UK Wholesalers of Beers, Wines and Spirits: Profiles of the leading 4500 companies (Spring 2019)

This study looks at all companies registered in the United Kingdom where they identify
themselves as wholesalers of beers, wines, spirits and other alcoholic beverages.

This study includes companies that are dormant or non-trading some of which might be latent while others may operate under their owners' names but are incorporated to protect the business name. In addition, all newly incorporated companies are included. The study will exclude those companies that do not specifically identify themselves as wholesalers of beers, wines, spirits and other alcoholic beverages.

The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the key movers and shakers in the UK wholesale market in beers, wines, spirits and other alcoholic beverages.

Only key data has been isolated, particularly the company's net worth and total assets, but also its full name, date incorporated, registered office, other activities, shareholders, directors (with date of birth, occupation and nationality) and number of employees.

In the years 2016, 2017 and 2018, new company incorporations in the alcohol wholesale sector were 353, 583 and 1,069 respectively.

Two indicators of size are used: net worth and total assets. These are preferable to turnover which is influenced by profit margins and whether the companies are capital or labour intensive.

In Great Britain, 57% of those aged 16 years and over in 2017 drank alcohol (29 million people of the population) while 20% did not drink alcohol at all.

Beverages breakdown in the UK is soft drinks (28%), beer (27%), whisky (25%), cider (7%), gin (3%), mineral water (3%) and others (2%).

The top two wholesalers, Matthew Clark and Diageo's distribution arm, account for 11% of the market. Distributors and wholesalers can be alcohol-focused specialists, such as Matthew Clark, which focuses on pubs; or general suppliers, such as Palmer & Harvey PLC, which collapsed in November 2017, that served supermarkets.

The Federation of Wholesale Distributors (FWD) is the trade association for food and drink wholesalers in the UK. According to the FWD, the sector spent a total of £24 billion on their suppliers with alcoholic drinks accounting for £1.9 billion and non-alcoholic drinks £2.2 billion. With an annual turnover of £30 billion and 60,000 employees, the sector supports over 400,000 retail and catering businesses.

The sector suppies 81,000+ outlets in retail, travel and leisure worth £3 billion; 165,000+ hotels, pubs and restaurants worth £5 billion; 116,000+ outlets in the contract sector worth £4 billion. The sector generated £830 million in taxes in 2016. This included £300 million in value added tax, £170 million in employers' NI contributions, £150 million in business rates and £70 million in corporation tax.

More than 11,000 pubs have closed in the UK in the last decade, a fall of almost a quarter (23%). The number of UK pubs has fallen from around 50,000 in 2008 to some 39,000 in 2018.