The spirit is willing: how one Welsh distillery is ensuring its EU exports remain as strong as ever

CEO of Penderyn Distillery in the Brecon Beacons, Stephen Davies is getting ready for the end of the UK transition period. “We produce premium spirits and a lot of our whisky goes to France and Germany, while our Brecon gin is popular in Spain,” he says. “The domestic market is very strong for us too; we’re in all the big supermarkets.

“Right now, the main thing we’re looking at is labelling compliance. About 20 per cent of our business is with EU countries and we have to make sure we’re label compliant by the end of the year. So at the moment we’re concentrating on finding the most efficient way to label.”

The change in customs procedures is also a key issue, and it’s vital that the company

plans ahead. “We’re doing all that homework and working with the wine and spirits trade association,” says Stephen. “They’re pointing us in the right direction, particularly on things like labelling and compliance.

“We’re obviously aware that customs are going to change too, but we’re used to exporting all over the world, so what we’re trying to do now is establish exactly what the new procedures will be. As far as I know, there don’t appear to be any tariffs on whisky.

“With the difference in duty, getting those things right early on is so important. We tend to use freight forwarding companies for customs procedures and we’re pretty determined to get that right so that stock gets on the shelves.”