AG Barr sees profits boosted 10%

Soft drinks manufacturer AG Barr saw a 10% boost to its pre-tax profit to £41.9m, with turnover up 2.7% to £290.9m in the 12 months to 25 January.

Why English wine's Litmus Wines is on board with Branson's South African hotel venture

English winemaking consultants Litmus Wines recently teamed up with Richard Branson's private hotel collection Virgin Limited Edition to launch a new joint-venture wine business in South Africa's Franschhoek region. Litmus' founder and director John Worontschak, and VLE's managing director, Jon Brown, talked to Harpers.co.uk about the venture and what it will mean for the Surrey-based business. 

Fever-Tree's revenue soars 49%

In its inaugural financial year results as a publicly traded company, Fever-Tree beat analysts expectations and saw revenue grow by 49%.

Mathias Camilleri named UK's Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Young Sommelier of the Year

Last week Mathias Camilleri from the Medlar was named UK's Cha&icircne des Rôtisseurs Young Sommelier of the Year.

Tom and Ed Martin head to Suffolk to open their first pub outside London

Tom and Ed Martin, who have been building up an impressive range of pubs across London as part of their privately-owned ETM Group, are now set to venture outside the capital and head to Lavenham in Suffolk to open their first rural pub, The Six Bells.

Richard Branson's South African hotel launches new wine joint-venture with English winemaking firm

Richard Branson's luxury hotel collection, Virgin Limited Edition, has joined forces with an English wine consultancy firm, Litmus Wines, to launch a new wine business.

Budget 2015: Chancellor cuts duty on cider and spirits by 2% and wine duty frozen

The Chancellor George Osborne has today cut the duty on cider and spirits by 2%, frozen duty on wine and cut beer by a penny a pint for the third year running in his last pre-election Budget.

Prowein 2015: Bibendum PLB uses fair to showcase new multi-channel strategy

The recently combined Bibendum PLB company was able to showcase its new business strategy to the international wine industry at this week's Prowein with 120 of its producers taking part in the show.

Craft beer now used to calculate CPI as sales increase

Craft beer enters the mainstream as it goes in the basket used to calculate inflation for the first time.

Argentina must look beyond Malbec, leading Argentinian winemaker says

Argentina needs to look beyond Malbec in order to take avoid commoditising its flagship grape, the former president of Wines of Argentina has said.

Enotria's move to new warehouse set to boost supplier's flexibilty

Industry welcomes Treasury plans to review business rates

Industry bodies have welcomed the government's ambitious review of business rates, which were laid out today by The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander.

Drop the Duty!: WSTA thanks industry for support as it waits for Budget Day

Miles Beale, chief executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association has commended the drinks industry for uniting behind the WSTA's Drop the Duty campaign and producing a compelling case for a 2% cut in duty.

St Austell's Brewery appoints first exclusive wine buyer to drive more sales

St Austell's Brewery has promoted Louisa Fizpatrick to the newly created role of wine buyer, in recognition of her hard work and expertise and extensive knowledge of the wine world.

Argentina's bulk wine production has a 'structural problem', says governor of Mendoza

Argentina's bulk wine producers are facing "structural problems" that are causing unwanted low quality wine to stockpile, the governor of Mendoza has claimed.

UK casual dining sales enjoy 23rd consecutive month of growth

Pubs and restaurant groups saw like-for-like sales edge up 1.6% across the UK, making February the 23rd consecutive month to show growth, according to new figures released by the Coffer Peach Business Tracker figures.

Mitchells & Butlers launches its most ambitious apprenticeship scheme

Mitchells & Butlers is backing the National Apprenticeship Week by launching a new scheme that it hopes will help it find its managers of the future.

Smith & Wollensky hires Boisdale's Nathan Evans to spearhead its London launch

Nathan Evans has been recruited from the Boisdale Group to help oversee the launch of the famous US steakhouse chain, Smith & Wollensky in to the UK

Spain and Argentina are the two big winners in the UK on-trade says new report

Spain and Argentina were the two big winners in the UK on-trade last year, according to the latest Wine On-Premise report from Wine Business Solutions.

2015 London Wine Fair will be the "most diverse" ever promises show organisers

This year's London Wine Fair will be the most diverse in its 35 year history, according to show director Ross Carter.