Top 50 Websites to Watch 

Retail Week have just released their top 50 websites to watch and looking down the list there are some smaller brands in the list including Philglas & Swiggot, The Make Lounge and Jack Russell Clothing together with some large household name brands John Lewis, Apple, ASOS and Marks and Spencers . When you visit these sites you can see why they have made it to the list of the top 50 with comments from industry leaders:- 

competitive retail proposition with an easy to navigate website

website speaks eloquently to the fun, honest, dogged personality of the brand, yet it still covers all the basics

fast to load, simple and clear navigation, an easy-to-shop product page displaying availability by size and colour, and an easy and focused checkout.

fabulous photos and descriptions of interesting independent boutiques

"philglas-swiggot.com - This local wine merchant has good site navigation and demystifies what can be a daunting customer journey."      Aurora Group IT director John Bovill

Oz Clarke Wine Guide
"I love this shop and I'm deeply envious of all those lucky residents of SW11 who can stroll in anytime for a browse and a chat"

Time Out Shopping Guide 100 Hottest London Shops
Visitors to Karen Rogers' Battersea Shop will find interesting, high-quality wines stacked from floor to ceiling. Australian wines always been the main strength, but the newly revamped Italian section is catching up fast, with a choice of several Brunellos giving some idea of the depth available. In addition, there are plenty of good wines to be had from regional France, California and, wait for it, Austria. IF you're feeling adventurous, pop in and let yourself be persuaded to try a Riesling, Pinot Gris, or Gruner Veltliner. You won't regret it!    
London's Best Shops and Services No. 81: Philglas & Swiggot - food and drink

  Monocle Magazine  Quality of life index
Philglas & Swiggot A handy few hundred metres from our London HQ, the endearingly named Philglas & Swiggot is an independent wine merchant that specialises in bespoke oenological orders for private and corporate clients. And if you pop into one of the three London showrooms you may be lucky enough to receive some advice from the company mascot - Enzo the Bichon Frise. 

Wine Magazine Wine Merchant of the Year London
  "Philglas & Swiggot has proved its worth by beating a host of far more mature merchants to one of the most hotly contested awards:  the London Wine Merchant of the Year.    Karen and Mike Rogers stock a superb range of independent wines, cherry-picked from well-known estates and up-and-coming producers.  Australia remains the high point but Burgundy and Italy are also strong and the Austrian selection is an example of the forward-looking buying.  Innovations like private cellar valuations and travel advice/contacts for those visiting a wine region are examples of seemingly effortless customer service."  
Awarded London Wine Merchant of the Year 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006

Wine Magazine Small Independent Wine Merchant of the Year
As if from nowhere, this tiny Battersea based outfit has snatched the hotly contested 'Small is Beautiful' award. An incredibly varied and interesting list of wines coupled with a highly customer focused approach are what make Karen and Mike Rogers' little gem stand out. The shop has recently double in size, and added a wine club, you can see why this has become a destination shop for wine lovers throughout the UK.  
Wine Merchant of the Year Award

The Which? Wine Guide New World Specialist Award
From the heart of Battersea’s Nappy Valley comes an extraordinary one-couple fight against Chardonnisation.  Queenslander Karen Rogers and husband Mike very definitely dare to be different.  They founded Philglas & Swiggot ten years ago, initially to specialize in Australian wines, but now they have a more general (and expanding) mission ‘to seek out the most innovative and exciting wines from anywhere, and grab them on sight!’  And so they do, gathering in at least 120 new wines each year, focusing on quality, value-for-money, style integrity and consistency.

Saturday Times tradesecrets -  Head Sommelier at Gordon Ramsay, Ronan Sayburn, recommends Philglas & Swiggot as one of his favourite independent wine retails:  "I used to live in Battersea and stumbled across this award-winning shop.  It specialises in unusual worldwide wines".

The Independent    by Anthony Rose
Apart from the quaintly bibulous tone of the name, nothing about Philglas & Swiggot in Clapham's Northcote Road prepares you for the gems within. It could be just another local wine merchant struggling to make ends meet. But wander in and cross to the imported jarrah timber flooring of a new extension, browse around, and the changes are that Karen Rogers will have enticed you to buy.

Not with fancy sales or marketing gimmicks, but win an infectious knowledge and enthusiasm. A combination of a constantly evolving quality range backed up by the friendly and obliging personalities of Karen and Mike Rogers make Philglas & Swiggot worth the detour. How otherwise could two wine trade virgins have developed a business starting with a tiny selection in the depths of recession in 1991 into the established London landmark with a range of 800 wines and an expanding list of satisfied customers?
Originally from Queensland, Karen's interest in wines was kindled by trips with the family to the Barossa and Hunter Valleys. Karen met Mike, her husband, then with Shell, in London in 1987. After investigating diving and rainforest tours, they settled on wine retailing. "The only qualification we had was that we were 'people' people, says Karen. " We foolishly thought that retailing was the part of the trade that needed that least experience." Starting up was doubly tough not just because of the recession but because, to distinguish themselves from supermarkets and off-licenses, their prices were high.
The economic outlook may have been poor, but the location in an increasingly affluent residential community and the timing, with Australian wines about to take off, were spot on. As the unrivalled selection of eclectic Australian quality wines expanded, customers came in search of what they couldn't buy off the supermarket shelf. " Supermarkets do a great job in creating wine drinkers," says Karen. Eventually they get far enough upstream and come to us."

Karen and Mike soon fell in love with Italy and now stock 150 of the most mouthwatering Italian wines in the Country. "Italy started bringing on wonderful vintages from the Nineties," says Karen. The French range has grown too. They like to stock unusual wines like Irouleguy and Bandol. Burgundy has expanded and they are now a sourse of individual bottles of Bordeaux from older vintages.

New areas of excitement for Karen and customers (sometimes it's hard to tell who's more excited) include Austria and New Zealand, and South Africa reds which Karen believes "can give Bordeaux a run for it's money". Australia continues to grow with a move away from the heavily oaked style and more to riesling, sauvignon/semillon blends, pinot noir, elegant Western Australian reds and the new wave of Cote Rotie-style shiraz with a touch of the softening grape viognier in them.

Karen gets upset if they're called expensive. "Our pricing is as good as anywhere. Our customers don't necessarily know what they want but they're confident they'll be given advice that's honest and save them the legwork. We always look for complexity, character and personality but something that'll be broadly appealing. Give customers what they like and they're hooked." Karen does the fill-glass, you and I swig-it.  

Evening Standard  6 of the Best…Indie Wine Merchants
Philglas & Swiggot - “New World wine order reigns over this Battersea-based, Aussie-owned wine shop but don’t overlook its quality Italian section, perhaps the biggest in London.”