The UK sherry market is set for a shake-up following the appointment of First Drinks Brands as the new agent for Croft. First Drinks signalled its intention to try to put some life back into sherry when it revamped Gonzalez Byass' leading fino, Tio Pepe, earlier this year and put a £1.2m ad campaign behind it. And the addition of Croft, newly acquired by Gonzalez Byass from Diageo, now gives First Drinks considerable critical mass in the sector. Tio Pepe is worth 150,000 cases and Croft adds a further 400,000. Together, they account for a 27% share of the UK sherry market. The Croft portfolio also includes Original, which is the pale cream sherry brand leader. First Drinks managing director Chris Mason said: "This gives the business a real base on which to build." He is working with Gonzalez Byass to develop a marketing plan for the brand. Both companies are committed to developing it in the UK, which is its biggest market outside Spain. "It will give us a chance to manage the category. There had been little investment in it until we put some money behind Tio Pepe. "It has been too easy to operate on a price basis. With Tio Pepe we have developed a five-year plan with the aim of developing the number of drinking occasions for the brand. "Now we are ahead of target and we are selling more than last year. While the fino category is in decline, Tio Pepe sales are growing. "Sherry has been forgotten, so we intend to remind people about Croft and attract past users back to the drink. The market in the UK is worth about two million cases and we can increase our share of that." {{DRINKS }}