Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

More late stage delay for Scottish DRS

Published: 16 December, 2022

A Gateway Review into the already pushed back Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for Scotland has concluded that the scheme won’t be fit to launch by August 2023.

WSTA celebrates LWF return, though "Recovery is not a given"

Published: 07 June, 2022

The WSTA struck a note somewhere between optimism and realism at the opening briefing of this year’s London Wine Fair, calling for “resilience and resistance” in order to manifest a more fully formed recovery of the wine and spirit trade post-Covid.

Miles Beale: Trade deal will be within the week or not at all

Published: 25 November, 2020

Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) chief executive Miles Beale has said that the UK is likely to get ‘something or nothing’ in terms of a trade deal over the coming week, while insisting that a ‘deal is still better than no deal at all’.

WSTA Summit: 2050 is closer than you think

Published: 17 September, 2020

Sustainability initiatives shouldn’t be regarded as a post-Covid pipe dream, the WSTA’s chief executive has said. They are now a vital component of what consumers and investors expect businesses to offer.

WSTA Summit: ‘Once in a lifetime’ opportunity for excise duty review

Published: 15 September, 2020

Miles Beale, chief executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) has highlighted the potential of an upcoming government review into excise duty, which could have a major impact on the robustness of the industry to face challenging times.

Relief as gin spared from US tariff hikes, but battle for Scotch continues

Published: 13 August, 2020

The US has backed down on its threat to expand a 16-year old trade fight with the European Union to impose tariffs on gin – a move which would have been “hugely detrimental” for the British alcohol industry.

Profile: Miles Beale in the thick of it

Published: 29 July, 2020

The WSTA’s Miles Beale talks Andrew Catchpole through life at the trade’s lobbying body during extraordinary times

MPs urged to make no ‘no deal’ official before March 29

Published: 14 March, 2019

Last night’s vote to remove the possibility of a no deal scenario from the Brexit table has resulted in a sigh of relief from the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) as well as other corners of the trade.

LWF: Uncertainty continues to cloud Brexit debate to 2020 and beyond

Published: 21 May, 2018

With 312 days to go until the UK officially leaves the EU, the effect of economic uncertainty and how the trade is placed to take advantage of opportunities offered by Brexit formed the crux of discussions at one of the opening debates of the London Wine Fair this morning.

LWF Day One: The big Brexit debate

Published: 22 May, 2017

Breaking down the cloud of uncertainty brought about by Brexit into manageable bite-sized pieces was the objective of panelists at this afternoon’s London Wine Fair industry briefing.