Kornicis chief executive on how to run a successful wine bar

After expanding its estate with the opening of its eighth Jamies Wine Bar in London, Kornicis Group chief executive Nick Tamblyn chats to Harpers about his methods behind running a successful wine bar.

Know your market: In Tamblyn's opinion the most important thing about retail is to know your customer and your location well. "We set up as a wine bar near where people work in the City and cater for that. We have two key features: lunchtime where food is important and we need to be good enough to compete with local restaurants, and evenings where people want to meet for a drink and where food is secondary. So we feed at lunch and water in the evenings."

The wine list: Jamies Wine Bars hosts around 20 wines by the glass, all rotated by grape variety. "When a customer comes in they want to see something they recognise on a list, and it's usually grape variety. They don't come in and ask for a glass of Chilean wine - they may say 'I'd like a Sauvignon Blanc from Chile', but it's always the grape variety that customers choose first. It's much easier to sell a Chardonnay from Sardinia, for instance, than it is to sell an indigenous variety from a well-known region."

Well-trained staff: "That goes without saying," says Tamblyn. "We don't have a sommelier to advise, but we do have trained staff who either go through the WSET or are trained in-house. We think our customers want to be part of the decision-making process and we like them to be involved."

Suppliers: Tamblyn advises not to "put all your eggs in one basket". "Always have more than one supplier, even if you think you don't need another. If you're looking for a particular wine, it means you can make sure you find exactly the wine you're looking for and it means you can negotiate better."

Pricing: "Wines by the glass play a massive role, but it's not always about the cheapest - we have a broad price range by glass and by bottle," says Tamblyn. He says consumers want a drinking experience and that is what will bring them back again. "We have the confidence to stand behind each wine that's on our menu. Eighty per cent of sales are from 20% of our list and usually fall between the £25-£30 bottle price mark, we call it our "sweet spot". Consumers know how much they want to spend, so we have a lot of wine on the list around that price point, it means they have a wider choice."

Tell us a trade secret: "There are not many of those. But consumers aren't as transient as we think and will form a good relationship with a bar. You just need to give them a quality service. It's not all about pushing volume on a Saturday night."

• Sommeliers