Majestic, founded in 1980, sells more than 37m bottles of wine, spirits and beers each year and had a turnover of more than £300m in 2018.

“Majestic is a British institution, occupying a unique position as the nation’s largest wine retailer,” said a representative of Fortress. 

“It offers a seamless customer experience across multiple channels —physical retail, online, subscription and to the on-trade—and has a customer base which loves its stores, people, brand and - of course - wines.”

Alongside strong growth in multi-channel sales, Majestic believes there is still a key role to be played for face to face retail.

“We intend to be the leader in the UK retail revolution with a focus on experience, expertise and product. Over 1,000 roles and Majestic’s store network will remain,” added Joshua Lincoln, managing director at Majestic.

“Majestic has grown through periods of dramatic change, I know we have the recipe to do it again. We want to keep investing in our stores, in our people and our product - everything you can feel, touch and sip. After all, you cannot taste wine online.”