Independent English wine producers saw their turnover increase to a record high of £132 million last year, a study by online business finance supermarket Funding Options has shown.
Total turnover increased by 16% in the past year and the sector has nearly trebled in the last five years.
Funding Options claimed that while English wine may not always have been seen as a serious competitor to more traditional wine-growing regions, increased international recognition is helping to shift consumer attitudes and boost the price per bottle.
Increased sales are encouraging new producers to enter the market, with recent statistics showing a record 64 new wine producers obtaining a licence for wine production in 2016.
Founder of Funding Options Conrad Ford warned that producers need to have the funding to expand in order to continue their strong growth.
“The English wine industry is not only gaining traction amongst domestic consumers, but is now being ranked with wines from traditional white wine-producing countries such as France and Germany,” he said.
“Wine growers need to reduce restrictions on production and capacity to ensure consistent, sustainable growth in the long-term. The fall in the value of sterling serves to showcase exactly how producers need to be able to increase capacity to react quickly to changing market conditions.
“In an industry with expensive, advanced machinery, a lack of sufficient funding, particularly for many smaller and medium-sized producers, can restrict volume capacity.
“However, many wine growers will not fit the risk profile for larger high street banks when looking for lending to increase production. Winemakers need to look at all the options open to them for funding when looking to grow.”
Last month, the association representing UK wine and spirit companies called on the UK government to negotiate a comprehensive trade agreement with the European Union, as the UK prepares to leave the political bloc.
The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) warned that a so-called ‘cliff edge Brexit’, where the UK failed to negotiate a trading agreement ahead of the deadline for its withdrawal, would be ‘totally unacceptable’.
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