The along-awaited Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme comes into effect on April 1. The scheme imposes a legal duty on all retailers to check that companies they buy from are legitimate members of the scheme and to obtain from them a unique reference number (URN). An online look-up system will go live on April 1 to enable trade buyers to check the legitimacy…

Scottish wholesaler Inverarity Morton has finalised its offering after a three-year merger process and is now targeting indies in England as it marches southwards. William Morton, a Glasgow-based beer and spirits wholesaler, bought Inverarity Vaults in 2010 and then snapped up Forth Wines in 2013. The resulting company, Inverarity Morton, was left with 3,500 SKUs, a lot of duplication and a lot of non-exclusive wines.

James Hall & Co, the Spar wholesalers for the north of England, has acquired the 30-strong chain, North East Convenience Stores (NECS). James Hall is a Lancashire-based family-owned business, which was founded in Southport in 1863. It now serves more than 600 stores in the North of England. NECS is also family-owned and is headed up by brothers Naveen and Sanjeev Vadhera. The pair will…

The advertising watchdog has laid into wholesaler The Gin Lab for irresponsibly promoting alcohol on its Facebook page after a complaint from Alcohol Concern. The charity took umbrage with a range of humorous posts the wholesaler has put up in January relating to gin. In the first an image showed a banana and a gin and tonic with text stating: “A banana 103 calories… Gin…

Conviviality, the UK’s biggest independent alcohol wholesaler, has reported a 137% increase in sales in the last 12 months, following a ‘transformational’ year. The company recorded sales of £864m in the 53 weeks to 1 May, up from £364m. It said sales were strengthened by strong trading across its retail business, along with the acquisition of Matthew Clarke in October. On the retail side, its…

Conviviality Retail, the owner of Bargain Booze, has announced it plans to acquire wine wholesaler Bibendum in a deal worth £60m. Conviviality, which is the UK’s largest independent drinks wholesaler and distributor, first ventured into supplying the on-trade last year when it purchased drinks wholesaler Matthew Clark for £200m. The company also runs 624 off-licence and convenience stores including the Wine Rack brand, as well…

The HMRC’s Alcohol Wholesaler Registratation Scheme is now operational. Between January 1 and March 31, 2016, every UK wholesaler of beers, wines or spirits must apply to the scheme and prove to the HMRC inspection regime that it is not trading in duty-evading stock. Businesses that do not apply before March 31 this year, or that apply but fail to satisfy the inspectors, will not…