the business, and am very grateful to those who placed their trust in me. The investment was done in a debenture format and the returns have been good for them.
Q How has your business developed?
A The business has grown mainly through word of mouth. It’s taken five years to build up a range of wines and whiskies that I can be really proud of, but there is always scope for improvement.
Q What is the hardest thing about running your own business?
A Keeping my office tidy.
Q Any advice to wannabe entrepreneurs?
A A lot of people think they have to reinvent the wheel to start a new business when, really, 99% of the time you just have to take an existing model and improve on it.