Wellington Place is more than just bricks and mortar, it’s a thriving community powered by people. This series of interviews aims to highlight some of the people of Wellington Place, share their inspirational stories and find out why Wellington Place is much more than just a place to work…
Interview with Nino Caruso, founder of Veeno
Passionate about bringing quality wine and Italian produce to the UK, Nino Caruso founded Veeno back in 2013. We caught up with him to talk authenticity, navigating the challenges of a pandemic, and building a business rooted in people, purpose and tradition.
What’s your current position and can you give an overview of what your role involves?
Buongiorno. I’m Nino Caruso, founder and director of Veeno. We have four locations that we run across the UK, a franchise in Durham and a site in Poland. We’re also hoping to open a new venue in England very soon.
My role has developed massively from the beginning. When I first started, I was doing everything – kitchen porter, bartender, marketing, HR – despite not having a clue about any of it at the time. Over the years, that’s evolved into something much more focused.
Now, my job is to make sure everyone working with me has the right tools, support and vision to do their job, and to do it with passion and authenticity. It’s about creating an environment where people can thrive and deliver the experience we want Veeno to be known for.
What do you love most about what you do?
For me, it’s always been about people. Earlier in my journey, that was mainly about customers, but now it’s very much about the team.
I still get excited about simple things. I was in Edinburgh recently and a large wine delivery arrived, and I just jumped in to help unload it. It’s something small, but it reminded me why I started in the first place.
Those moments – being part of the team, working together, sharing the same goal – are what make the job so rewarding. It’s not just about the end result, it’s about the people you do it with.
What’s a recent project, win, or moment in your career that you’re particularly proud of?
One of the projects I’m most proud of goes right back to the roots of Veeno. The most special part of the business is that I produce wine with my family back in Sicily, and when I started , my aim was to bring that to the UK alongside aperitivo culture.
A few years ago, we began working with Laboratorio Zanzara, a laboratory in Northern Italy that supports children with intellectual and behavioural disabilities. We invited them to create artwork for our wine labels – to interpret our story in their own way.
It’s been a very emotional journey and it’s added a completely new dimension to what we do. It gives a real soul to the wine, and allows us to tell a much bigger story – not just about the product itself, but about people, inclusion and creativity.
What has been a challenge in your career or business, and how have you overcome it?
Like many in hospitality, we faced major challenges during COVID – being closed while trying to support our teams, stakeholders and suppliers, often without knowing what was coming next.
When we reopened, the response was incredible. The team came back motivated and our customers showed huge support – we were full almost every day for the first year, which made a big difference.
Brexit has also been an ongoing challenge. As an authentic Italian brand, we rely on chefs and people who have real experience of Italy. Not having that same flow of people bringing that authenticity back has meant we’ve had to work harder to recreate that culture internally and support our teams in different ways.
On a personal level, one of my biggest challenges was understanding that I couldn’t do everything myself. Learning to trust people, share responsibility and build a strong team has been key to moving the business forward.
What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry or role?
Be very, very sure about who you are and what you want to be. It’s easy, especially at the beginning, to fall into the trap of chasing customers or trying to adapt your offer just to make sales.
But authenticity is what people connect with. If you can clearly communicate what you stand for and bring your team along with you, everything else will follow.
Focus most of your time on building that strong foundation – the rest comes naturally.
Take a look at the full interview here:
