Alex Findlater joined the large food and drinks company bearing his celebrated name from school in 1956. He was the fifth generation of the family in the firm. His responsibilities for the future of the business increased on the death of his father at the age of fifty-six in 1962.

In 1969 he handled the sale of old Findlaters at a time when its traditional style of service was under attack from the emerging supermarket industry. Undaunted he re-established Findlaters as a specialist wine merchants in 1974. Since then he has headed up this company, now one of the most successful wine distributors in Ireland.