Paul Schaafsma
Managing Director & Founder
Paul Schaafsma is the Founder and Managing Director of Benchmark Drinks, the London-based drinks company he established in 2018. In just eight years, Benchmark Drinks has become one of the UK’s fastest-growing wine businesses and is now positioned among the country’s top ten premium branded wine suppliers.
Under Paul’s leadership, Benchmark has built an award-winning portfolio of premium wine and drinks brands, combining established international producers with some of the world’s most recognisable personalities. The portfolio includes Kylie Minogue Wines, Gordon Ramsay Wines, Gary Barlow Wines and Elton John Zero, alongside Benchmark’s own emerging wine brand, All (good) Things.
Paul has also been instrumental in driving Benchmark’s expansion into the rapidly growing alcohol-free category. The company has now sold more than one million bottles of 0% products, with Kylie Minogue 0% Sparkling Rosé becoming the UK’s number one selling premium branded 0% sparkling wine.
With more than 30 years’ experience in the global wine industry, Paul has built a reputation for combining strong commercial leadership with an entrepreneurial approach to brand building, innovation and identifying changing consumer trends.
Prior to establishing Benchmark Drinks, Paul was CEO of Accolade Wines, then one of the world’s largest wine companies. Under his leadership, Accolade generated global revenues exceeding AUD$1 billion, supported by a team of approximately 1,700 employees operating across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Europe, Asia, North America, Chile and South Africa.
Before becoming CEO, Paul was General Manager of Accolade Wines UK & Ireland, at the time the largest wine company in the region. During this period, he became a prominent spokesperson for the Australian wine industry in the UK and was named Man of the Year by The Drinks Business in 2015.
Earlier in his career, Paul was the entrepreneurial driving force behind the growth of McGuigan Wines in the UK. After relocating from Australia to London in 2005, he initially launched and developed the McGuigan business from the basement of his Clapham home. Over the following years, he helped transform the brand into a market leader in the UK and Ireland by 2012.
Born in Australia and based in London, Paul brings extensive international experience across the UK, Europe, Australia, Asia and North America. Today, his focus at Benchmark Drinks remains on building distinctive, consumer-led brands with global potential and continuing to challenge the traditional boundaries of the wine and drinks industry.