On 1 August 2026, Vapour Central celebrated ten years on the high street. It should have been one of the proudest days of my working life.

My business is not anti-social

The Government recently referred to “anti-social businesses, such as vape shops”.

The accompanying statement described vape shops as businesses that do not make a positive contribution to local communities.

For twelve years, Vapour Central has created jobs, paid taxes, occupied high-street premises, supported local services and helped smokers stop using cigarettes.

Our employees work hard, care about their customers and have built long-term relationships with people who once believed they would never stop smoking.

To have all of this dismissed by placing every vape shop into one negative category is deeply insulting.

Not every retailer is the same

The Government must distinguish between:

• a legitimate specialist retailer;
• a general shop selling vapes alongside sweets and energy drinks;
• a sham business being used to conceal criminal activity;
• a retailer knowingly selling illegal products; and
• a business selling vaping products to children.

Every vape shop should not be placed in the same category.

The Government would not describe every pub as anti-social because some premises serve underage customers or experience disorder. It would not condemn every convenience store because some sell illegal tobacco.

It should not condemn an entire specialist vaping sector because criminals and irresponsible retailers also sell vaping products.

I fully support action against illegal imports, organised crime, money laundering, underage sales and non-compliant products. Those businesses should be investigated, prosecuted and closed.

I support retailer licensing

Licensing must involve a genuine assessment of ownership, staff training, compliance history, product sourcing, age-verification procedures and the type of premises being operated. It must not simply become another fee paid by legitimate retailers while illegal operators carry on trading.

Specialist stores should be assessed separately

A properly assessed specialist vape shop is fundamentally different from a convenience store, phone-accessory retailer or American sweet shop that also sells vaping products.

Adults enter a specialist vape shop deliberately because they want specialist products, knowledgeable advice and support. Children do not generally enter these premises to purchase sweets, drinks, toys or household products.

A properly assessed specialist retailer could be required to demonstrate:

1. robust Challenge 25 and age-verification procedures;
2. regular staff training and documented competency;
3. responsible sourcing from legitimate manufacturers and wholesalers;
4. a strong regulatory and enforcement history;
5. no child-focused external advertising;
6. no product displays visible from outside;
7. appropriate product knowledge; and
8. cooperation with Trading Standards.

In return, assessed specialist premises should face more proportionate restrictions than mixed general retailers. This should include allowing products to remain visible inside the shop and permitting clear, factual product and flavour information for adult customers.

The cumulative impact could destroy the legitimate sector

From 1 October 2026, Vaping Products Duty will be charged at £2.20 for every 10ml of vaping liquid, including nicotine-free liquid.

The Government is also considering:

• compulsory white packaging;
• restricted branding and imagery;
• limitations on flavour descriptions;
• devices restricted largely to white, black or grey;
• closed retail displays;
• restricted price displays; and
• no meaningful display exemption for specialist vape shops.

An outright flavour ban is not included in the current consultation. However, flavour ingredients have already been considered separately, and businesses have little confidence that further restrictions will not follow.

Any one of these measures would be commercially significant. Taken together, they could make legitimate specialist vaping retail impossible.

Vaping Products Duty, employer National Insurance increases, business rates, rising rents, packaging restrictions, display restrictions, record-keeping obligations and possible future flavour controls all land on the same balance sheet.

The illegal market will not follow these rules

Illegal sellers will not:

• pay Vaping Products Duty;
• restrict their colours, packaging or flavour names;
• hide their products behind closed doors;
• comply with product-notification requirements;
• follow responsible marketing standards; or
• respect licensing conditions.

They will continue selling brighter, cheaper and less restricted products than legitimate retailers can legally offer.

Demand will not simply disappear. Some consumers will move to illicit retailers, unregulated websites, market stalls or social-media sellers. Others may return to smoking if legal vaping products become unaffordable, inaccessible or confusing.

If that happens, it must not later be described as an unintended consequence.

Trading Standards must be properly funded

Trading Standards services require sustained, ring-fenced funding in every local authority area.

They need enough resources to:

• inspect retailers regularly;
• test products promptly;
• seize illegal stock;
• issue meaningful penalties;
• identify beneficial owners;
• pursue repeat offenders;
• prevent offenders reopening under new companies; and
• obtain rapid closure orders where necessary.

Licensing without enforcement will simply create more paperwork and expense for businesses that already comply with the law.

The approach to alcohol appears inconsistent

Alcohol remains openly displayed in supermarkets and convenience stores regularly visited by children.

Brightly coloured alcoholic products continue to be sold using sweet and fruit-based flavours, including blue raspberry, in bottles and cans that would almost certainly be criticised as youth-appealing if they contained a vaping product.

This is not an argument for banning alcohol or hiding every bottle behind closed doors.

It is a request for consistency.

This is an entire British industry

The legitimate vaping sector includes:

• independent retailers;
• UK e-liquid manufacturers;
• wholesalers and distributors;
• laboratories;
• packaging businesses;
• logistics providers;
• compliance specialists;
• software providers;
• recycling businesses; and
• exhibition organisers.

If specialist retailers close, the damage will travel throughout the supply chain. Manufacturers will lose customers, wholesalers will fail, jobs will disappear and a larger share of demand will move to illegal sellers and unaccountable overseas suppliers.

A community and a passion are also being lost

For many people, vaping became more than a commercial transaction. It became a genuine community and a passion.

Retailers, manufacturers, advocates, former smokers and consumers shared knowledge, improved products and helped people who had struggled with every other method of quitting.

Major industry events, including Vaper Expo UK, brought that community together. Their decline and disruption reflect the loss of confidence, stability and hope throughout the sector.

People outside the industry may see only shelves of products. They do not see the years of expertise, relationships, innovation and personal commitment behind them.

They also do not see the smoker who repeatedly failed to quit and finally succeeded after receiving patient, knowledgeable support from a specialist retailer.

What we are asking the Government to do

1. Withdraw or correct the indiscriminate description of vape shops as anti-social businesses.
2. Recognise the positive contribution made by legitimate specialist retailers.
3. Introduce a meaningful specialist vape-retailer licensing and assessment category.
4. Apply proportionate display and packaging rules to assessed specialist stores.
5. Allow clear, factual flavour and product descriptions for adult customers.
6. Fund Trading Standards properly before the illegal market grows further.
7. Prevent repeat offenders reopening through new companies or nominee directors.
8. Complete a cumulative impact assessment covering duty, National Insurance, business rates and all proposed restrictions.
9. Assess the effect on UK manufacturers, wholesalers and the wider supply chain.
10. Meet responsible retailers, employees, manufacturers and adult consumers before final decisions are made.

I am not asking for vaping to be left unregulated.

I am asking the Government to regulate intelligently, distinguish responsible businesses from criminals and enforce the law against those actually causing the harm.

On 1 August, I should have been celebrating ten years of Vapour Central on the high street.

Instead, I was left wondering whether the Government intends to dismantle everything I have spent twelve years building.

I do not expect Vapour Central to be protected from competition, economic change or sensible regulation.

I do expect a fair opportunity to continue trading responsibly without being publicly condemned and commercially destroyed because of the actions of entirely different businesses.

Please reconsider the language being used and the cumulative direction of policy before thousands of legitimate businesses, jobs and years of expertise are permanently lost.

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