The recent Budget announced no extra duty increase on alcohol and this has been interpreted as meaning that no increase will occur. Unfortunately, and this has slipped under most people’s radar, there is an ‘alcohol duty escalator’ in force, set up by Alastair Darling in 2008. This increased the cost of alcohol duty by 2% above RPI (retail price index: the most commonly used measure for inflation) for each Budget until 2015. This allows any subsequent Chancellors, in this case George Osbourne, to avoid unpopular newspaper headlines whilst surreptitiously raking in extra money. As a result, we are having to increase our prices (ex VAT) with effect from midnight on Sunday 27th March by:wine; 13p per bottle.
sparkling wine: 16p per bottle
fortified wines (Port, sherry etc): 17p per bottle
spirits (40% abv): 50p per bottle
There are also increases for beer, cider and other sized bottles. Please refer to our website (www.christopherpiperwines.co.uk) for full details.
