The co-founder and director of Cooper King Distillery in York, 37, said British drinkers have embraced locally made gin and whisky.
He added: โโItโs been a difficult few years grappling with Covid, spiralling costs and a cost of living crisis, and weโve now been hit hard by the duty rise that came into effect on 1 August.
โItโs driving up the price of our spirits, harming the valued hospitality venues we supply, and is effectively an unfair tax on consumers who want to support their local distillery.
โIf duty continues to rise, weโll see demand and production drop, and our green investments stall. Iโm just one of hundreds of distillers across the country who are worried for their future. The Chancellor must freeze duty on spirits in the Autumn statement and support our sector.โ
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