Britain's gin distillers call for help from Labour in Budget
The industry warns that a duty hike has slammed the brakes on a renaissance
Britain's gin industry is pleading for help in this month’s Budget.
The country’s gin renaissance has seen the number of distillers in the UK soar from just over 190 to ore than 1,050 in the last eight years.
But then-Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s 10.1 per cent increase in duty in 2023 is blamed for “gin-flation”. The industry claims this “slammed the breaks on the gin boom”.
The UK Spirits Alliance wants the Government to show the “respect” for the gin sector that France demonstrates to champagne manufacturers. It says spirits duty now remains 77 per cent higher than the average across EU member states and is the highest in the G7.
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Stephen Russell, co-founder of Copper Rivet Distillery, in Medway, Kent, said: “It’s clear to see how proud we are as a country of our fantastic spirits industry, that stretches the length and breadth of the country, supporting tens of thousands of jobs through businesses large and small.
“Distilleries like mine are not only critical to the wellbeing of the country’s hospitality sector, but we are also tourist attractions in our own right – generating vital revenue for other businesses in our communities.
"The spirits industry was a great British success story, and we urgently need the Chancellor to back British businesses and reverse the disastrous duty hike introduced under the Conservative Government, so our brilliant industry can once again thrive.”
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Distilleries want new Chancellor Rachel Reeves to reverse Mr Hunt’s duty hike. The industry says more than 70 per cent of the cost of an average bottle is now claimed by the Exchequer.
When asked to comment on the call to cut duty, a Treasury spokesman declined to comment on pre-Budget speculation, saying: “The Chancellor makes tax decisions at fiscal events.”
