Cheers to Lowering the Price of Wine? The WSTA’s Plea to the Chancellor
Alcohol tax hikes have turned the UK market into a bit of a “high‑pressure” environment, and the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) is asking the Chancellor to water down the duty before the spring budget hits.
Why the WSTA’s Baffled
- Last year, Jeremy Hunt slashed drinks prices, and the result? A painful “immediate and negative impact” on businesses that love a good glass.
- HMRC data shows the government lost a staggering £439 m in excise duty revenue from wine and spirits between September and January.
- The past 12 weeks saw spirits sales dip 7.1% and wine tumble 4.1% year‑on‑year.
From the WSTA’s Leadership Desk
Miles Beale, CEO of WSTA, notes:
“Those recent duty hikes didn’t just save face; they hurt the bottom line, inflating costs, and cutting revenue for the Treasury. When the duty gets cut, sales rise, prices stabilise, and the Exchequer gets cash again. We’re asking the Chancellor to give everyone a big favour—lower the duty on alcohol.”
A Whisk of Retail Insight
Philippa Strub, the UK chief at Laithwaites, says:
“A 20% jump in wine duty back in August left the Treasury with fewer coins, and sales plummeted as consumers snatched lower‑priced alternatives. If the government flips the switch at the spring budget, we’ll see another wave of price hikes. The new duty system is so tangled that even a 50‑year‑old wine retailer will struggle to keep up with our 2,000‑wine catalogue. Duty‑driven wine inflation is already outpacing general inflation, so let’s please cut the duty and keep it that way.”
Bottom Line
It’s a classic “cut a little, save a lot” scenario: fewer duty charges, happier consumers, and a stronger Treasury. The WSTA and Laithwaites want the Chancellor to take the plunge.
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