Direct Wines' new chief David Thatcher shares his vision

David Thatcher, incoming group chief executive of Direct Wines, tells us how he is planning to build on the group's successful formula, ramp up personalisation and how Prosecco outsold Champagne 2:1 over Christmas.

Drinks industry leaders praise outgoing Direct Wines' chief Simon McMurtrie

Drinks industry leaders have heaped praise on outgoing Direct Wines' group chief executive Simon McMurtrie, as he prepares to take up a series of roles as  chairman of different businesses.

Major wine retailers boast mixed fortunes over Christmas

Majestic Wine saw sales creep up 1.1% over a "difficult Christmas" while Waitrose celebrated a bumper 15.4% increase in BWS sales over the same period last year.

Independent wine merchants celebrate festive fillip

Independent wine merchants across the country are toasting a cracking December, with sales up across the board.

March for The Independents campaign gathers momentum for national conference on March 3

Harpers new campaign to help support and put the spotlight on independent wine merchants is gathering momentum as leading independents line up to take part in a dedicated one day conference in London on March 3.

Brits fork out 50% in tax on festive drinks shop

British consumers forked out over 50% on tax for their festive alcohol shop, as taxes have surged by 19% in the past four years.

One third of wines in clear glass bottles are light damaged, says Wotwine

Shoppers should take care when buying wine in clear glass bottles, says Wotwine, after 35% of wines in clear glass out of the 6,000 wines it sampled in the last two years exhibited signs of damage from light.

Sparkling wine is top performing grocery category at Christmas

Sparkling wine was the top-performing grocery category in the supermarkets for the six weeks of Christmas growing by £25.4 million on the previous year.

Wine sales hit hardest by Scottish multibuy ban

Since Scotland introduced a ban on multi-buy alcohol deals in the off-trade in October 2011, wine sales have been hardest hit, dropping 4.6% in the year following implementation.

Retailers need to eradicate code breaking measures warns Grocery Code Adjudicator

Major grocery retailers radically need to change the way they work with suppliers and ensure their trading practices in no way encourage members of staff to break the Groceries Supply Code of Practice.

Direct Wines appoints David Thatcher as group ceo as Simon McMurtrie steps down

Simon McMurtrie, Direct Wines group chief executive, is stepping down later this month to act as chairman for a number of businesses, with current UK managing director David Thatcher replacing him.

2014 Review and Hopes and Fears for 2015: Doug Wood of WoodWinters

Doug Wood, owner of Scottish independent merchant WoodWinters, lets off steam about supermarkets, credit control and 'parasitic internet-only' retailers, while looking forward to lots of Christmas presents from staff.

2014 Review and Hopes and Fears for 2015: John McLaren

John McLaren, UK director of the Wine Institute of California, on how the UK has changed to become a fresh land of opportunity for Californian producers, how it's in a 'holding pattern' with grocers, and why he 'may scream' if he's told to 'engage with consumers' again.

Video: 2014's Wine Vision conference highlights

November's Wine Vision conference brought together the great and the good of the wine world - and focused on everything from how the brain ventriloquises taste to the need to "drag more consumers into the category".

2014 Review and Hopes and Fears for 2015: Australian Vintage's Julian Dyer

Julian Dyer, general manager for UK & Europe at Australian Vintage, talks about McGuigan breaking into the Top 5 global wine brands in the UK, consolidation in the supply sector, and why he's back the WSTA's Drop the Duty campaign.

2014 Review and Hopes and Fears for 2015: Morrisons Mark Jarman

Mark Jarman, head of wine operations at Morrisons, relives the retailer's award-winning year and predicts further success for sherry and South American wines.

Drinks suppliers: Last chance to rate major retailers in our survey

2014 saw the drinks supply sector rocked by news of Tesco's accounting practices, and the subsequent suspension of the supermarket's BWS chief brought the scandal closer to home. We would like to find out how suppliers rate retailers across the board. 

Harpers.co.uk's 10 most popular stories of 2014

The most popular stories on Harpers.co.uk throughout 2014 cover everything from TescoGate to Bordeaux 2013 to BrewDog and Bibendum PLB.

Fresh inquiry into Tesco accounts as suppliers come under spotlight

Prosecco sales rocket while still wine lags

Off-trade alcohol sales have risen 2.4% to £14 billion, with volumes up 0.8% - and Italian sparkler Prosecco has seen the most stunning increase of all, with values up 55% throughout 2014.