UK wine growers and producers demand backing to compete with Europe

Britain’s wine sector needs targeted government support to turn rapid expansion into long-term growth, WineGB has said.

The organisation is calling for stronger protection for British-grown grapes, improved access to grants and a new duty relief for wine sold directly at vineyards and wineries.

Speaking at the 40th anniversary Fruit Focus event in East Malling, WineGB chief executive Nicola Bates said the industry had reached an important stage in its development.

The UK now has more than 1,100 vineyards, around 280 wineries and 4,800 productive hectares under vine. Sparkling wine sales have risen from 2.2 million bottles in 2018 to 6.2 million, while 90% of exports are sparkling wine.

However, Ms Bates warned that producers continued to face investment pressures, slowing sales, climate volatility and a shortage of skilled workers.

The sector currently employs about 3,300 people full time and relies on around 10,000 seasonal workers each year.

“By 2040, we’re going to need 30,000 employees within the space,” she said.

WineGB represents about 500 members covering around 70% of UK vineyard hectarage. About two-thirds produce fewer than 10,000 bottles a year, meaning small and family-run businesses remain central to the industry.

While the quality of English and Welsh wine had improved significantly, Ms Bates said producers still needed to persuade more domestic consumers to try it and build stronger export demand.

“How do we get the consumers who are drinking wine in the UK to drink our product?” she said. “How do we take our wines to the world so they are buying them? And how do we prove our quality?”

She added that some consumers continued to hold outdated perceptions of the sector or had never sampled English or Welsh wine.

Economic pressure was also affecting restaurants and bars, where many people first try domestic products before buying a bottle.

“People aren’t going out as much,” Ms Bates said. “People are still having to trial and taste English and Welsh wine for them to be willing to buy a bottle.”

Retailers were stocking more English and Welsh wine, she added, but needed greater support to explain the category to shoppers.

WineGB’s first policy request is stronger protection for British-grown grapes. It wants only wine made from grapes grown in Britain to be described as British wine.

“We want to protect our grapes, so only British grapes can be called British wine,” Ms Bates said.

The organisation also wants action to prevent imported wine from being processed in the UK into “Prosecco-like goods” that could compete with domestic producers for shelf space.

Its second request is improved access to funding for wineries, presses and other equipment, alongside support for marketing, research, development and education.

“We want to get grants back in for wineries,” she said. “They should be able to get the sort of support which you get in France or Spain.”

Ms Bates described the proposal as “levelling the playing field” and said an injection of funding could help producers continue investing at a crucial stage of the sector’s growth.

WineGB’s third proposal is a wine tourism relief that would remove duty from wine sold directly to visitors at vineyards and wineries, up to a threshold of 50,000 bottles.

The organisation said the measure would particularly benefit smaller producers, many of which depend heavily on cellar-door sales.

“Most of our microbusinesses are selling about 60 or 70% of their products at the cellar door,” Ms Bates said.

WineGB wants businesses to retain the saving for investment, job creation and expansion rather than use it to reduce prices.

“Really, this is about a way of finding money which can be invested back into a business. Back British vineyards,” she said.

Ms Bates estimated that the proposal would provide about £6 million of targeted annual support to the industry.

Wine tourism is already attracting around 1.5 million visitors to UK vineyards, while sustainability is becoming increasingly important to consumers, retailers and export markets.

WineGB said 43% of UK vineyard hectares were now approved under the Sustainable Wines of Great Britain Certification Scheme.