Mango boosts UK expansion with Chester debut
Located at the Broughton shopping centre in north-western England, the new store marks Mango's entry into Chester with a space dedicated entirely to womenswear. The boutique adopts the brand's signature New Med design concept, blending Mediterranean warmth with sustainable materials and a fluid architectural layout. Shoppers will find a curated mix of new arrivals and enduring wardrobe staples from Mango's women's collections.
Mango has maintained a steady presence in the UK since 1999, steadily expanding its retail footprint. By the close of 2024, the brand expects to operate over 80 bricks-and-mortar locations nationwide, complementing its online channels and third-party partnerships. The Chester opening forms part of Mango's 4E Strategic Plan (2024–2026), which targets surpassing 100 UK stores by the end of the year.
The brand's expansion ambitions reach far beyond the UK. In recent weeks, Mango has launched five new stores across Italy—in Teramo, Naples, Sicily, and Chieti —further strengthening its presence in key southern European cities. Simultaneously, it continues to grow in the United States, marking a milestone last June with the opening of its 50th location in the country.
Founded in 1984 by Isak Andic, Mango now has a footprint in over 120 markets worldwide, supported by a global network of more than 2,800 stores. In fiscal year 2024, the company reported revenue of €3.339 billion, reflecting a 7.6% year-on-year increase. As part of its current strategic roadmap, Mango aims to achieve €4 billion in annual sales and open 500 new stores globally by the end of 2026.
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Euronews
6 hours ago
- Euronews
UK alcohol duty: Is it killing European wine producers?
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Although the UK does produce some wine domestically, it only accounts for around 1% of consumption by volume — roughly 12-15 million bottles per year. As such, the country relies heavily on imports to feed wine habits. Just over five months after the end of the government's grace period, how is the new duty system affecting the alcohol industry in Europe? And what knock-on effect has it had on consumer pricing? Are the UK's new rules affecting European wine producers? The end of the reprieve in the UK has meant that wine with an alcohol strength of 11.5-14.5% ABV will no longer be charged one flat duty rate as if it were 12.5% ABV. Whilst this means that the duty on 11.5-12.4% wine is cheaper, the duty on wines at 12.5-14.5% has increased. Taking into account the Retail Price Index (RPI) uprating, a bottle of 13% wine now pays £2.88 (€3.34) in tax, 21p more than before 1 February. 13.5% wine pays £2.99 (€3.46), 32p more. 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For example, medium to low alcohol white wines in the 10-11.5% ABV category, such as Muscadet, Soave and Pinot Grigio often come from cooler regions like France, Northern Italy and Germany. Wines with an ABV of 13.5-15% are those most affected by the end of the wine reprieve and typically come from warmer climates like Spain and southern Italy, as well as further afield, like Argentina, USA and Australia. This category includes wines such as Grenache (Garnacha), Shiraz (Syrah) and US Chardonnay. Some Californian reds have even become famous for being over 15% ABV. The wineries themselves are not responsible for paying the alcohol duty; that falls to the importers. While it's too soon to have concrete data on producer sales, the long term effect is predicted to manifest in numerous ways. Freddie Long, export manager at Spain's Long Wines, told Euronews that he expects a decrease in sales for high-alcohol Spanish red wines this year. On the other hand, Jessica Marzo, Director at Italica, a specialist importer of Italian wines said: 'We expect the demand for Italian wines will remain the same as previous years. The demand in general has remained steady however we are expecting more sales of lower ABV wines in comparison to the higher.' One UK-based wine seller told Euronews: 'European wines continue to be successful. Value [can be] found in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian wines, but South Africa still stands as better value.' This continued value in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian wines is perhaps best explained by lower labour costs and therefore lower priced bottles to start with. Italy has no official minimum wage and the legal salary thresholds in both Spain and Portugal are significantly lower than France's monthly €1,767, at €1,323 and €957 respectively. In South Africa, the minimum wage was set in March 2025 at R28.79 per hour (€1.39), which scaling up to a 40 hour week, totals around €240/ month. How are the UK's new duty rates affecting customers? Many importers stockpiled ahead of the 1 February change so much of the wine sold in the UK over the past few months will not have paid the increased duty rates. However, the impact on consumer habits may be visible in the year ahead. 'Within the Treasury, their modelling is a straight assumption that if you increase taxes by 3-4% there will be no impact on consumer behaviour so you can assume your revenue will go up by 3-4% too. There is plenty of evidence that that isn't true,' Stannard told Euronews. It's at a retailer's discretion if they choose to absorb extra costs. If 100% of charges have been passed down to the customer, here's how they might be affecting your glass. Hardly a bank-breaking increase, but if everyone in the supply chain adds a bit extra for profit, it may lead to much bigger price hikes. Future of the wine industry The US is the biggest importer of wine in the world by value. Germany is the largest by volume, closely followed by the UK which comes second in both measurements. Australia, France and Italy are the UK's favourite wine producers, with Spain coming in fourth, by volume and by value. In 2024, the UK imported 1.6 billion litres of wine. Much of that is imported in bulk, from new world producers like Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, bottled in the UK and redistributed. Around 20% of the bulk wine is re-exported in bottles to northern Europe. For producers, the major concern is that globally there is an oversupply of wine, WSTA's Simon Stannard told Euronews. Consumption rates are declining and although production rates have dropped a little over the past few years, the supply is still outweighing the demand. 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Zalando takes majority stake in About You, targets 8% EBIT margin
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Euronews
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