MORE than a dozen Hampshire off-licences have been saved from closure after Wickham Vineyard stepped in at the last minute to buy them.

The deal for an undisclosed sum sees the popular local wine producer save 64 jobs by buying 13 Hampshire stores – including branches in Southampton, Winchester and the New Forest, and a 14th in Dorset.

It’s a transformational move, trebling the workforce from around 30 previously to 94, and represents a first move into retail beyond a small vineyard shop.

The new stores will now sell Wi ckham Vineyard’s own wine for the first time.

The deal will be a welcome boost for staff of the county’s off-licences, who have watched the collapse of the First Quench group into administration with horror.

A total of 21 branches of the drinks giant in Hampshire were earmarked for closure by administrators, with the loss of scores of jobs. Across the UK more than 760 stores have been shut and 6,000 First Quench employees axed across its Wine Rack, The Local, Haddows, Bottoms Up, Threshers and Victoria Wine brands.

Lorryloads of stock are now being delivered to the n e w Wickham stores, many of which were almost sold out.

Vineyard manager Wilhelm Mead said: “The important thing for us was trying to save the stores from 64 redundancies.

“The current management teams are in place. They’re very knowledgeable about the products, and we will be looking to put in a few new lines as well to freshen things up a bit too.”

He said key decisions such as whether to rebrand had yet to be made. “It’s a big step for us, but we think it’s a very good step.

“It will probably surprise people but you have to look at your business and expand into the right areas.We have got wine and this will go into the shops now.

“We are not sure if we will rebrand yet.

We will wait until after Christmas and have a look at it.We’re not sure what we’re going to call it.”