Have you ever heard anybody complain that there isn’t enough paperwork to do? When did you last hear someone say, “Oh great, I’ve got a huge pile of memos to prepare”. Well I am no different to most and have developed my delegation skills to minimise the pain. What would you rather do - taste a flight of wines with a winemaker discussing how to move a blend forwards - or tap away on a computer screen for hours - no competition!

However, there is one date in the diary that nobody in the wine trade can avoid and that is Budget Day. The duty increases announced on Wednesday are effective from 12.00pm Sunday night so all costs must be changed. Then there are the implications on the selling prices of wines to consider and how should we offset the costs. This week the Chancellor raised duty (and the corresponding VAT) by 14p on a bottle of still wine and 18p on sparkling wine, and this is not a cost that can be absorbed by any retailer or supplier. The impact then will be felt by the wine drinking public on their favourite tipples.

We made decisions on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning on which wines need to go up in price and which will remain the same, and these will be in place on Monday morning. After that we have to hold our breath and see what the impact on sales will be. But you can be rest assured we will not be reducing the quality of any wines in order to hit/maintain lower price points. Once you start on that slippery slope it is very difficult to stop and my aim over the last four years has been to constantly improve quality. I am not about to change that policy now!