Derouet-Jameson Awards given to two promising prospective MW students
The Institute of Masters of Wine is delighted to announce that the Derouet-Jameson Memorial Foundation Awards for 2015/16, which provide financial support for promising potential MW students, have been won by Beth Pearce and Andrea Schmidt.
The Derouet-Jameson Memorial Foundation, which is one of the largest charitable sponsors of Wine Trade education in the country, will provide their application and first year study fees for the course starting in January 2017.
Alastair Peebles MW, Hon. Sec to the Trustees of the Derouet-Jameson Memorial Foundation, said: “We were impressed with the quality of the candidates this year, and wish them every success in their continuing wine education through the Institute of Masters of Wine. The Derouet and Jameson funds have been instrumental over the years in guiding and assisting many talented and successful people in their careers in the wine trade. We are sure that Beth and Andrea will prove to be worthy winners in the finest traditions of these awards.”
Beth Pearce, who has a degree in Politics and History, is a store manager for Majestic Wine in Bristol. Beth, who has worked for a number of Majestic Wine and other outlets since 2010, has a record of sales target-beating success. She also achieved a Distinction in two units of her WSET Diploma.
Andrea Schmidt, from Reading, Berkshire, is Training Officer for Oddbins Ltd. Andrea, who won the Martell Cordon Bleu Scholarship during her WSET Diploma course, is responsible for designing and delivering training courses and examinations for Oddbins staff, from induction to branch management level.
Both candidates were put forward by the Wine and Spirit Education Trust as amongst their top eligible Diploma candidates, being UK based and without financial support from their employer. Andrea and Beth were then selected by interview with the Trustees. The successful applicants will be given their first year fees, plus application fee, plus £250 towards travel to the Stage 1 Seminar in Rust, Austria.
The Derouet-Jameson fund, which has been running in its present form for eight years, is named after two noted figures in the British wine trade. Tim Derouet MC, who ran Brown Gore and Welch in the 1960s, was instrumental in bringing many young people into the wine trade. Geoffrey Jameson MW CVO, who was Chairman of the Institute of Masters of Wine in 1971, was managing director of Justerini and Brooks.
The Derouet fund was formerly used to give a prize to the best all round performance in the Master of Wine Examination. For a time after the amalgamation of the Derouet and Jameson funds the Geoffrey Jameson Award was given separately to support MW students. Jon Pepper MW (2013) and Victoria Stephens-Clarkson MW (2015) were both recipients of the Geoffrey Jameson Award. In 2008 the Trustees combined the awards to provide support to candidates starting the MW Study Programme. In November 2015 Victoria Burt MW became the first recipient of the combined award to become a Master of Wine.
Tim Derouet’s daughters Grania Gregson and her daughter Victoria Baker are Trustees of the Derouet-Jameson Memorial Foundation, as is Geoffrey Jameson MW’s son, Jonathan.
Ends (20 Jan 2016)
Contact:
Ben McKeown
Communications Manager, Institute of Masters of Wine
T: +44 (0)207 383 9131
E: bmckeown@mastersofwine.org
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