Barclay brothers to close Sark Vineyard

A vineyard set up by UK billionaires the Barclay brothers in the Channel Islands is to close after just six years, with its owners blaming an “attack” on alcohol taxation by its government.

Sark Vineyards, which covers 60 hectares on Sark – a car free island off the coast of Normandy but which is a protectorate of the English Crown – was set up by identical twins Sir David and Frederick Barclay – who own the Daily Telegraph and the Ritz London – in 2010.

The pair’s 60 hectare vineyard is made up of Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon, Gamay, Muller-Thurgau and Albarino, with its wine production overseen by Bordeaux winemaker Alain Raynaud since it was founded.

However last week Sark Vineyards Ltd (SVL) announced its closure in Sark, with its website already appearing to have been taken down. Despite investing millions in the project since 2010, the company said it “fails to see any future in Sark or its economy”.

Blaming the authorities in Sark for an ‘attack’ on alcohol taxation, the statement read: “The decision of 5 October 2016 to introduce taxation of alcohol production itself, amounting to a tax on one industry only on Sark, severely undermines the future financial viability of the business.”

“The Sark alcohol production tax would have been unique in the Channel Islands, and indeed in the Western World, in the way it was applied and was uniquely tailored in order to attack the vineyards, its operators and investors.”

Adding: “The proposed legislation to introduce an equivalence tax is further evidence that the authorities in Sark will stop at nothing to halt desperately needed inward investment into the island. Rather than follow the Guernsey solution which taxes conveyancing by way of share transfer, the wholly unelected Chief Pleas intends to tax company ownership of land and property on an annual basis in order to extort large amounts of revenue from Sark’s principal investor.”

The Government of Sark denies levying any taxes on the product, and says the cost of the licence to produce alcoholic products is intended to cover the cost of implementing the necessary laws, and was not a tax on alcohol itself.

As for a second equivalence tax, a statement said the proposal would relate to “property quarters and is not a tax on land”.

“It is intended to close a loophole and note raise extra taxes,” the statement said. “Therefore it is not clear how SVL conclude this ‘severely undermines the future financial viability of the business’.”

Sark Vineyards says it has about 28,000 bottles of sparkling wine in various stages of ageing, with the 2014 vintage expected to be released in December 2019.

In total, 25 full and part time jobs are expected to be lost with its closure.