Laurent-Perrier: King’s champagne supplier blames private school VAT for sliding sales December 9, 2025 Labour’s introduction of VAT on private school fees contributed to profit at Laurent-Perrier, which supplies King Charles III with champagne, being significantly cut during its latest financial year. The division of the French giant has said its sales were impacted not only by the Labour government extending VAT to school fees but also higher interest [...]
The Debate: Should you get drunk at the Christmas work party? December 3, 2025 Should you get drunk at the Christmas work party? It's a question as old as time. We get the case for and against in this week's Debate.
Rachel Reeves mulls second booze tax hike November 12, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering an increase in taxes on alcohol in line with a higher reading of inflation in a repeat of last year’s Budget, according to reports. Reeves could hike duties by the retail prices index (RPI) inflation rate in a bid to raise more cash to fill an estimated £30bn fiscal hole [...]
Reeves’ Budget tax hikes force nearly 5,000 pubs to the brink November 3, 2025 The tax hikes announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in last year’s Budget have contributed to almost 5,000 pubs now being rated at maximum risk and becoming technically insolvent, according to new research. Figures from Price Bailey have revealed that just over 4,7000 pubs are now in that position, a 14 per cent rise on this [...]
Don’t raise a glass to Starmer’s plan for pubs October 13, 2025 Keir Starmer claims he has a plan to save the struggling hospitality sector, but the detail is thin and all his other actions – like banning vapes and junkfood advertising – suggest his every impulse is to control people’s behaviour, says Eliot Wilson “Pubs and bars are the beating heart of our communities. Under our [...]
Gingardium Leviosa: Harry Potter star Emma Watson’s gin brand takes off October 9, 2025 The luxury gin brand co-founded by Harry Potter star Emma Watson has surged in value after raising an extra £5m. Renais Gin was launched in May 2023 by the actor and her brother Alex and is now sold in 11 countries. The siblings were inspired to set up the company by childhood trips to their family’s vineyard, [...]
Reeves must reject this finger-wagging, fun-sapping, tax-loving nonsense October 8, 2025 The Chancellor may have felt in need of a stiff drink after absorbing the latest productivity figures handed to her by the Office for Budget Responsibility, and who could blame her? The OBR is widely expected to have significantly downgraded its productivity forecasts while at the same time conceding that it’s been overestimating productivity growth [...]
Moët & Chandon: Sales slump by £25m at champagne owner September 24, 2025 UK sales at the owner of champagne label Moët & Chandon slumped by £25m during its latest financial year amid “difficult trading conditions”, it has been revealed. Moët Hennessy UK has reported a turnover of £267.1m for 2024, down from the £292.7m it achieved in 2023. The business said its fall in sales was “In [...]
Reeves’ taxes ‘incredibly damaging’ to historic family business September 16, 2025 The tax hikes introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her Autumn Budget are “a real setback” and will be “incredibly damaging”, one of the UK’s biggest family-owned breweries has warned. Robinsons Brewery, which has been in business in Stockport for more than 180 years, has issued a warning that 2025 will be “a much more [...]
Strongbow and Jägermeister social media ads banned for promoting irresponsible drinking September 10, 2025 Social media posts by Strongbow and Jägermeister have been banned by the UK’s advertising watchdog for suggesting that alcohol takes priority in life and social settings. Two Jägermeister ads on social media and one Instagram skit promoting a can of strawberry Strongbow – which is owned by Heineken – have been banned by the Advertising [...]