News roundup--Naked Wines, SportPursuit.co.uk, West Bromwich Albion FC, more

Naked Wines is investing £5.5 million to set up 22 new winemakers and help grow existing winemakers. The investment will also see Norwich-based Naked Wines expand internationally with offices in the Napa Valley, California and in Australia. The NakedWines.com website will now be able to serve Australian customers and from the summer, American customers too. In addition, Naked Wines will invest funds into 22 vineyards located in Australia and the west coast of the US. The Telegraph has more on the story.

SportPursuit.co.uk, a members-only flash-sales website specialising in sportswear, has closed a series A funding round raising $2.3 million. European venture capital firm DFJ Esprit led the round alongside a number of prominent business angels from the sport and ecommerce sectors.

West Bromwich Albion Football Club has relaunched its ecommerce store in order to improve the online ordering experience for its fans and to integrate the platform with its electronic point of sale (EPoS) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. The new store, built by PureNet, will replace West Bromwich Albion’s existing site in time for the 2012/13 season kit launch.

QVC is auctioning off a replica of the Queen’s Imperial Crown, writes the Daily Mail. The crown weighs approximately 1.5kg and has been valued at £10,528 by the QVC’s jewellery experts.

The Independent’s Deborah Ross isn’t a catalogue fan.

Almost half of Brits have shopped online after having a drink, writes the Daily Mail.

North East newspaper The Chronicle reports that Mike Ashley has been ordered to pay a court £800 to use the Sports Direct brand name.

The Sunday Times has a feature on subscription-based online stores such as Allotinabox and Love Your Larder and how they are attracting investors’ money.

DiamondManufacturers.co.uk is planning to expand into Germany, reports the Mail’s financial news website.