Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Government to meet with hospitality minister petitioners

Published: 10 February, 2021

Business minister Paul Scully will meet with with petitioners calling for a minister for hospitality, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed.

Minister of hospitality petition exceeds 200,000 signatures ahead of parliamentary debate today

Published: 11 January, 2021

The ‘Seat at the Table’ petition, which is calling for Boris Johnson to appoint a hospitality minister, has received over 200,000 signatures.

Takeaway alcohol banned in latest lockdown

Published: 05 January, 2021

Bars, pubs and restaurants have been banned from selling takeaway alcohol under England’s latest lockdown rules announced by Boris Johnson last night.

UKH calls for recovery roadmap and pledges to assist vaccine roll-out

Published: 05 January, 2021

UK Hospitality (UKH) has called for a road map to recovery and has committed to assisting the vaccine roll-out.

UKH calls for govt to earmark ‘Tesco hand back’ for hospitality

Published: 02 December, 2020

UK Hospitality (UKH) has called for the establishment of a Hospitality and Tourism Recovery Fund to support hospitality businesses that have not received any grant support and are at risk of closure.

On-trade in northern England could shut

Published: 08 October, 2020

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to announce additional lockdown restrictions across parts of England early next week.

On-trade visits to drop sharply following new restrictions

Published: 28 September, 2020

Consumers will significantly reduce their visits to pubs, bars and restaurants in the light of the new government restrictions introduced last Thursday, according to new CGA research.

CEBR warns 10pm closure order could reverse economic recovery

Published: 22 September, 2020

The planned introduction of a 10pm closure order could reverse the country’s economic recovery, the Centre of Economics and Business Research (CEBR) has warned.

UKH calls for campaign to save London

Published: 01 September, 2020

UK Hospitality (UKH) and more than 90 London-based hospitality business leaders have warned that unless there is a co-ordinated campaign to encourage tourists and office workers back to the capital, the sector is at “real risk of failure”.

PM confirms on-trade reopening as 4 July and reduces ‘distancing’ to 1 metre

Published: 23 June, 2020

PM Boris Johnson has confirmed the reopening date for the hospitality sector as 4 July, while also reducing the current social distancing rule from 2 metres to 1 metre.

Sunak confirms “urgent comprehensive review” of 2 metre rule

Published: 15 June, 2020

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has confirmed PM Boris Johnson has ordered a “comprehensive review” on the 2 metre social distancing rule.

Pressure mounts on PM to axe the 2 metre rule

Published: 11 June, 2020

The Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing increased pressure to axe the 2 metre social distancing rule to help re-open the on-trade and save jobs.

Boris Johnson reveals "conditional plan" to reopen hospitality businesses in July

Published: 10 May, 2020

Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed tonight that bars and restaurants could start to reopen in two months’ time, if the science supports the plans.

On-trade sales drop 15% in week before ‘warning’

Published: 20 March, 2020

On-trade sales declined 15% in the week up to 15 March, before the Prime Minister’s warning that the public should avoid going to pubs, clubs and social venues because of the growing coronavirus (Covid-19) threat.

Coronavirus: No plans to enforce on-trade closures

Published: 19 March, 2020

The Prime Minister has confirmed that there are no timelines or plans in place to enforce restaurants, bars or pubs to close as long as the advice given by the government is followed by the public.

Food and drink industry gives cautious welcome to Tory victory

Published: 13 December, 2019

The food and drink industry has given a cautious welcome to the Conservative party’s general election win last night, which saw the Tories claim 364 seats, securing a majority parliament compared to rival Labour’s 203.

Mixing politics and wine

Published: 22 November, 2019

What attracted me to wine journalism nine years ago was that the stories were about the wine and the people, not cocaine-fuelled celebrity mishaps or sexual exploits involving a reverse osmosis machine. The beauty of wine was that, by and large, there was no 'news.'

Johnson urges Trump to lift tariffs on Scotch

Published: 06 November, 2019

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged US President Donald Trump to lift tariffs on Scotch whisky.

Boris Johnson - What does the trade think about the new MP?

Published: 07 August, 2019

Everyone has an opinion on Boris Johnson. But what does the wine and spirits industry think about the new PM and the direction in which he is taking Brexit? Lisa Riley finds out