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Byron and Browns come out top in new customer poll for best on-trade chains

Published:  20 February, 2015

If you want to sell your wines and spirits to the happiest of customers then you need to get on the lists at Byron, the premium burger chain, and Browns, according to new research from CGA Peach BrandTrack.

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Roger Jones sees England win on home soil in Battle of Bubbles with New Zealand

Published:  20 February, 2015

After a draw in New Zealand 12 hours earlier, a challenge yesterday afternoon to see whether English sparkling wine would win against New Zealand on home ground resounded in a clear victory for the home team, although technically as it was held at New Zealand House, it was not quite home soil.

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Dominic Roskrow on the wonderful world of weird and wacky whiskies

Published:  20 February, 2015

New whisky distilleries are popping up all over the world and they're all competing to make a name for themselves. But some, says Dominic Roskrow, are turning to increasingly bizarre production methods in an attempt to be different

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One week to go to enter the Harpers Awards 2015

Published:  20 February, 2015

The clock is ticking but there is still time to get your entries in for the Harpers Awards 2015.

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Monkey Shoulder sets off in search of the Ultimate Bartender

Published:  20 February, 2015

Scotch whisky brand, Monkey Shoulder, is launching a new competition to find the "Ulitmate Bartender" in the UK with a series of regional trials with the overall winner getting the chance to run their own pop up bar during London Cocktail Week.

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March for Independents: 13 ways for retailers to keep on top of business law

Published:  20 February, 2015

Stephen Forward of the independent wine merchant business, Essentially Wine, gives a personal insight into how retailers like himself get on top of all the small business regulation.

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Wine and spirits companies urged to tweet out their support for a Drop in Duty

Published:  20 February, 2015

Today Harpers is repeating its call to all wine and spirits producers around the globe that are frustrated by the high alcohol duty levels in the UK to put their name and voice behind the industry's Drop the Duty campaign and raise the issue with the Chancellor, George Osborne.

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March for Independents: new online and EU labelling regulations for merchants

Published:  18 February, 2015

There is a whole raft of legislation that retailers need to be on top to make sure they are on top what are termed as "distance sales", wine lawyer Andrew Park advises.   

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March for Independents: keep on top of waste packaging and avoid big fines

Published:  17 February, 2015

Today as part of the March for the Independents campaign we turn the spotlight on waste packaging. Not the most glamorous of topics but if you are an independent wine merchant, importing or distributing wine then you need to make sure you are compliant with your recycling oblilgations or risk potentially crippling fines.

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Tim Atkin takes the Vinopolis stage for Skin Côntact Comic Relief gig

Published:  16 February, 2015

Anyone in the wine trade who has been on the receiving end of a review by wine critic and journalist Tim Atkin MW - good or bad - will get the chance to give him a critique back when he bravely takes the stage as one of the guest singers for the ever growing Skin Côntact band when it plays its one off gig on March 9 to raise money for Comic Relief.

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March for Independents campaign keeps merchants on right side of the law

Published:  16 February, 2015

Today Harpers starts its third Action Week initiative as part of its March for the Independents campaign with a focus on helping merchants keep on top of the latest changes in business, employment and drinks legislation.

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Jerry Lockspeiser on why crowdfunding is such an exciting opportunity for business

Published:  13 February, 2015

Why is crowdfunding so inherently exciting? The heady emotional mix of allure, participation, open access, opportunity, creativity and success is hard to resist.

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Joe Wadsack shares his musical likes as Skin Contact's Comic Relief gig is selling fast

Published:  13 February, 2015

We've met the band, the backing singers and plugged the concert enough to surely convince you to buy a ticket for wine band Skin Côntact's one-off concert on March 9 at London's Vinopolis to raise money for Comic Relief.

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Calling on wine and spirits producers around the world to back Drop the Duty campaign

Published:  13 February, 2015

Today Harpers is calling on wine and spirits producers around the world concerned about the high alcohol duty levels in the UK to get involved in the Drop the Duty campaign and have their voice heard by the Chancellor, George Osborne.

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Are you breaking the law by serving draught Prosecco?

Published:  11 February, 2015

David Wilkinson, partner and head of IP and Katrina Walter of legal firm Stevens & Bolton LLP analyse the legal implications of on-trade outlets that sell Prosecco on draught.

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Matt James formerly of Gene and now Skin Côntact reveals his musical likes and dislikes

Published:  11 February, 2015

It's time to bang the drum, literally, for the last member of the Skin Côntact rock band that promises to give us the night of the year when it takes to the stage on March 9 at London's Vinopolis to raise money for Comic Relief.

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MPs back Drop the Duty campaign by taking trade's duty call to the Chancellor

Published:  11 February, 2015

MPs across the country are starting to respond to independent wine merchants and members of the wider wine and spirits industry who have contacted them through the Drop the Duty campaign calling on them to lobby the Chancellor for a 2% duty cut in the March Budget.

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Why a cut in duty is fair to consumers and business says SWA's David Frost

Published:  10 February, 2015

In my time as a diplomat, I spent a lot of time promoting Scotch whisky overseas. When I first got to know the industry,  I found it very surprising to learn Scotch Whisky was Britain's biggest food and drink sector and indeed represented nearly a quarter of all Britain's food and drink exports.

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Red Squirrel Wines behind new trade initiative to promote Bulgarian wines

Published:  10 February, 2015

Independent wine merchant, Red Squirrel Wines, is behind a new initiative to put the spotlight on wines from Bulgaria with four days of events in March including a trade tasting at the Bulgarian Embassy on March 18.

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Hal Wilson, Cambridge Wine Merchants: why I lobbied my MP for a duty cut

Published:  10 February, 2015

As Harpers calls on independent wine merchants to play their part in the industry wide campaign to convince the Chancellor to issue a duty cut on wine and spirits in his March Budget, leading independent Hal Wilson,  of Cambridge Wine Merchants,  today explains why he has personally lobbied his local MP, the Liberal Democrat Julian Huppert, and invited him to his business so that he could explain the issues in person - and urges other merchants to do the same.

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