WSTA to the Rescue
Posted on Sat 21st Feb 2015 at 13:42
According to an article in Off License News, the Wine and Spirit Trade Association claim to have saved our industry £350 million pounds over the past 18 months.
They have, they say, achieved this through their campaigning, and are now seeking to sign up more and more independent wine merchants to ensure that the WSTA represents all facets of the industry. Chief executive Miles Beale is quoted as saying: “Through the duty cuts and changes to glass recycling rates we have achieved in the past 18 months, we believe the WSTA has saved the industry £350 million.” He also addressed the rumours about their imbalanced membership demographics: “We have an enormous number of start-up companies that join the WSTA. There’s a simple solution for non-members that claim we don’t represent them: join. If you join we can talk to you and represent your interests. I want to make us representative of a more informed industry of diverse interests. We need a stronger voice in Brussels, London, Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff. We need a strong voice in the media, where the arguments of the public health lobby play out. Help us to be a stronger voice for the industry, so we can become more influential.” Whether or not you believe we’re all in this together, £350 million is certainly a figure worth pondering.