"Two words: Siddle delivers. Few are the people I work with on whom I can really count when working on an official trade show daily.
"Richard Siddle worked alongside me at Vinexpo Daily and delivered in every department that counts. He works quickly and with precision, is an excellent sub-editor and is a journalist in the true sense, meaning he finds the real story each time.
"I would be happy to recommend Richard to anyone looking for someone who doesn’t crack under time pressure, and who brightens up the newsroom. Proof is that we’ve already asked him to work on another high-end daily with us."
Richard Barnes, editor-in-chief, Vinexpo Daily and IFA International, Cleverdis Publishing
"Richard was been a bold, daring, passionate, innovative and ground breaking editor of Harpers Wine & Spirit - what many in the trade class as the broadsheet of the wine trade. On behalf of both Oddbins and the trade, I say thank you for the excellent work you did while in charge."
Ayo Akintola, managing director, Oddbins
"There’s no doubt that you have broken the mould of the normal trade press in your time at Harpers – I think you’ve been a genuine force for good for the industry."
Simon Thorpe, managing director, Negociants UK
On producing a tribute website for Steven Gerrard, Thanks Stevie, in two weeks for Liverpool Football Club
"Our backs were up against it from the moment we decided to try and pull this website together within two weeks. Richard played an enormous part in helping us achieve our goal. He importantly hit his daily deadlines allowing us to write, design and produce pages through such a short time period. Richard was a great asset in that he produced tight, clean and engaging copy and was able to source pictures and the vital weblinks that are such an integral part of making any website a success.
“Richard was our centre midfielder in the team behind the Thanks Stevie website. I would thoroughly recommend him to anyone looking to take on hopefully a slightly less ambitious project."
Simon Ellis-Jones, senior news editor, Liverpool Football Club
"Richard took a sleepy wine trade magazine that was little more than a reprint of trade press releases and made it in to a lively and 'must read' paper that really got stuck in on the important issues that face the trade press for producers, importers, distributors and retailers. He did a complete transformation of what looked like a dying magazine."
Paul Symington, joint managing director, Symington Family Estates
On chairing a conference for JF Hillebrand at Vinexpo 2015 on the opportunities for exporting wine to China
"Richard chaired our Vinexpo conference with the utmost professionalism. He prepared every theme with each speaker individually, understanding their expertise and different fields and looking for interaction between speakers, audience and him as a chairman. He is experienced and it was a pleasure to work with him."
Cindy Grimaud, marketing and communication manager, JF Hillebrand France
"Great trade magazines need bold and innovative editors. Richard is one of them."
Rob Walker, The Latin Report
"The UK wine trade has needed - and really gained from - your brand of professional trade journalism and campaigning enthusiasm."
Robert Joseph, wine critic, writer and wine producer
"Richard's fresh insights proved particularly valuable for us all."
Dr Damien Wilson, faculty chair at Wine Business Institute at Sonoma State University
"Richard is a true journalist."
Tim Atkin MW, wine critic, journalist and co-chair of International Wine Challenge
On working with independent wine merchant, Edgmond Wines, on its content and website strategy
"As a business, we have been dependent on a small but high value private client offering along with local customers for our shop.
It was our desire to expand our presence online and to target new customers. With Richard’s help we have successfully increased our footprint online and better utilised social medial platforms. All of this has helped spread awareness to more consumers.
Richard has been instrumental in our recent successes and we look forward to continuing our business relationship in the future."
Preet Sahota, managing director and founder, Edgmond Wines
On chairing a Funkin bartenders innovation roundtable event:
"We hired Richard to mediate a drinks trend forum hosted by cocktail expters, Funkin, in July. Attended by 20 leading London bartenders and drinks consultants, Richard had the task of chairing the debate ensuring we were able to cover a wide range of topics covering the key trends in the cocktail and bar scene in what was a restricted period of time.
"Richard not only lead the debate with good humour and generated great discussion, he was able to encourage all participants to get involved. As an experience and respected business editor I would very much recommend working with Richard on future similar events as he is able to combine excellent chairing skills with the insights of a business journalist."
Philippa Browning, director, Lime PR
"Richard's campaign-led, objective and slightly irreverent journalistic approach has been a much needed breath of fresh air for the UK wine industry."
Harry Hunt, winemaker, Bodegas Tierra Hermosa
"Just-drinks wanted to publish a report highlighting the trends that would define the drinks industry over the next few years. Richard's vast experience as a business journalist, along with his approachable manner made him the obvious choice as author. Using his knowledge and contacts, Richard delivered a highly readable long-form report, to budget and deadline, for us to present to our members."
John Newton, Director of Marketing, just-drinks.com