French wine retailers Calais Vins and Olivier Vins have partnered with P&O Ferries to offer free ferry crossings across the Channel for British consumers.
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Taking a glass-half-full approach, much of the right-wing press applauded Jeremy Hunt’s extension of the alcohol duty freeze till February 2025, described as a ‘victory for drinkers’ up and down the country by one tabloid.
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Soaring alcohol inflation has made an explosive hole in HMRC’s receipts, new figures reveal.
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New data from Fourth has revealed hospitality revenue in Q4 2023 is up 6.1% year-on-year.
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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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Last August’s duty hikes for wine and spirits have contributed to December’s unexpected rise in UK inflation, it has been revealed, as the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) announces that the rate for the sector is now three times higher than it was this time last year.
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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has quelled fears of a second duty rise this year in this afternoon’s Autumn Budget, by announcing a freeze until August next year.
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Wine and spirit businesses are calling on the chancellor to freeze alcohol duty until the end of parliament, when Jeremy Hunt delivers his Autumn Statement on 22 November.
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Representatives of more than 400 businesses have written to the chancellor demanding an alcohol duty freeze in the Autumn Statement.
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Mid way through 2023, Harpers is taking stock of yet another turbulent year for the drinks trade, with plenty of highs and lows, so far. We continue our series with Matteo Furlan, head of wines, The Dorchester London, to find out how the year as gone so far, and what the remainder may bring.
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The alcohol duty hikes on 1 August 2023 were the biggest the UK has seen in nearly fifty years and the changes will impact all wines across the country.
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It doesn’t seem to matter what flavour of government you have at the moment – when it comes to the spirits and hospitality industries, there’s a stench of incompetence. In Scotland we have the incredibly public failure of the DRS scheme, which, as a result, has wasted millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money. But don’t be fooled – it really is no better, south of the border. Westminster will raise you a cock up, in the form of the increased duty rates.
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Everyone in the UK trade will be acutely aware that the new duty system comes into effect on 1 August, making most wine more expensive and all of it much more complex to administer. The negative effects will be exacerbated on 1 February 2025, when the tax banding will be divided further into an extraordinary 27 different segments, with some going up and some going down.
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In April 2023, in what was described as an “industry first”, The Wine Society announced it would prevent price increases despite the effects of high inflation and rising duty costs.
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HMRC, the architects of the upcoming duty reforms, have released a ‘one-month to go’ reminder about the changes coming into effect on 1 August – though with one glaring omission.
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With just one month till the government’s alcohol tax hikes are effective, the Wine and Spirits Trade Association (WSTA) has reiterated why the “crippling” duty increases should be scrapped.
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Industry chiefs have expressed a modicum of optimism about potential changes to the current plans for the new duty escalator, which could possibly avoid plunging businesses into a tangle of red tape – if only the government continues (or maybe begins) to listen to reason.
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The freeze on UK alcohol duty rates has been extended six months to 1 August 2023, the government announced yesterday (19 December 2022).
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Over 100 business executives from across the alcohol industry have signed a letter written to the Times calling on the Chancellor to bring back the freeze on alcohol duty.
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Planned increases in alcohol duty have been ditched by new Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in his mini-budget, as unveiled on 23 September.
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