Neil Pinel – Managing Director
Neil starting working for his father Winston (the current Chairman) when he returned from travelling in September 1988. After gaining experience in all the aspects of the business from the shop floor to administration to distribution he took over the reigns when his father retired at the end of 1999.
Neil has a huge passion for food and wine and believes that they are inextricably linked. “When selecting new wines for the shop some of the most important things to keep in the back of your mind are ‘what dishes will it compliment’ and is it a wine for drinking with or without food?’”
Over the years and having travelled extensively throughout the wine regions of the world, Neil as amassed a great knowledge of the industry.
He also believes that keeping in touch with customers both in the shop and with Restaurateurs and Sommeliers is vital when selecting new wines or deciding which ones to de-list from the ever-growing portfolio.
Neil is married to Jane and they have two small children; Oliver (5) and Samuel (3).
Liz Mitchell – General Manager
Liz joined the business in September 1997 to look after and develop the trade sales section of our sales team. It was a fantastic opportunity to further an existing passion for wine & continue working with her sense of taste and love of flavour.
Before joining Dunell's she was previously working in Jersey as a Micro Brewer and she was Head Brewer, General Manager & Licensee of the Tipsy Toad Brewery & Townhouse Restaurant.
Her role within the business is now of General Manger but she also continues to work very closely with our trade account customers. Liz also assists Neil on the buying side of the business and has enjoyed many visits to wine regions all over the world.
She considers that the best bits about working within the wine trade to be the following;
1. Working with your taste buds; life is never boring!
2. You are always searching for that exciting new wine that over delivers in quality & flavour that we can sell to our customers at a good price point.
3.Meeting other passionate people, who really enjoy good wine & food.
4. The fantastic feeling you have when you get great feedback from a customer, I love it when someone in our team has recommended a wine and the customer has really enjoyed it.
Jane Pinel – Website Manager
Jane Pinel, Neil's wife, originally started working for Dunell's in 1998 and after running her own business for 5 years and then becoming a full time mother in 2004, she was assigned the task of developing a new website for Dunell's. Dunell's has seen a large number of changes over the years and the business has grown from strength to strength. Never one to duck out of a challenge, she started the ball rolling in September 2007 and after many meetings, research and data input, she has finally done it - together with the great team at Webreality! Jane will be responsible for the maintenance of the site which will hopefully prove to be very successful!
Stewart McMillan – Sales Representative (Trade)
Stewart joined the team at Dunell’s in December 2007 to look after both our trade clients and our in store customers. Having previously been in the hospitality industry for ten years as both a restaurant manager and chef in Jersey, Scotland and South Africa, it gave him a great passion for matching good food with the perfect wine. The chance to work for Dunell’s was welcomed greatly to further his experience in the world of wine and share the knowledge he had already gained in the hospitality industry.
Peter Ling - Sales Advisor
Peter is our newest member of the team having joined us on 12th May 2008.
Peter entered the wine trade as a holiday job with G.Orange & Co in 1986. Following University he joined City Vintagers in London – as a management trainee – where he successfully sat the WSET Certificate, Higher Certificate and Diploma. His career continued with Victor Hugo Wines before taking up a half share in Leslie Rankin Trading Ltd, a small local agency company. Leslie Rankin was sold to G. Orange & Co in 1998 and he worked for the latter for a further two years.
Having seen all sides of the wine trade he feels very fortunate to work in an area he enjoys so much. Peter wrote: 'I am is looking forward to working at Dunell’s Premier Wines with its vast and varied selection of wines and spirits because it represents all I most value in the trade – traditional standards of service coupled with an innovative and exciting outlook.'
We are delighted to have Peter join our team.