Welcome toChief Wine Officer 2.0
You may have noticed we’ve got a new look.
Chief Wine Officer has evolved to represent our surroundings.
Located in Smithfield, London, the head offices of Chief Wine Officer are in an area steeped in history. The small district more widely located in Farringdon is famous for being home to England’s longest standing church, St. Bartholomew-the-Great, founded in 1123, as well as the famous Smithfield Market which has been active since the 10th century.
It’s the history of this remarkable market that forms the basis for our new look, and here’s why.
Meeting in the market
While the Smithfield Market has existed in some capacity since the 10th century AD, the popularity of the area took flight in the 14th century after livestock butchering was banned within the city walls. Smithfield was granted formal permission to host a weekly livestock market and so its history as a place of social and commercial convergence was solidified.
Because we love bringing people together to network and trade ideas, this seemed like the perfect symbol for what we do.
A logo with historic foundations
The Smithfield Meat Market as we know it today was designed by Victorian architect, Sir Horace Jones in the 19th century, with the building being completed in 1868.
Its roof was of particular interest to us. As viewed from above, there is a central node that explodes outward in a series of straight lines ending in circular domes. We interpreted this as an illustration of people and ideas meeting around a central space, theme, or place. This provided the perfect aesthetic inspiration.
From the roof design, our logo was born. A nod to our history of bringing business leaders together around one table to discuss a common theme.
Key design aspects
Stylised top-down view of the domed roof inspired the emblem design
Inspiration from the circles and lines on the roof for a unique emblem representing networking
The emblem also echoes our original table shape and layout for our very first events in 2005
Original colour of Smithfield Poultry Market roof has inspired the colour of our logo
Meeting in the market
While the Smithfield Market has existed in some capacity since the 10th century AD, the popularity of the area took flight in the 14th century after livestock butchering was banned within the city walls. Smithfield was granted formal permission to host a weekly livestock market and so its history as a place of social and commercial convergence was solidified.
Because we love bringing people together to network and trade ideas, this seemed like the perfect symbol for what we do.
Historic foundations
The Smithfield Meat Market as we know it today was designed by Victorian architect, Sir Horace Jones in the 19th century, with the building being completed in 1868.
Its roof was of particular interest to us. As viewed from above, there is a central node that explodes outward in a series of straight lines ending in circular domes. We interpreted this as an illustration of people and ideas meeting around a central space, theme, or place. This provided the perfect aesthetic inspiration.
From the roof design, our logo was born. A nod to our history of bringing business leaders together around one table to discuss a common theme.
Stylised top-down view of the domed roof inspired the emblem design
Inspiration from the circles and lines on the roof for a unique emblem representing networking
The emblem also echoes our original table shape and layout for our very first events in 2005
Original colour of Smithfield Poultry Market roof has inspired the colour of our logo
The Smithfield Poultry Market
Constructed in 1953, the Poultry Market is a Grade II-listed building in the heart of London that forms part of Smithfield Market – the UK’s largest wholesale meat market. Designed by Arup, its iconic roof is claimed to be the largest concrete shell structure ever built and is remarkable for its span in relation to the shallow dome.
See what
we’re all about
If you like the way we look, we invite you to see the way we work.
With over 150+ events a year, our CWO Dinner and CWO At Home events bring together senior leaders from all over the world to discuss a wide range of topics, taste exceptional wines, and make valuable business connections.