Following a strong year in 2022 in terms of technological advances and innovation, Jo Gilbert asked the trade’s key crystal ball-gazers to share their predictions for 2023.
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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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Following another turbulent year for the drinks trade, Miles Beale, chief executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA), reflects on the highs and lows of 2022, plus the hopes and plans for the business in the year ahead.
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In today’s Autumn Statement (17 November 2022), Chancellor Jeremy Hunt made a few announcements regarding business taxes, but there was no mention of alcohol duty, much to the frustration of the drinks trade.
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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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Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s longest-serving monarch, died yesterday (September 8) at Balmoral Castle, aged 96, bringing her 70-year reign to a close.
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On Monday (5 September), Conservative Party members chose a new leader and, therefore, a new Prime Minister. Liz Truss secured 57% of the vote, defeating Rishi Sunak in the race to Number 10.
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By the time this feature is published, a new UK wine labelling scheme should be effective. However, according to the Wine & Spirit Trade Association (WSTA), the government has signalled its intention to defer the introduction of the forthcoming labelling rules until 1 January, 2024.
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With Scotland announcing it will be going ahead with the introduction of its deposit return scheme (DRS) next year, on-trade operators have been voicing their concerns and identifying some potential pitfalls. England, Wales and Northern Ireland are also set to introduce their own schemes in 2024, so operators there will also have an eye on how it goes north of the border.
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Inflation has reached boiling point for the wine sector – with climate change adding to a melting pot of pressures which are placing increasing strain on the industry.
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According to market research by Shepper, the UK’s on-trade and hospitality outlets prefer to serve leading gin and tonic brands as their house products instead of supporting local and small-batch counterparts.
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According to new YouGov research, over three-quarters of Tory party members want tax on wine to be frozen at its current rate or reduced.
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Tequila is stealing a march on other spirits categories, with an impressive 94% growth spurt in two years underpinning the rise of the Mexican spirit in the UK.
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Following months of lobbying from the trade, the government yesterday (July 20) delayed its alcohol duty review till the Autumn.
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Harpers’ future leaders symposium at last month’s London Wine Fair had a core question embedded in its lively panel discussion – what does staff progression look like post-Covid, and how can those insights be used to address the industry’s increasingly serious recruitment problems?
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Nusrat Ghani, MP for Wealden and co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Wine and Spirits, wants to see the government do more to help English and Welsh winemakers.
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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.
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What a couple of years the trade has had. What ups and downs. During the worst months of Covid, we’re sure there are some who felt a bit like Midas’s barber in the ancient tales. Forced under pain of death to keep his master’s secret – that the former Greek king was hiding a pair of donkey’s ears beneath his hat – the unfortunate barber was only able to vent by taking himself to a bed of reeds and screaming that the king had, indeed, become part-ass.
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When chancellor Rishi Sunak announced his proposed changes to alcohol duty in the October Budget, he described them as the “most radical simplification of alcohol duties for over 140 years”. Under the present system, there are three duty rates on wine – one for still wine, a slightly higher one for sparkling wine and an even higher one for fortified wine.
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Nusrat Ghani, MP for Wealden, has taken up her new role as co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Wine and Spirits following the Group’s recent AGM.
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