GREAT BRITAIN IS A FAVORITE DESTINATION FOR WINE BUSINESS BUT ONE THIRD OF CONSUMPTION IS PRODUCED "IN HOUSE". ACCOLADE PARK BRISTOL, THE LARGEST BOTTLING CHAIN IN EUROPE, IS EXPANDING AND WILL PRODUCE 600 MILLION BOTTLES A YEAR

Despite tax burdens, Britain is still one of the favorite wine trading destinations, which the major European producers keep a close watch on, just like they do with Germany. The difference is Accolade Park, the largest bottling chain in Europe that Accolade Wines (group owner of global wine brands such as Hardys, Banrock Station, Echo Falls and Kumala), opened in Bristol, in January 2009. Just recently (a few days ago) they expanded and inaugurated a sixth line, which brings Accolade Park’s production capacity to 1.200 bottles of wine per minute, equal to 600 million bottles a year.
A third of the wine consumed in the UK, then, is produced "in house". 25.000 - liter containers arrive in Bristol from all around the world. The strategy, as Paul Schaafsma, CEO of Accolade Wines told the British magazine "The Drinks Business" (www.thedrinksbusiness .com), “allows the company to provide quality, reliability and flexibility to their UK and European customers, cutting carbon dioxide emissions related to transportation in half”. Miles Beale, head of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, also confirmed this fact at the inauguration of the new line that he presented to the Minister of Environment and Food and Rural Affairs, George Eustice, stating, “the UK has a central role in the wine world. We are the sixth market, wine is the most appreciated drink and every year generates 17.3 billion pounds in economic activities”.