Your letters

Corkage, another view

I write in response to the recent letters on the subject of BYO and restaurant wine prices. No one seems to be putting the restaurateur’s viewpoint. I have worked in the trade all my working life, and have bought, sold and audited for all types of restaurant business. I now sell wine into the trade, and advise customers on their selling prices and therefore mark-up.

The ‘outrageous’ mark-up mentioned last month by Mr G Sharp is very easily explained. Running a restaurant is a very costly business, taking into account mortgage or rent, insurance, staffing costs, the cost of goods to be sold often coming from the other side of the world, and the burden that red tape adds to the workload and costs. Taking the typical mark-up mentioned – which is not