From park bench to seven venues: how Humble Grape built a wine empire

James Dawson landed in London from South Africa with £50 in his pocket and a plan to become a social worker. The job vanished before he started. With no income and nowhere to stay, he spent three nights on a park bench, stretching his remaining cash for food before a contact pointed him toward a banking role paying £11 an hour.

That detour into finance took him to Paris and a trading desk at HSBC. Weekends became wine education: he rented a car, drove to villages across France, and tasted at cellar doors. The experience rewired his career. Seven years later he had completed formal wine qualifications, was hosting tastings, and buying and selling bottles from the back of his motorbike before clocking in at the office.

The crowdfunding first

In 2014 Dawson imported a selection he believed in but could not shift through traditional channels. He quit finance, and Humble Grape became the first UK hospitality business to crowdfund its launch, raising £500,000. The first site opened in Battersea in 2015, a cosy space of wooden floors, curling staircases and walls lined with bottles.

Dawson ran the floor himself as general manager. The kitchen offered only cheese and ham toasties, yet the venue climbed to number one in London on TripAdvisor. He knew the food had to match the wine. Within two years an executive chef joined, and two more venues followed.

Seven sites and a crypt

Today the group operates seven venues across the capital. The newest, Humble Grape Bow Lane, sits in a crypt beneath St Mary-le-Bow Church and carries more than 500 wines from independent producers. It is a finalist for Best Bar and Best New Opening at the Toast the City 2026 awards, with public voting now open.

"A bottle of Burgundy and a gooey grilled cheese is my high-low pairing of dreams,"

Says Dawson, reflecting on the early menu. The pairing still exists, but the list now runs to rare Champagnes, oxidative whites from the Jura, and English sparkling wines in half-bottle formats designed for by-the-glass flexibility.

What comes next

The chain's growth has been organic, funded by community investment rather than private equity. That structure gives Dawson room to keep curating small-producer wines that larger groups might overlook. With the Bow Lane site drawing City workers and tourists alike, the test will be whether the intimate, cellar-door feel survives further expansion.