A specialist wine merchant has been saved from ruin by one its rivals.
Four jobs and number of consultancy roles have been secured at FromVineyardsDirect.com after it fell into administration earlier this month.
Colchester's The Wine Company (TWC) has bought the company as part of a pre-pack agreement facilitated by administrators CVR Global LLP.
FromVineyardsDirect, which is based in South West London, has earned a strong reputation in recent years by selling hand-selected wines to private consumers at lower prices than conventional wine merchants.
Johnny Wheeler, chairman at TWC, said: ""We have been successfully growing our business over a number of years and we saw this as a good opportunity to extend our existing proposition.
"We have an intense period of marketing planned and look forward to working with management, staff and customers to grow the existing FromVinyardsDirect business."
Esme Johnstone, director on behalf of the board at FromVineyards, said the firm was delighted by the deal.
She added: "The board has worked tirelessly to find a solution to the current financial difficulties but regrettably we have had to place the company into administration.
"We are delighted that by working with the administrators, we were able to find the perfect buyer for the business.
"We look forward to working with The Wine Company (UK) Limited to ensure that the FromVineyardsDirect brand continues to grow, providing exceptional wines to its loyal customers."
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