The wine and spirits sector has hit back against what the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) called “the UK's uniquely punitive excise duty regime”.
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As last year drew to a close, after a November Budget the WSTA touted as “death by a thousand cuts”, Harpers set out to take the political temperature of the trade with a survey asking readers what they really thought of a number of government policies.
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The premium wine distributor Bibendum has released a new ‘Vinonomics’ graph (pictured) which breaks down the different costs that make up the price of a bottle of wine, following the Autumn Budget.
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HMRC take from the so-called ‘sin taxes’, comprising alcohol, tobacco and gambling, have continued on a downward trajectory, having fallen 35% in the last decade, according to research by leading accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young.
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Writing about the state of the drinks trade over the past year, it can be hard not to get drawn towards a general sense of gloom. Amid the frustration at a raft of government policies that have unfairly hamstrung the sector, from off-trade to on, one thing that has become clear is the industry is willing to fight for a fairer legislative landscape. The recent revelation that duty receipts have been in decline despite the February tax hike shows that those frustrated across the wine and spirits world were lucid in their critique. Calls for change are all the more vital at present given the Budget is due to be announced on 26 November. Harpers sought the perspective of leading industry figures before the government’s next key policy announcement.
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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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UKHospitality, the trade body for hospitality which represents over 750 companies in the UK, has backed the Scotch Whisky Association’s (SWA) call for the UK Government to freeze alcohol duty in the Autumn Budget.
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With one of the final installments of our Summer Q&A series, Gillian Murray, director of commercial procurement wholesale at C&C Group, reflects on the Irish business' performance so far this year as well as anticipating a busy Christmas period for the company.
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Kim Wilson, MD of North South Wines, is next up to bat for our Summer Q&A series, charting the year so far for her company and how the trade could be better supported by the Government amid industry turbulence.
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For the next edition of our Summer Q&A series Doug Wregg, director of sales and marketing at Les Caves de Pyrene, contemplates what has been a challenging year for the wine trade.
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Cambridge Wine Merchants' Hal Wilson steps up to provide the next contribution to our Summer Q&A series.
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A new survey from the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) can reveal that three out of four whisky companies expect to defer investment (or invest outside of the UK) due to the high tax burden upon them.
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Jason Millar on why the trade needs to get behind the WSTA-led wine duty campaign.
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The government won’t talk to the trade about its assumptions on duty receipts because it gets them from the OBR. The OBR won’t talk to the trade about its assumptions on duty receipts because its only customer is the government. You couldn’t make it up.
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The UK Spirits Alliance (UKSA), representing 300 distillers, has written a letter (read below) to Rachel Reeves urging her to champion the gin trade rather than burden it with further duty rises this February.
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With the end of duty easement now nigh-on a certainty, in the second of our two-parter the WSTA’s Miles Beale swings the focus on to other major issues that lie ahead.
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Drawn from our turn-of-year Looking Back, Forging Ahead series, we round up suppliers’ comments ahead of the end of duty easement on 1 February.
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SWA chief executive has claimed the industry is “not crying wolf” over the impact of the double-digit rise in spirit duty since August 2023. According to Treasury figures, the revenue from spirits duty fell by £255m for the period running 1 August 2023 to 30 November 2024, which equates to an eye-watering half a million-pound loss in revenue every day for HMRC.
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With the aim of providing clarity for the trade, James Bayley once again highlights what’s coming down the line.
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The government of South Africa has published a policy review on the taxation of alcoholic beverages, with plans to increase excise tax in the forthcoming 2025 Budget.
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