New research from the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has found that in the year to August 2025 alcoholic beverages contributed £3 in every £100 of inflation rises.
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According to trade bodies UK Hospitality (UKH) and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) 500 high street retail premises will be at risk of closure if the planned business rates surcharge goes ahead.
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The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) is calling on the government to get rid of plans to raise alcohol duty, to avoid further price rises that will fuel inflation.
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UKHospitality (UKH) has launched a new online tool for hospitality teams to call on the Government to support the sector by writing to their MP.
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Audit, tax and business advisory firm Blick Rothenberg has called on the government to provide financial support to the UK’s hospitality and retail sector to help businesses survive higher running costs.
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The government’s announcement of its new Industrial Strategy has been met with frustration from figures inside the hospitality trade. UKHospitality has noted that the sector is among the industries not included in the Strategy’s energy bill reduction plan.
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Hospitality business confidence has hit a low not seen since October 2022, when inflation peaked at a 40-year high.
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The UK’s leading drinks trade associations have written to the government highlighting deep concerns over the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (EPR) scheme, while calling for a meeting with Defra.
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The government won’t talk to the trade about its assumptions on duty receipts because it gets them from the OBR. The OBR won’t talk to the trade about its assumptions on duty receipts because its only customer is the government. You couldn’t make it up.
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Each year our 50 Best Indies entries reveal a wealth of innovative ideas and interesting initiatives. Ahead of the big reveal in January, we shared just some of those – both serious and more fun – that caught our eye.
Barring a near-miracle, it is now highly unlikely that the current UK government will make permanent the temporary duty easement that is ending this coming 1 February. Speaking with Andrew Catchpole for the first of a two-part Soapbox, Miles Beale of the Wine & Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) – who campaigned tirelessly on that matter and helped galvanise the trade – says it’s time to learn the lessons from this “incredibly disappointing” outcome and look ahead to the key bumps coming down the road in 2025. The trade can, he argues, force through more positive and desirable outcomes in the near future, if it pulls together in a similarly galvanised way.
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A number of significant changes to the UK's employment landscape, including proposals to get people back into work and training, has received a mixed response from key stakeholders in the hospitality industry.
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The government has been urged to collaborate with the drinks industry to reduce the cost of non-alcoholic beers and wines. Mark Pritchard, the MP for The Wrekin, advised health minister Andrew Gwynne to explore ways to lower prices for these drinks.
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With the UK general election just a whisker away and the current Prime Minster all but admitting a crushing defeat, the WSTA has issued an open letter calling on the incoming government to make permanent the duty easement.
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With issues such as cash flow, VAT, businesses rates and staffing all placing continued strain on the UK drinks industry, businesses have just a few days left to decide which parties’ pledges have the best hope of steering the sector towards prosperity.
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Ahead of the General Election and also English Wine Week, WineGB has launched its Manifesto for Growth which identifies the three main areas which require support from the new government.
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The UK government recently announced that it would create 20,000 new apprenticeships by reforming the complex, paperwork-fuelled, resource-thirsty apprenticeship levy system for SMEs. A move that should benefit hospitality businesses up and down the country by bringing in new blood at the beginning of their careers. Phrases like ‘cut red tape’ and ‘regulatory burdens slashed’ appear throughout the government’s official, grand announcement – but forgive me if I retain my cynicism for now. This is coming from a government that has done nothing but increase the burden on business. And I’ll come back to that shortly.
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Someone once told me that you know what your ideal job is when you enjoy it so much, are so motivated to get up and crack on every morning, that you’d do it even if you weren’t paid. That’s perhaps a bit unrealistic for most people whose primary motivation is to earn money to live, but the point is clear. It helps a lot if you love what you do.
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Miles Corish MW, MD of Milestone Wines, takes issue with ‘a classic case of smoke and mirrors’.
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Tax revenues from so-called ‘sin taxes’ levied on alcohol, tobacco, gambling and sugary drinks have fallen to 3.1% of total UK tax receipts, according to HMRC figures for 2022-2023.
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