WSTA, The Drinks Trust and WSET launch appeal for EDI Initiative
The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA), The Drinks Trust and the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) have launched an appeal for funding to support the initial stage of its initiative aimed at fostering equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in the UK drinks industry.
This announcement follows the seminar titled ‘Creating Change: Improving Safeguarding and Equity in the Drinks Industry’ held at the London Wine Fair (LWF).
Miles Beale, CEO of the WSTA, emphasised the collective goal: “What we are collectively trying to do is to create an accountable drinks industry that is equitable, diverse, inclusive and safe. We will shortly appoint an expert Advisory Council to guide the Programme Board and to support the right direction of travel for our shared initiative. Council members will be vital in offering support, expertise and urgency, as well as representing communities across the drinks industry.”
Key industry figures at the seminar expressed strong support for the initiative. Sofia Gassne, head of HR at Hawksmoor, called on the industry to: “wake up and take responsibility to make the industry a better place to work.”
Lorraine Copes, founder & CEO of Be Inclusive Hospitality, echoed this sentiment, stating: “You all have power, and you all have influence and if you choose to do nothing you are complicit with the problem that you are trying to address.”
Gary Keller, Wine & Drinks expertise at Molson Coors, spoke about the importance of being one's “authentic self” in the workplace and the industry's need to strive for inclusivity.
Queena Wong, founder of Curious Vines, advocated for male leaders to join the effort to create safer working environments: “Things are changing and we need to make leaders look forward to the future and change things for the next generation; we all need to be authentic in our commitment to EDI.”
Beale concluded: “We are now at the stage where we are ready to address the industry and appeal for funding to make sure that we can resource our efforts fully and deliver the first stage of the programme.”
To register your interest in donating funding to the programme contact miles@wsta.co.uk
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