English and Welsh wine has been making its name strongly at home and around the world in recent years – and today (Tuesday 16 April) Environment Secretary Steve Barclay announced further support for the industry to continue its rapid growth.
The Government has committed £1.5 million this year to a new Future Winemakers (FWS) scheme to help develop skills and employment opportunities in the sector and ensure the next generation of winegrowers can build on the successes of the past 20 years.
The funding will target education, training and upskilling, with companies estimating that thousands of new jobs will be created in vineyards over the coming years.
The Environment Secretary announced the new fund at the annual WineGB conference at Plumpton College, the UK's training center for the wine industry, in East Sussex today. More details on this matter will be announced in due course.
He also revealed the latest steps in the government's program to reform and simplify regulation for wine producers and traders.
Environment Minister Steve Barclay said:
The UK has a long tradition of producing and trading wine, and this sector has great scope for expansion.
About 2,300 people work in the British wine industry, with a further 8,300 people working part-time, with numbers expected to grow by 50% next year.
We are proud of what British winemakers have achieved over recent years, and we continue to work hard in partnership with the wine sector to simplify the rules and bring in new financial support.
Nicola Betts, CEO of Wines of Great Britain (WineGB), the trade body for English and Welsh wine, said:
The launch of this important education fund is hugely significant and will ensure we are able to train more British winemakers and viticulturists to staff our growing industry.
We are pleased that the Secretary of State has listened to our members to better understand ways in which the Government can support our sector at this pivotal stage in our history.
We are the fastest growing agricultural industry with 4,200 hectares planted to vines, expected to rise by 85% by 2032. After a bumper harvest of nearly 22 million bottles last year, we need greater support to ensure sustainable and transformative growth.
Sam Linter, Director of Wine at Plumpton College and Chairman of Wine GB, said:
As we look to the future of the UK wine industry, empowering the next generation of people working in the industry at all levels, is not just an investment in people, but a strategic step towards driving innovation and sustainable growth within the sector.
By prioritizing training and development initiatives, we are nurturing a pipeline of talent that will shape the winemaking and viticultural landscape, raising quality standards and positioning the UK to become a major player in the global wine market.
This commitment to education and skills building is fundamental to ensuring the continued success and resilience of our industry, paving the way for a prosperous future filled with exceptional wines that reflect the rich heritage and promising potential of the UK’s vineyards.
Miles Bell, chief executive of the Wine and Spirits Trade Association, said:
We welcome consultation on further reforms to legacy EU wine rules. There is an opportunity to introduce greater flexibility for wine producers and importers, which could allow companies to innovate and thus help strengthen the UK's position as a global wine centre.
The new funding package will go towards delivering new courses at Plumpton College to develop skills and knowledge. This will also help increase training capacity to ensure a skilled workforce large enough to meet the growing growth potential of the industry.
The government's latest proposals for wine industry reforms, which aim to unlock growth, ease burdens and offer consumers more choice, include:
New rules allow non-alcoholic or low-alcohol wines to be produced and marketed as wine, in response to rapidly growing consumer demand for drinks with lower or no alcohol content.
Allowing the diversion of imported wines – this will open up growth and employment opportunities for companies in the UK who will be able to carbonate and sweeten wines here. This will encourage the import of more wine in bulk, reducing shipping costs and lowering the industry's greenhouse gas emissions.
Improvements to wine labeling rules that will ensure consumers understand exactly what they are buying; For example, by requiring the term “British wine” to only be used for wine products made here using British grapes.
The consultation will continue until May 10, 2024.
It follows an initial phase of reforms introduced in January, which included scrapping redundant rules on bottle shapes and mandatory mushroom-shaped stoppers and flakes for sparkling wine to reduce costs and support recycling. The government also announced in December that companies would be able to sell pre-packaged wine and sparkling wine in a new 568ml capacity.
More information:
In addition to the newly announced funding, the government is also helping wine growers through the Agricultural Investment Fund, where companies can apply for support to invest in new technology, equipment and infrastructure to help improve productivity and environmental practices.
In addition to the UK's long-standing position as a global wine trade centre, with the wine market worth more than £10 billion in 2022, England and Wales have a rapidly growing winemaking industry. The UK now has nearly 1,000 vineyards, and the hectares under vines in the UK have more than quadrupled since 2000.
Viticulture – the growing and harvesting of grapes – is now Britain's fastest growing agricultural sector, employing around 2,300 people full-time with an expected 50% growth in jobs by 2025.
2023 was Great Britain's largest ever grape harvest, expected to produce an estimated 20-22 million bottles and more than 50% larger than Britain's previous record year in 2018.
Benefiting from the ideal growing conditions in southern England, English sparkling wine has seen a rise in popularity in recent years with 8.3 million bottles produced in 2022.
Wine GB is the national association for the English and Welsh wine industry.
Plumpton College is the UK's only wine center of excellence in education, training and research, offering courses for future winemakers as well as producing over 40,000 bottles of wine at its Rock Lodge Vineyard each year.
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