Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Conservative Party members oppose wine tax hikes

Published: 09 August, 2022

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.

WSTA welcomes Alcohol Duty Review delay

Published: 22 July, 2022

Following months of lobbying from the trade, the government yesterday (July 20) delayed its alcohol duty review till the Autumn.

Nusrat Ghani, MP, calls for more support for UK vineyards

Published: 21 June, 2022

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.

London Wine Fair digital event is now live

Published: 20 June, 2022

Following the success of the live event earlier this month, the London Wine Fair digital event launches today, which will include an intuitive digital platform with unmissable masterclasses, AI-powered matchmaking and much more.

Miles Beale speaks out against the government’s £300m tax increase on wine

Published: 23 May, 2022

As the latest Wine Drinkers UK communique suggests, taxing alcohol is set to cost the wine industry an estimated £300 million and push up prices for UK consumers, without bringing any significant boost to Treasury funds.

The taxing debate around duty

Published: 04 March, 2022

With the wine trade potentially facing a damaging new duty regime, Andrew Catchpole convened a panel at Wine Paris to ask: “Will the proposed new excise duties in the UK make wine unaffordable?”

WSTA Summit: Beale outlines path for trade recovery

Published: 15 September, 2021

In his opening address at the WSTA Industry Summit 2021, CEO Miles Beale took an imaginary look back at the past decade from 2031 to highlight the lobbying and initiatives that the industry body has planned or instigated.

WSTA claims victory as VI-1 forms scrapped

Published: 26 July, 2021

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) has won a significant post-Brexit victory after government has agreed to scrap the time consuming and costly VI-1 forms on imported wine.

WSTA calls for return of ‘zero for zero' Bourbon tariffs while warning about wine duties

Published: 07 July, 2021

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) has submitted a response to the government’s consultation on damaging US tariffs, calling for the swift removal of tariffs on US whiskies.

Pandemic boosts Argentinian and rosé wine sales

Published: 17 May, 2021

Argentinian wine and rosé were two of the alcoholic beverages which saw a “remarkable uplift” in retail sales during lockdowns and restrictions in 2020, according to the latest WSTA Market Report.

Govt delays VI-1 wine certification by six months

Published: 25 March, 2021

The government has delayed the VI-1 wine certification for wine imported to the UK from the EU by six months.

Budget: Chancellor freezes all alcohol duty

Published: 03 March, 2021

Duty on wines, spirits and beers is to be frozen, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced in today’s Budget.

A duty to industry

Published: 15 February, 2021

Will the chancellor address the continuing controversy over punishing duty rates in the wine and spirits sectors in the 3 March Budget? Lisa Riley reports.

Beale: ‘Punishingly high duty rates stifling home grown wine and spirit businesses’

Published: 28 January, 2021

The WSTA has renewed its calls on the Chancellor to cut alcohol duty to allow UK businesses to “thrive and compete on a global stage”.

Nicholls marks one year Covid ‘anniversary’ – “We didn’t know it would be a tsunami”

Published: 21 January, 2021

UK Hospitality chief Kate Nicholls has renewed calls for additional government support a year on from her first strategy meetings with ministers at the beginning of the pandemic.

Beale: ‘OIV membership is only half of the picture’

Published: 07 January, 2021

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) has welcomed the UK government’s decisions to re-join the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) as a member, but also said that OIV membership was “only half the picture”.

Trade bodies call for revamp of alcohol duty system

Published: 01 December, 2020

UK Hospitality (UKH) and the British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) have called on the government to “revamp and simplify” the system of alcohol duty in order to boost businesses and deliver on the government’s public health initiatives.

Miles Beale: Trade deal will be within the week or not at all

Published: 25 November, 2020

Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) chief executive Miles Beale has said that the UK is likely to get ‘something or nothing’ in terms of a trade deal over the coming week, while insisting that a ‘deal is still better than no deal at all’.

Beale: 'The threat of VI-1 forms is still very real’

Published: 28 October, 2020

The WSTA has warned that the threat of VI-1 forms is still "very real", saying that the policy, not just the timing, still needs to change.

WSTA crowns rum the drink of lockdown

Published: 26 October, 2020

The WSTA has crowned rum the "drink of lockdown" with the spirit enjoying the biggest growth across all spirits during the period, according to new WSTA data.