Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Boutinot latest signatory to Harpers Sustainability Charter

Published: 22 January, 2024

Manchester-based Boutinot has become the latest company to sign up to Harpers Sustainability Charter.

50 Best Indies 2024 ranking: 20-11 revealed

Published: 11 January, 2024

This week we continue the rollout of our 50 Best Indies 2024 results, celebrating the top merchants from across this dynamic and ever-engaging sector

New LWF layout hints at UK trade refocus

Published: 15 February, 2023

The London Wine Fair (LWF), self-billed as the ‘most intelligent wine event in the world’, has announced a new layout which will bring UK importers to the fore.

VinoVirtual launches for UK trade

Published: 04 January, 2023

French wine & spirits trading platform VinoVirtual is bringing its innovative marketplace specifically to UK buyers in 2023 for the first time, with a number of inaugural sessions taking place across January and February.

New signatories add to Harpers Sustainability Charter momentum

Published: 22 June, 2022

Barrique Fine Wines, Broadland Drinks and Spirits of Virtue have become the latest signatories to Harpers Sustainability Charter.

Indies: Fighting back against the obstacles to trade

Published: 05 May, 2022

Jason Millar looks at how the long tail of Brexit and Covid have impacted merchants looking to buy direct.

Portugal: A break from normality

Published: 03 February, 2022

For Portuguese wine, the pandemic has offered a shift away from old habits, moving to adopt a fresher, more modern outlook, as Charles Metcalfe reports.

Bouncing Back Q&A: David Gates, CEO, Laithwaites

Published: 13 December, 2021

Continuing our seasonal Bouncing Back Q&A series, David Gates, CEO, Laithwaites takes stock of the challenges and lessons of 2021 and considers the path ahead for the trade.

Lambert and Beale take VI-1 fight onto Newsnight

Published: 18 March, 2021

Campaigning wine importer Daniel Lambert and the WSTA’s Miles Beale added further momentum to the wine trade’s calls to abolish the much-derided VI-1 forms during an appearance on the BBC’s flagship news programme on Wednesday eve.

Calls for UK trade to help crippled SA by freeing up tank space

Published: 25 January, 2021

Richard Bampfield MW has issued a call to the UK trade to support the beleaguered South African wine industry as producers continue to suffer crippling government restriction and oversupply issues.

Reimagining the high street shop for drinks retailing

Published: 13 November, 2020

A renewed focused on shop-front retail has led to a rash of new openings, from Manchester to Birmingham and Surrey, writes Jo Gilbert.

50 Best Indies 2020 countdown is on

Published: 07 September, 2020

Join us as the annual Harpers 50 Best Indies awards are announced throughout this week (7 to 11 September), culminating in a live webinar with the top 10 on Friday as the final results are announced.

Kate Goodman, Reserve Wines: Back to Business Q&A

Published: 25 August, 2020

As the trade measures up to extraordinary times and swings through summer, leading businesses and operators take stock of trading conditions in the new normal.

UK should embrace “best in class” IT to secure global drinks trading pre-eminence

Published: 16 July, 2020

The UK’s withdrawal from the EU and subsequent shake up of import-export requirements is an opportunity to implement a system that secures Britain’s place as the unrivalled hub of international drinks trading.

Generics respond to the pandemic: Wines of Germany

Published: 29 April, 2020

In the last of our current series on the generic bodies and their activities in relation to the pandemic and lockdown, Andrew Catchpole talks to Nicky Forrest, MD of Phipps, representing Wines of Germany.

Thursday read: Living with lockdown - an agency view

Published: 09 April, 2020

Will Oatley, MD at Louis Latour Agencies, gives Andrew Catchpole a glimpse of the realities of life as a merchant adjusting to lockdown

Restructured Armit comes out fighting

Published: 31 March, 2020

Significant restructuring at Armit Wines following new MD Brett Fleming’s appointment has seen improved performance, stemming a decline in the second half of FY2019 with far reaching change to its business strategy.

Events guide 2020: What not to miss

Published: 13 January, 2020

James Lawrence looks ahead to some of the essential trade dates across another busy year

Spain celebrates new Caballeros del Vino

Published: 05 March, 2019

The Wine Society’s Pierre Mansour and Paul Shinnie of Alliance Wines were the latest UK trade to be honour at a lively Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino annual dinner in Mayfair last night, where they were officially invested into the red-robed order by Spanish ambassador His Excellency Carlos Bastarreche.

Ex-Sopexa UK & Ireland boss Anne Burchett launches new marketing venture

Published: 26 May, 2017

Anne Burchett, a well know figure in the UK wine trade and former managing director of Sopexa UK and Ireland, has launched herself back into the trade with the founding of Burchett Wine & Food Marketing.