Breadcrumbs [Home](/) > [Business Lessons From House Of Decant’s Chris Seddon](/markdownify/node/4545) ![Business Lessons From House Of Decant’s Chris Seddon ](https://media.slman.com/iInYW4BsVhKgtLaS6lU7iZCD-Vk=/800x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fslman.com%2Fsites%2Fslman%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F2026%2F09%2Fsl-man-160926-site-assets-business-lessons-house-of-decant-hero-mobile-hero.jpg) ![Business Lessons From House Of Decant’s Chris Seddon ](https://media.slman.com/ZHpEe9jhx_bF_oBvfaa5UbHr3kM=/400x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fslman.com%2Fsites%2Fslman%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F2026%2F09%2Fsl-man-160926-site-assets-business-lessons-house-of-decant-thumb.jpg) Image: @HouseOfDecant_ [Life](/life) / 16 September 2026 # Business Lessons From House Of Decant’s Chris Seddon Chris Seddon is co-founder and MD of House of Decant. Comprising an e-commerce site, events space, members club and concierge service, the business is built around wine and whisky – tough sectors to make a splash in. We asked Chris how they’ve done it… Image: @HouseOfDecant_ All products on this page have been selected by our editorial team, however we may make commission on some products. ## Tell us about [House of Decant](https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=125510&awinaffid=69421&platform=dl&ued=https%3A%2F%2Fhouseofdecant.com%2F), Chris… It's a hybrid of old-school customer service, real-life experiences and e-commerce. I think the best way to describe it is: your knowledgeable friend. Wine and whisky can be quite intimidating, so we don’t stock thousands of products, but rather it’s a curated mix. Since October last year, we've seen real growth and now have an amazing customer base of around 250,000 – people love the content and the fact that it isn’t overwhelming. Luxury brands love the fact that we can host events at our space at 105 Piccadilly too. We just launched a new subscription part to the business called the [Mystery Case](https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=125510&awinaffid=69421&platform=dl&ued=https%3A%2F%2Fhouseofdecant.com%2Fcollections%2Fmystery-case%3F), which is probably our bestselling product. You pay £120 a month and the contents could be worth £99 or £1,000. We also have a concierge element, so you can WhatsApp the drinks you want for the weekend and we'll get them sent out to you. ## What are the big challenges you've encountered? Where we've definitely learned our lesson is on the logistics side. Any drinks business is challenging because you have lots of different products that sit in third-party logistics companies and then you want to make sure that there’s a seamlessness to how customers receive the goods. We've now switched our logistics company to [Liberty Wines](https://www.libertywines.co.uk/), and already we're seeing a massive difference there. We're just making sure the final mile is spot on. The repeat customer side of the business is another challenging part. There aren’t big margins in this sector after the various layers of distributor, so it’s down to us to make sure that we deliver an amazing service. That leads back to the original House of Decant proposition: we're different to other drinks businesses online because we have a 360º approach of purchase on e-commerce, physical event activations, interesting editorial articles and, in the future, travel experiences to vineyards and distilleries. [ ![](https://media.slman.com/iqsAEuSJbf6niox1_0DbwcKpRQI=/800x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fslman.com%2Fsites%2Fslman%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F2026%2F09%2Fsl-man-house-of-deacnt-160926-credit-houseofdecant-small-landscape.jpg) ](https://www.instagram.com/houseofdecant_/?hl=en) @HouseOfDecant_ [ ![](https://media.slman.com/t6TeN-procyqqawtRya1BrEiVXc=/800x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fslman.com%2Fsites%2Fslman%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F2026%2F09%2Fsl-man-house-of-deacnt-160926-credit-houseofdecant-3.jpg) ](https://www.instagram.com/houseofdecant_/?hl=en) @HouseOfDecant_ ## Who is your customer? I love the drinks business because you have different price points and so the customer range is quite wide. When we set up the business, we had a brand manifesto of the different personas that we wanted to target. You've got the top spending £300-£400 on a bottle of wine. We've also got wines that are £12-£13, and the key thing is that those brands fit in the House of Decant world. Do they have super interesting stories? Is it an amazing product? They should all share the same values of sophisticated taste without being showy. It's a worldly, connected, knowledgeable and welcoming vibe. Nothing pretentious. So, at the moment, the demographic is quite wide and I like that. ## Are you using AI? We're actually putting a lot of time and effort into this to work out customer preferences so that, based on previous purchases, it’ll change what they're shown on the website. We've also invested heavily in our own inventory management system (i.e. how we book stock in and reorder). Separate to that, we've just built an app that is essentially an AI sommelier. It looks at all your previous preferences so, if you're going to a restaurant, you can scan the wine list beforehand and you’ll know the wine to order that's right for you. We always aim to be at the intersection between human touch and AI backend. [ ![](https://media.slman.com/_ULls5GQG_CdlOgewE8zFjn_pVI=/800x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fslman.com%2Fsites%2Fslman%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F2026%2F09%2Fslman-160926-credit-houseofdecant.jpg) ](https://www.instagram.com/houseofdecant_/?hl=en) @HouseOfDecant_ ## Do you need a public profile to set up a successful company these days? I've never really liked that idea – I’d always worry that if the business doesn't go well, your face is still on it. I think you don't need a public profile, but I think founders need to be more vocal, without always making it about themselves. If I was to do it, I would like to do it in a very open, honest way, talking about the mistakes as well. Having been in a number of startups over the years, even ones that have been successful, there are always a load of mistakes behind the scenes. I get a bit bored of the LinkedIn lectures saying that they've just raised £50m without any lessons. That’s not giving any information to the audience that's actually useful. ## How do you measure success? There are a few things. We have targets for the number of new customers, but I think the big one for us is repeat rate: how many customers are coming back to us. In particular, subscriptions to the Mystery Cases are a big one because we really believe in that product and it's going very well. ## What makes a good leader? I mean, I’ll admit I've got this wrong sometimes, but strategy needs to be super clear as a starting point. You need to be able to communicate the strategy and stick to it. If there is a change, make it very clear why there is a change. Clear communication is key. So is leading by example. If you're expecting the team to work hard and stay late, you’ve got to be there with them. I used to have this thing where every so often I would send a ‘golden ticket’ message, which just means someone got the day off the next day. Things like that keep people on their toes, but the key thing is just having a team that is clear on the goals, yet open to different ideas and different ways of working. One of the things I think I could certainly get better at is making the right team. If someone's not right for the team, don’t wait for that to change. I think you know most of the time, but sometimes it's put off, or you want to give someone the benefit of the doubt. [ ![](https://media.slman.com/YrAVdAfpZ7ksrVYSJ5M3DBIrtqI=/800x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fslman.com%2Fsites%2Fslman%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F2026%2F09%2Fsl-man-house-of-deacnt-160926-credit-houseofdecant-4_0.jpg) ](https://www.instagram.com/houseofdecant_/?hl=en) @HouseOfDecant_ [ ![](https://media.slman.com/pV83L4iXrQKdEyUUeeqji8Ee4D4=/800x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fslman.com%2Fsites%2Fslman%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F2026%2F09%2Fsl-man-house-of-deacnt-160926-credit-houseofdecant.jpg) ](https://www.instagram.com/houseofdecant_/?hl=en) @HouseOfDecant_ ## What do the next five years look like? We've got really exciting plans for scaling as quickly as possible and creating an amazing customer base through physical activations and the e-commerce business. There's a massive growth opportunity with traditional e-commerce, but also with TikTok Shop and Amazon, where we can filter those brands through. Everyone's always obsessed with an exit, but if you can create a business that provides good cash flow, you don't always need to sell that business. People get too bogged down by that. ## Finally, Chris, give us the one thing people should know about setting up their own business… Pre-planning. The launch was probably a little bit too early for us. Maybe we needed a month or two more planning. Across buying, logistics, performance marketing and the tech stack, I think every one of those parts was at 70-80%. If we'd spoken to a few more people who’d done it, we would have known if we were near 90% ready or not. Getting the planning right then allows you to go much faster, because you've set up the base. Patience first and then speed. Visit [HouseOfDecant.com](https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=125510&awinaffid=69421&platform=dl&ued=https%3A%2F%2Fhouseofdecant.com%2F) All products on this page have been selected by our editorial team, however we may make commission on some products. DISCLAIMER: We endeavour to always credit the correct original source of every image we use. If you think a credit may be incorrect, please contact us at .