Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

With thanks: Christmas sign-off from Harpers

Published: 20 December, 2024

As we prepare to say farewell to 2024, Harpers would like to extend a short but heartfelt thanks to our readers for their support this year.

Looking Back, Forging Ahead Q&A: Rupert Pritchett, Taurus Wines

Published: 18 December, 2024

Next up in our end of year trade talking heads is Rupert Pritchett, MD, Taurus Wines, as he reflects on remaining competitive in a challenging environment.

Silver linings in the UK wine market

Published: 09 December, 2024

Ahead of the new year, Jerry Lockspeiser seeks out the positive trends amid the challenges facing the UK wine market.

Lobbyists demand 'pro-business Scottish Budget' as inflation continues to bite

Published: 02 December, 2024

Key stakeholders in Scotland’s hospitality and retail sectors have warned of dire consequences unless the government delivers “urgent reform” in the forthcoming Budget.

Hospitality industry witnesses significant growth in Gen Z business directors

Published: 25 November, 2024

New data released by Companies House has revealed that the hospitality sector has the third-largest proportion of Gen Z business directors, with 1,630 registered entities now steered by the under 30 cohort.

Jerry Lockspeiser: What do you do when it is all over? Lessons for business from sport

Published: 29 August, 2024

It has been a great summer for sports enthusiasts. The football Euros in Germany were followed by a captivating Olympics in Paris. Footballers and Olympians were razor focused on achieving their best and produced amazing displays. The winners went home with a medal. But what does life hold for them afterwards?

Jerry Lockspeiser: Why the government doesn’t understand entrepreneurs

Published: 26 March, 2024

Someone once told me that you know what your ideal job is when you enjoy it so much, are so motivated to get up and crack on every morning, that you’d do it even if you weren’t paid. That’s perhaps a bit unrealistic for most people whose primary motivation is to earn money to live, but the point is clear. It helps a lot if you love what you do.

Vagabond under ‘no threat of closure’ despite appointing administrators

Published: 07 March, 2024

A spokesperson for Vagabond Wines, the popular ‘self-pour’ wine bar chain founded by Stephen Finch in 2009, has confirmed the business will continue to trade as usual despite running into financial difficulties.

Five minutes with Thibault Lavergne, Wine Story

Published: 05 March, 2024

Andrew Catchpole caught up with Thibault Lavergne of Wine Story at Vin, London’s leading French tasting, to find out what makes this specialist importer tick

Jerry Lockspeiser: Should business get involved in politics? Like it or not, we already are

Published: 22 February, 2024

Back in the good old days when my life involved selling millions of bottles of Hungarian wine to the UK’s major retailers, I made an appointment with the buyer at Sainsbury’s. They bought from one of our competitors and were proving a hard nut for me to crack. Buyers often kept suppliers waiting beyond the appointed time, so I settled down with my copy of The Guardian in anticipation.

Jerry Lockspeiser: Are we forgetting what customers care about most?

Published: 25 January, 2024

Izzy is a twenty-year-old student at York University. Many decades ago I was one there too. In my time students received grants for living costs and tuition fees were paid by the Government. Today those are dealt with by repayable loans. But the loans may not be enough to allow access to all. Like Izzy, for example.

Soapbox: Why is the government so disinterested in the wine trade?

Published: 19 December, 2023

The Wine Society CEO Steve Finlan calls out the government’s lack of engagement with the hard-pressed UK drinks trade.

Scotland’s call to government as hospitality faces ‘continued barrage of challenges’

Published: 03 October, 2023

The Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA) is pleading for more support to help protect the hospitality sector, as venues report the crippling impact of staff vacancies and ‘a continued wave of cost increases’.

Jerry Lockspeiser: Growth is central to business strategy. Is it time to change?

Published: 27 September, 2023

Many years ago I was asked to act as a strategic consultant to a Chilean wine business. They wanted help with reformulating their strategy, first to achieve break even, then to reach sustainable profitability. The business was 100% targeted at export markets, with the UK a key priority.

Large operator profit doubles, though challenges remain

Published: 17 July, 2023

The percentage of the UK’s largest restaurant companies turning a profit has doubled in the last year, according to new figures. However, further interest rate rises now hover over the horizon. As a result, hospitality’s biggest operators could be facing new challenges on their return journey to profitability.

Proposals to remove ban on international blending in the UK

Published: 07 July, 2023

The government claims new proposals to enable businesses to ‘blend’ and ‘transform’ bulk wine on UK turf will ‘put a rocket’ under UK trade, by allowing businesses the flexibility to blend across countries of origin – though some say this will sound death knell for wines of provenance.

Jerry Lockspeiser: Are brands the answer to Wine UK’s problems?

Published: 28 March, 2023

In the early days of my wine business career an experienced trader told me to hang onto an important insight. He said that wine is one of those subjects where the more you know the less you understand.

Boutinot Wines: Our friends in the north

Published: 14 March, 2023

The straight-talking northern distributor is a company with many hidden talents, writes Jo Gilbert.

Nick Gillett: Wholesale at a crossroads – which way now?

Published: 10 February, 2023

We’re now at a crossroads in the UK. I don’t mean economically or politically. I will leave others to comment on that. Having worked previously for a wholesaler and now as a distributor, it’s the changing wholesale drinks market I want to discuss.

The business of bartending

Published: 11 January, 2023

The evolution of the bartender during Covid and beyond continues to define a role that calls not only for impeccable drinks and cocktail-making skills, but commercial savvy, too. Clinton Cawood reports