Cheers for British wine

“The UK has over 800 thriving vineyards at home with hundreds of millions of pounds worth of wine trade that goes through UK ports every year,” said Food and Drink Secretary Therese Coffey.

“But for too long our producers have been held back by cumbersome inherited EU regulations. We can now give them the freedom that they need to thrive.

“These reforms will put a rocket under our wine makers’ businesses, growing the economy, creating jobs and supporting a vital part of our food and drink sector,” Coffey declared.

Thanks to the proposed changes to retained EU laws on the production and marketing of wine, makers will now be free to select from a wider range of vines, includ­

IGNACIO GONZÁLEZ steps down as the Nueva Pescanova Group’s chief executive on June 16, seven and a half years after joining the company.

A statement from the frozen fish group, a household name in Spain which is popularly referred to by its original name of Pescanova, announced that González’s reasons were “strictly personal” and had been reached “by mutual agreement.”

His resignation comes not long after the news last April that Nueva Pescanova’s largest shareholder, the Galician bank, Abanca, was selling 80 per cent of its holding to Canadian seafood company Cooke Inc. The transaction, which put an €800 million value on the company, has yet to be definitively formalised.

The outgoing chief executive’s role will be taken over by José María Be­

Loophole

SPAIN’S banking sector has found a way of reducing the amount of the temporary windfall tax it must pay the government since 2022.

Currently subject to a 4.8 per cent levy applied to income from net interest and net fees over €800 million, the banks insist they are complying with regulations introduced to help the government ease the cost of living crisis.

Banks also admit that they are making their own interpretations of what constitutes the tax base. As a result, the majority exclude income from their overseas branches and operations that are not related to the granting of credits.

ing more disease­ resistant varieties.

Domestic wine makers will also be free to show a variety and vintage of any wine without having to go through laborious, previously EU­mandated applications processes.

“Needless red tape stifles innovation and growth. Now we have taken back control of our laws, we can ensure they work in the best interests of our businesses,” Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said.

Meanwhile, Miles Beale, chief executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association welcomed the new measures, many of which it had already publicly proposed.

“By introducing greater flexibility, wine producers and importers won’t be forced to do anything differently but will be able to innovate,” he said.