Knight Frank Identifies Folc as England's Leading Négociant Wine Brand

The négociant approach allows businesses to develop their wines without the capital outlay of owning land or creating a winery; producers source grapes from third-party vineyards and work with a contracted winemaking partner to develop their products to an agreed specification.

“We’re seeing sustained interest in alternative wine business models from our investor and agricultural client base. It’s an appealing approach, because unlike conventional single-estate producers which must invest in vineyard establishment, winery construction and multi-year stock holdings before generating meaningful returns, négociant businesses operate with a compressed capital cycle,” he says.

Grapes are purchased at harvest in October, wine is produced and finished by January, and sold through the spring and summer, meaning direct costs are typically in the business for only six to nine months before converting to revenue.

By contrast, single-estate producers such as Gusbourne - which began planting its 148-acre vineyard in Appledore in 2004 and holds wines for between 30 and 80 months depending on style - require patient, prolonged capital commitments running into tens of millions of pounds.

Mansel Lewis notes that this asset-light structure also provides a natural hedge against over-production risk. "When record harvests create surplus supply pressure for estate producers, négociants benefit from falling spot prices for grapes, allowing them to source their fruit more cheaply," he explains.

Founded in 2019 by Tom and Elisha Cannon, Folc was established with the ambition of producing a dry, fresh English rosé to rival the wines of Provence. Tom brings a background in venture capital, while Elisha's roots are in law. Their professional experience outside of wine has enabled the couple to approach the industry's structural challenges with a commercial clarity rarely seen in the category.

Grapes are sourced from two principal vineyards - one in Hampshire, one in Kent - hedging single-site weather risk and preserving blending control for style consistency. Winemaking is entrusted to Defined Wine in Canterbury, led by Nick Lane, formerly of Cloudy Bay and Dom Pérignon.

Mansel Lewis adds: “Folc employs a multi-vintage or non-vintage strategy, relatively uncommon in England, which protects flavour continuity and guards against the vintage variability that can undermine consumer confidence and customer lifetime value.”

Folc's investor prospectus sets out the unit economics underpinning the business's growth model. In practical terms, at current ratios, every £1 invested in marketing generates £2.40 in gross profit.

The business has assembled an experienced leadership team to support its growth ambitions. Frazer Thompson, former CEO of Chapel Down, serves on the board, alongside Guy Tresnan, former sales and marketing director of Chapel Down, and Georgie Padgett as head of distribution. Together they have secured listings across more than 100 pubs and with David Lloyd Health Clubs across 102 sites nationwide.

“Folc has demonstrated a consistent ability to generate immense brand awareness from well-timed, creative marketing,” Mansel Lewis notes.

In autumn 2025, following a cease-and-desist letter from Champagne Bollinger's UK distributor Mentzendorff & Co over a social media campaign, Folc converted the legal challenge into its entire marketing strategy - launching a discount code labelled "GOLIATH20". The story was covered by The Times and multiple trade publications, and the company reported a 4,700% increase in sales.

Folc is currently in an active crowdfunding campaign, having reached 100% of its initial funding target within 24 hours of launch from 79 investors, and is now into overfunding. Mansel Lewis believes the raise merits serious attention from investors: “Folc’s capital-light platform demonstrates exactly what an early-stage English wine brand should look like at this point in the category’s development - disciplined pricing, strong direct-to-consumer economics and a management team that understands both brand-building and commercial execution. Their négociant model is unhindered by the fixed-cost pressures that have challenged a number of estate producers in recent years.”

To find out more about investment opportunities in English wine, or to speak directly with Ed Mansel Lewis and the Knight Frank Viticulture team, please get in touch at https://www.knightfrank.co.uk/commercial/sectors/viticulture