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Published: 15 December, 2025
Trying to extract any optimism from the autumn Budget is potentially a fool’s errand. Alcohol duty will increase in line with RPI – a move many in the sector had pleaded with the government not to make. With RPI currently set at 3.66%, according to the WSTA, this will see duty go up 11p on an average bottle of Prosecco, 13p on a bottle of red wine and 38p on a bottle of gin. This, combined with the cumulative strain of the inflationary pressures of the past five years on consumer buying power, will likely continue to inhibit spend on alcohol.
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Published: 15 December, 2025
Trade body UK Hospitality Scotland has revealed new analysis, suggesting that the Scottish hospitality sector is on course for a £69m business rates hit in 2026/2027 without action from the Scottish Government in its January Budget.
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Published: 08 December, 2025
Packaging waste matters and policy that can reduce it is vital. This would be a view held by most across the drinks trade. Despite this, implementation and policy design matter too. The introduction of extended producer responsibility (EPR) policy for some in the sector has been far from satisfactory. In many ways this comes down to a case of unfortunate timing – the policy’s introduction coinciding with a raft of other cost-increasing measures, namely alcohol duty and NIC hikes. But also, legitimate concerns exist regarding the policy’s minutiae.
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Published: 01 December, 2025
In a statement from Huw Irranca-Davies MS, the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, the Welsh Government has announced that it has begun the process of finding a Deposit Management Organisation (DMO) to run its Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).
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Published: 26 November, 2025
In an entirely predictable move, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed that alcohol duty will rise with the Retail Prices Index (RPI) in 2026, provoking near-universal concern across the drinks trade.
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Published: 23 October, 2025
The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) is calling on the government to get rid of plans to raise alcohol duty, to avoid further price rises that will fuel inflation.
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Published: 24 September, 2025
Fresh figures from HMRC’s latest alcohol duty receipts (published 19 September) show that revenue is down -4.3%. This will frustrate many in the drinks industry who faced a February hike of wine and spirits duty.
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Published: 22 August, 2025
The United States-European Union Joint Statement announced by EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič has confirmed a 15% tariff on European goods exported across the pond.
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Published: 20 August, 2025
The Wine & Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) has warned that the Welsh government's “confusing proposal” to create a unique Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) “risks creating significant market distortions”.
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Projections from Unione Italiana Vini (UIV) show that the Italian wine sector could lose over €317mn over the next 12 months due to the 15% tariff on EU exports to the US.
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The government’s announcement of its new Industrial Strategy has been met with frustration from figures inside the hospitality trade. UKHospitality has noted that the sector is among the industries not included in the Strategy’s energy bill reduction plan.
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New data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) can reveal that the number of payrolled employees decreased by 109,000 in May compared to the previous month. The employment drop comes after April’s National Insurance Contributions (NICs) policy changes.
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In a letter sent to the Prime Minister and Chancellor, a coalition of leading pub, hospitality and brewing bodies has laid out its concerns regarding the cost and impact of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy.
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The British and Indian governments have agreed to a trade deal touted to increase bilateral trade between the nations by £25.5bn. The deal saw a softening of Indian tariffs on imports of British gin and whisky which could spark growth for the UK's domestic spirits industry.
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The first House of Lords committee debate took place this week on the Employment Rights Bill after its successful passage through the House of Commons.
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Published: 11 April, 2025
Effective from Saturday (12 April) China will raise tariffs on US goods in a tit-for-tat escalation which sees both countries now imposing tariffs of 125% on the other.
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Published: 08 April, 2025
Stéphane Séjourné, European commissioner for industrial strategy, has announced that tariffs against bourbon could be removed from the EU list of retaliatory tariffs against the US.
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Published: 07 April, 2025
A new working group, which includes industry body UKHospitality (UKH), has been announced by the UK government to look into how to reduce barriers in the country’s licensing system.
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Published: 01 April, 2025
Figures from across the drinks trade have reacted to the introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation which came into effect today (1 April). The new policy which was intended to introduce a “polluters pay principle” regarding packaging waste has faced significant backlash from the drinks industry due to a series of perceived flaws.
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Published: 27 March, 2025
Data from the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking’s (IARD) 2025 Report on Underage Drinking can reveal that since 2010, underage drinking has fallen or stabilised in 58% of the 66 countries analysed. Included within this cohort are countries for whom there were reductions of underage drinking of 40% or more including Australia, the US and Japan.
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