Blair Bowman on his campaigning on DRS

This month we speak to Blair, Bowman, whisky consultant and broker who has been in the Whisky industry in a self-employed basis for over a decade, and has built a strong network within the hospitality industry in Scotland on his campaigning on DRS and his feeling on where we are & what needs to happen moving forward.

The proposed Deposit Return Scheme first came onto my radar a long time ago when I noticed it rambling on in the background of the media, but I didn’t engage with it at the time. It wasn’t until April 2022, while reading an article discussing it, that I realised how totally unworkable it was proposed to be.

I was completely taken aback. How could this be allowed to happen?

After reaching out to journalists and friends across the industry, either they were unaware of it, or if they did know about DRS, it was met with a feeling of disbelief. Mainstream journalists at the time were not interested. There were far more important things going on across the UK, as far as they were concerned, to focus on an issue that the hospitality or drinks industry was having was seen as insignificant.

Fast forward to November of last year, after having many conversations with people across the industry from brands to venues to suppliers. The feeling that this just wasn’t right and couldn’t be allowed to happen in its current state grew and became more of a driving force and a passion for many people across the industry. Something needed to be done to address the situation.

A number of people, including myself, chose to write to Lorna Slater, MSP, and voice our concerns over the plan for the DRS and its current state. We felt it was completely unworkable and offered to work closely with her and any other relevant body in the Scottish government to find solutions that were better placed within the industry and government to make amends and make it work. Well, that was the plan. We gained over 600 signatures from senior individuals across the hospitality and drinks industry in Scotland. The proposal and plans involving the trade bodies were delivered to Lorna Slater but were subsequently ignored. There was no response, no request for more information, and no solid input. Absolutely nothing at all. The industry was ignored.

Some weeks later, I received a standard reply letter from Lorna Slater’s office. It was just a combination of soundbites, which seems to be her modus operandi. There was no real traction and no real answers to any of the issues we had raised in the letter.

One of the things that astonished me was that not only did she ignore the letter, but she also ignored the input and concerns of 600 senior individuals representing a massive industry in Scotland.

That was in November, and I thought there really needs to be serious work on this. So, I sought out the advice and engagement of the industry myself.

I chose to set up a WhatsApp group and invited as many senior individuals, venues, brands, suppliers, and anyone connected with drinks in the hospitality industry in Scotland as possible to understand how the proposed deposit return scheme was affecting them. The goal was to raise awareness and challenge Lorna Slater and the government on their proposed plan.

I did not intend in any way to become a lobbyist or a campaigner, but it has become a full-time role for me effectively since January of this year. I’ve basically been on a sabbatical, trying to do as much as I can every week lobbying MSPs, speaking with contacts in Westminster, engaging with businesses and people across the industry. I believe it is such an important issue, and I believe so strongly that something has to change that I couldn’t let it rest.

Let’s be totally clear, if the proposed DRS in its current state is allowed to go ahead, it will put thousands of jobs in jeopardy, cost hundreds of businesses, and potentially damage the drinks and hospitality industry in Scotland beyond repair. All this comes after businesses have had to deal with a pandemic, which has already decimated the industry, and businesses are still struggling to get back on their feet after the last two years of some of the most challenging times in the industry’s history.

These people are my friends, colleagues, business owners, and employers in an industry that I love, and we cannot allow this to happen.

Under the current plans, consumer choice is going to be massively impacted, with only approximately 15% of suppliers having signed up. This means that over 85% of customer engagement choices will be removed almost overnight.

This is utterly ludicrous. However, as it stands, Lorna Slater and the Scottish government do not seem to care about that at all.

I simply do not believe, as many others do not, that we are getting what we deserve from MSPs such as Lorna Slater, or from Circularity Scotland.

We deserve far more. We deserve better engagement, and the industry deserves to be listened to.

We now know that Hamza Yusuf has won the vote to become the new First Minister of Scotland, although there are still obligatory processes to go through. We will see from his first First Minister’s questions whether DRS is something that is going to be continued, amended, or scrapped, and what this means for Lorna Slater, DRS, and the entire industry. However, he did state clearly that if he was brought to power, he would delay DRS for SMEs for at least a year. Let us see what changes his plans now that he has gained power, if any, and what this means for the industry and Lorna Slater.

If there has been one positive thing to take from DRS discussions, it has been the togetherness of the industry in terms of the WhatsApp group that was set up. It has been vital and hugely positive to be able to speak to like-minded individuals and businesses across the industry and, in some way, help bring them together and communicate even more.

Whatever comes next, hopefully, we will stay together as an industry, and the groups employing hundreds of people with millions and millions of pounds of turnover, along with small niche operators, will stay together for the betterment of the industry now and in the future.

We all believe across the industry that the scheme needs to be urgently paused. There has to be a better way found that does not cause so much damage to a thriving, vital industry to the Scottish economy and business. The new First Minister needs to actively engage with the trade as a whole to achieve this. There are still major unanswered questions surrounding the complexities of the DRS, not least the VAT issue, on which we have only received guidance up until now. There is also the UKIMA exemption and the list goes on.

Until there is a UK-wide unified system, you cannot address legislation, potential fraud elements, or any of the key challenges. That is why I believe there has to be an immediate pause.

One of the most infuriating parts, of which there are many, is when we listen to Lorna Slater, MSP, stating that the scheme is industry-led. It makes my blood boil, and many people across the industry’s blood boil because the claim that the scheme is industry-led is nothing short of a blatant lie.

We want to work together, and we want better. However, all we seem to get in the industry are soundbites and more questions.