Time for Business campaign – Meet Charlotte from Shotley Vineyard

Time to lead. Time for business. Our new ad campaign is in full swing! you might have seen it on buses, during your tube journey or even in the street at the corner of your favourite local shop. As with everything we do at Tide, our members are at the centre of this campaign. Six brilliant businesses that we’re thrilled to introduce to you.

Today, we introduce you to Shotley Vineyard, a stunning Suffolk-based vineyard business founded by Charlotte Davitt-Mills – she purchased the land with her husband in 2017, after falling in love with the beautiful views.

From buying a 4 acre vineyard in 2017 with your husband, to now managing 16 acres of planted English vines and launching your first vintage in June 2020 – it’s been a busy few years! Tell us more about your journey.

A lot has happened since 2017! The land we bought already had vines planted on it, but they hadn’t been looked after for a few years. Once we decided to restore the vineyard, we started researching the types of wines that could be made from the grapes. We also began building somewhere we could use to host tours and tastings. Soon after purchasing the vineyard, I found out I was pregnant with my son, and the year after that, we went into lockdown. Since my husband and I were both home during lockdown, it gave us the opportunity to focus on the vines and the building work. We had our first tour in May 2021, and in June 2021, I gave birth to our daughter!

You’re in a stunning part of England with the Suffolk & Essex Coast around the corner. Can you share why this place is special to you and why the vineyard is located there?

We took over a vineyard which had fallen into disrepair. The vines are quite mature for this country and were planted from the late ‘90s through to 2010. 

Before we knew the land was a vineyard, we fell in love with the far-reaching views of the estuary and surrounding farmland. The views from the vineyard over the marshes and the Stour and Orwell estuary are stunning and very unique. I spent most of my childhood in Shotley and grew up immersed in the countryside, so I developed a love of wildlife and the outdoors from an early age.

You host lots of events, weddings, tasting and tours as well as corporate events. How did you develop that side of the business?

Running tours was an obvious move for the business once we started to have wine produced. Some of the other events actually started through people inquiring. One of our first inquiries was from a local estate agency that wanted to come for a tour and food as an away day. The feedback was really positive, so we started to advertise this more as one of our offerings. Sitting in the patio area on a balmy summer evening is idyllic!

You must have clients from all over – can you tell us more about them? Any special customer stories you’d like to share?

When orders come in, they can be from all over the country, which is great – I love to see the popularity of English wine growing.  We currently don’t ship very much overseas, but we get lots of overseas visitors at the vineyard. Last summer we had people from Canada, Brazil and Spain on our tours. We also have a customer who takes our wine to Australia when he goes to visit his son.  

Shotley Vineyard is a family business – how does that work day to day?

No two days are the same and with small children, and how I work seems to evolve around them. In the days when they’d nap, I would make the most of that time during the day but now they’re a bit older, I try to get as much done when they’re at school and nursery. 

What do you love most about running the vineyard?

I love being outside and spending time in the vineyard. It’s such a beautiful setting, and every time I’m there, I feel so lucky. I also love the variety it gives me. Sometimes there’s a lot of admin, but then there’s the chance to be creative with marketing, and planning the future wines is really exciting.

At Tide, we started a Women In Business Programme back in 2019 to encourage and help more women start businesses. Can you share your top piece of advice for women looking to start their own business?

I have learned that I am more capable than I think I am, so be confident! As it’s a small business, I am on my own a lot, so I’ve found that building a network of people who can inspire me and keep me motivated is very important.

What’s next for Shotley Vineyard?

I would love to expand the range of wines. We grow a few different varieties here, so I’d love to showcase these and also experiment with different winemaking styles.

I’d love to start producing a traditional method sparkling wine from our Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and for a still wine, I like the idea of an Ortega with some skin contact, sometimes known as an orange wine.

To hear Charlotte discuss more about launching her business while raising two children, and how Tide helps her manage that balance, tune into our Tide Hustle: