Vape brands who fail to act responsibly and produce and market child-friendly products are in danger of killing the industry, the UKVIA Director General John Dunne has warned.
Speaking at the Annual Work Conference of the E-Cigarette Professional Committee of the China Electronics Chamber of Commerce (ECCC), he urged the vape sector not to ‘hand ammunition to anti-vaping groups’ by flouting the law and targeting children.
“Brands need to act in a more responsible way, they need to comply with local laws or risk killing our industry,” he told the gathering of more than 1,000 vape company executives in Shenzhen, China, in a recorded address.
Dunne added that targetting young people, illegally using social media influencers – especially on non-age gated platforms, like TikTok – and failing to deal with the environmental impact of disposables were all ‘real key threats’ facing the industry, showing examples of vape products which featured cartoon images or were shaped like ice lollies.
“These products are not acceptable. Not only are they illegal, but companies producing and marketing these types of childish products are just handing ammunition to the anti-vaping groups,” he said.
“The uptake of disposable vapes by young people is particularly concerning with a seven-fold increase in the percentage of 11 to 17-year-olds in the UK opting for disposable products in 2021.
“Youth uptake continues to dominate the news media with disposables being the vape of choice for underage users and this is potentially catastrophic for public perception.
“So, I would ask all of you who are gathered here today to please consider the products that you’re making for the adult audience that they’re being used for.”
Dunne also highlighted that companies who failed to comply with WEEE regulations on waste electrical recycling, marketed illegal big puff count devices or sold non-registered products were also putting the industry at risk.
Dunne also told delegates that conventional routes to market were being challenged, highlighting the increasing availability of vaping products via rapid delivery firms resulting in a substantial increase in evening sales.
He said the UK government regulation continued to favour vaping and told the conference that the industry was still awaiting publication of the government’s new Tobacco Control Plan which he hoped would be favourable to vaping.
Retail industry stakeholders are giving a mixed response to Chancellor Rachel Reeves's first budget unveiled today (30).
Reacting to the different provisions in the budget, Chris Brook-Carter, chief executive of retail industry charity Retail Trust said, “Retail is the largest employer outside of the public sector so a healthy and happy retail workforce is important for our industry and for the country’s communities and high streets and its GDP.
“Yet right now, thousands of shop workers are contacting the Retail Trust say they’re now being forced to consider leaving a job they love and often have worked in for many years because they no longer feel safe there. We therefore welcome with open arms the new funding being announced to crack down on retail crime and provide more training to police officers to help better tackle this issue.”
“We’re also supportive of the government’s commitment to extend business rates relief and introduce permanent and lower rates from 2026 if it can help to give retailers more confidence to plan for the future to ease much of the uncertainty and insecurity currently facing everyone working in the industry.
“Increases to the national minimum wage and national living wage will also support many people across the retail sector by giving them the pay raise they deserve.
“And we fully agree with the Chancellor when she says that ‘healthy businesses depend on a healthy NHS’, and hope that new NHS funding will help address the declining levels of mental health we are seeing amongst the retail workers the Retail Trust supports, particularly the sector’s youngest workers who we’ve found are most likely to be taking time off or working whilst unwell.
“However, while we recognise that the need to raise more money to fund these vital NHS services comes with some difficult decisions, we echo the concerns from some in the retail sector about the long-term impact of increased National Insurance Contributions on both employers and their staff.”
Charlotte Broadbent, UK general manager at Faire, the online wholesale marketplace. said, “We welcome the Chancellor's commitment to easing the pressures on the UK high street and on small businesses, and it's a relief for retailers that this budget has taken some action on extending the business rates discount for retailers beyond April next year and freezing the tax multiplier. But reducing the rates discount from 75 per cent to 40 per cent will still mean a steep increase for them next year, at a time when many are already facing significant financial challenges.
“Permanent lower tax rates on retail, hospitality, and leisure properties from 2026-27 are promising, but proof will be in the detail and immediate relief is essential to keep high streets resilient in the face of economic pressures.
“We're also supportive of raising the employment allowance, which should come directly off every small employers' National Insurance bill next year.
“At Faire, we remain committed to supporting our community of over 50,000 independent retailers in the UK through these challenging times, by offering tools and solutions to help with financing, managing costs and growing sales.”
Michael Shapiro, Commercial Real Estate Partner at Spencer West LLP, comments, “For those in the retail and hospitality sectors, the cost of business rates is becoming prohibitive, and this is one of the major causes of so many high street units and pubs being empty. Anything that is giving support is welcomed. Whilst the business rates system needs a complete overhaul, this is at least a positive start.”
Immediate reaction to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s first budget has not been positive.
Our regular columnist, CEO of the British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA), Andrew Goodacre, condemned the budget out of hand, calling it, “Without doubt the worst for independent retailers I have seen in my time representing the sector. The government's actions today show complete disregard for the thousands of hard-working shop owners who form the backbone of our high streets.”
He said, "This Budget betrays every independent retailer who has fought to keep their business alive through recent challenges. It's not just disappointing – it's potentially catastrophic for Britain's high streets."
There were crumbs, or rather drops, of comfort. Reeves made much of the fact that there is a penny off a pint of beer (thereby saving nearly a shilling when getting drunk), although Simon Shelbourn, Chief Financial Officer for employee-owned Kingsland Drinks pointed out that while publicans might be feeling optimistic, retailers are drinking the dregs of good fortune:
“Further taxing non-draft alcohol hurts everyone; Whilst the government is working hard to plug the hole in the country’s finances, the consumer is being further penalised despite already bearing the weight of the cost-of-living crisis, and much of the drinks industry will once again have to prove its resilience despite being positioned to drive economic growth.
He said that the move to wallop bottled beer is damaging to the industry and a setback to firms across the board “who have worked tirelessly in recent years to withstand relentless taxation in the toughest of trading conditions.”
James Lowman, CEO of the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), quickly drew up a list of disappointments, which he apostrophized as “two-thirds of a billion pounds to the direct cost base of the UK’s local shops” – although he pointed out that, “The smallest retailers, with low NICs bills and lower rateable values for their shops, will benefit from the welcome increase in the employment allowance and the retention of 40% of the retail business rates relief.”
Lowman was enthusiastic about the Chancellor’s commitment to tackling shop theft, but stressed that his long-disillusioned members “are interested only in action and in crime against their stores and their colleagues being tackled effectively.” – in other words, we’ll believe it when we see it.
The Institute of Economic Affairs predictably criticised Reeves on ideological grounds, with Tom Clougherty, Executive Director, stating, “The Government came into office promising to prioritise growth. But the reality of their first Budget – heavier burdens on business and more borrowing for public sector capital spending – does not inspire much confidence in their approach.”
He added, more in anger than sorrow: “Coming alongside an inflation-busting increase in the minimum wage and heavy-handed changes to employment law, higher employer National Insurance Contributions will be a bitter pill for firms to swallow. Businesses will see their costs rise and it will be workers who pay the price – in the form of lower wages, reduced benefits, and fewer job opportunities. The idea that this Budget does not increase taxes on workers is an economic fantasy.”
The Fed’s National President, Mo Razzaq, welcomed the alleged “crackdown on crime” and the end of the infamous “£200 rule”, but also echoed the sentiment that a higher minimum wage will lead directly to fewer retail establishments:
“A bigger-than-expected rise to the national living wage to £12.21 an hour from April 2025 is a step too far for hard-pressed small businesses,” he opined.
“As well as paying our staff more in wages, we must pay more in national insurance and pension costs, at a time when many of our other costs, including energy, are rising. There is no easy way for small retailers to combat these increases. As so many of the products that convenience store owners are price marked, we cannot pass these costs onto our customers.
“The only solution available to independent shop owners is to reduce staff hours and staff numbers and, somehow, take on even more hours ourselves.”
Pleasures are being penalised, some would say as usual. Nuno Teles, Managing Director of Diageo GB, felt betrayed by increased taxes on spirits – which will take the minimum tax burden on a bottle of Scotch Whisky above £12 for the first time – saying, “On the campaign trail, Keir Starmer pledged to ‘back the Scotch whisky industry to the hilt’. Instead, the Government has broken this promise and slammed even more duty on spirits. This betrayal will leave a bitter taste for drinkers and pubs while jeopardising jobs and investment across Scotland.”
Speaking of Scotland, the MD of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA), Colin Wilkinson, although he welcomed the 40 per cent relief on business rates for retail, leisure and hospitality (up to a cap of £25,000), spoke of a “triple blow of an increase in the NLW, risen by 50 per cent in five years, increased employer National Insurance contributions and a 50 per cent reduction in the threshold level for Employer National Insurance contributions.
“These will be yet another fiscal burden for all businesses and will restrict investment, restrict growth and increase the risk of job losses,” he said. “As a staff-intensive sector, many in the licensed hospitality industry will now be questioning whether or not they can even maintain their current staffing levels.”
Mo Razzaq also raised the alarm at the tobacco and next gen gantry, arguing that byputting duty up by 10 per cent on hand-rolling tobacco, a flat rate duty on all vaping liquids, a one-off increase in tobacco duty in line with RPI “were further blows to independent retailers”.
He pointed out something that we have been talking about until blue in the face recently: “When tobacco prices rise, more smokers are lured to the illicit market, which damages the business of legitimate retailers and damages communities. The government needs to do more to tackle the illicit market to better protect the livelihoods of members who legitimately sell tobacco.”
The last word should go to Mike Salem, the UK Country Associate for the Consumer Choice Center (CCC), who said that “Reeves wants to punish consumers for spending their own money, and these taxes were never really about public health or nudging, but a cash grab from hard-working British people.”
Independent retailers have today (30) welcomed the government’s pledge to get tougher on retail crime, with an end to the £200 rule, more training for police and retailers and a clampdown on organised crime gangs announced in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first budget.
However, inflation busting rises to the minimum wage and a 1.2 per cent increase to 15 per cent in employers’ national insurance contributions means that hard-pressed independent retailers face a rough year ahead.
Responding to today’s budget, Mo Razzaq, the National President of the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed), said, “While there were some gains, there was also some pain for independent retailers at a time when our finances are being stretched to the limit.”
The promise to crackdown on shoplifting, which is currently at an all-time high, came in the same week that a Fed survey revealed that independent retailers wanted tougher police action, more bobbies on the beat and harsher punishments as shoplifting levels reach an all-time high, a new survey reveals.
A whopping ninety-one per cent of respondents called for more police patrols on streets, while a similar number - 90 per cent - said that shoplifters should be handed harsher sentences.
Commenting on the rises to the national minimum wage – the Chancellor announced that for adults over the age of 21, this will rise by 6.7 per cent to £12.21 per hour – Razzaq said, “Small independent retailers are the backbone of their communities. We provide employment and create jobs. In many cases, we give young people their first jobs.
"As responsible employers we want to ensure we are paying a fair wage to our staff. But a bigger than expected rise to the national living wage to £12.21 an hour from April 2025 is a step too far for hard-pressed small businesses.
“As well as paying our staff more in wages, we must pay more in national insurance and pension costs, at a time when many of our other costs, including energy costs, are rising. There is no easy way for small retailers to combat these increases. As so many of the products that convenience store owners are price marked, we cannot pass these costs onto our customers.
“The only solution available to independent shop owners is to reduce staff hours and staff numbers and, somehow, take on even more hours ourselves.”
Younger workers will enjoy even larger increases, with the rates for those aged between 18 and 20 and those aged 16 to 17 rising by 16.3 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively.
Putting duty up by 10 per cent on hand rolling tobacco, a flat rate duty on all vaping liquids, a one-off increase in tobacco duty and increases on alcohol duty rates on non-draught products in line with RPI were further blows to independent retailers, Razzaq said.
“When tobacco prices rise, more smokers are lured to the illicit market which damages the business of legitimate retailers and damages communities. The government needs to do more to tackle the illicit market to better protect the livelihoods of members who legitimately sell tobacco.”
The Chancellor’s announcement of a further freeze on fuel duty was welcomed, as was confirmation that the 75 per cent rate for retail, hospitality and leisure relief would be maintained and that the minimum secondary threshold for employers’ national insurance contributions would increase to balance the impact of the increase in the NLW on wage bills.
Razzaq concluded, “Small businesses play a vital contribution to their communities and to the economy, but with the cost of doing business soaring, many Fed members are struggling to stay in business. It is crucial that they are supported, so going forward, the government must put our concerns and our issues at the top of its agenda.”
Independent retailers body British Independent Retailers Association has condemned today's Budget as the most damaging for independent retailers in recent memory, with a triple blow of doubled business rates, increased National Insurance, and higher minimum wage costs threatening widespread high street closures.
Bira, representing over 6,000 independent retailers across the UK, reports the reduction in business rates relief from 75 per cent to 40 per cent (capped at £110k) from April 2025 will more than double costs for many retailers.
This comes alongside employer National Insurance contributions rising from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent, with the earnings threshold slashed from £9,100 to £5,000, and the minimum wage increasing to £12.21 per hour for over-21s.
Andrew Goodacre, CEO of Bira, said, "This is without doubt the worst Budget for independent retailers I have seen in my time representing the sector. The government's actions today show complete disregard for the thousands of hard-working shop owners who form the backbone of our high streets.
"Small retailers, who have already endured years of challenging trading conditions, now face a perfect storm of crippling cost increases. Their business rates will more than double as relief drops from 75 per cent to 40 per cent, while they're hit simultaneously with employer National Insurance rising to 15 per cent and a lower threshold of £5,000, down from £9,100. Add to this the minimum wage increase to £12.21, and many of our members are telling us they simply cannot survive this onslaught.
"One member has already calculated these changes will increase their cost base by £150,000 next year alone," he said.
Goodacre added, "For all the government's rhetoric about supporting small businesses and revitalising high streets, their actions do precisely the opposite. These punishing measures will force many shop owners to make heart-breaking decisions about their businesses' future.
"What makes this particularly bitter is that these are family businesses, often built up over generations, run by people who work incredibly long hours to serve their communities. They're now being asked to shoulder an impossible burden while trying to compete with online giants who face none of these cost pressures.
"This is clearly an anti-high street Budget. I can only assume that the government is happy for working people to shop online and buy cheap imports. This government has shown complete disregard for the local businesses that create jobs and maintain vibrant communities," he said.
A recent survey released by Bira showed that 46% of retailers reported worse trading in early 2024 compared to 2023, with 42.6% expressing low confidence for Q2 2024.
Goodacre said: "This Budget betrays every independent retailer who has fought to keep their business alive through recent challenges. It's not just disappointing - it's potentially catastrophic for Britain's high streets."
Local shops will face significant new pressures as a result of today’s Budget, the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has warned.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves' budget's impact will be felt unevenly across the UK’s 50,000 convenience stores, with some measures such as business rate relief and the increased employment allowance mitigating costs for smaller independent stores, while providing no help for chains and larger independent businesses.
The key measures for local shops announced by the Chancellor, and the costs for local shops associated with them, are:
National Living Wage to increase to £12.21 per hour
National Minimum Wage (18-20 rate) to increase to £10 per hour
Cost to the convenience sector next year: £7.739bn (increase of £513m)
Employers’ National Insurance Contributions to rise to 15 per cent
Threshold for Employers’ National Insurance contributions to fall to £5,000 per year
Employment Allowance to rise to £10,500 a year
Cost to the convenience sector next year: £397m (increase of £85m)
Retail and hospitality rate relief reduced from 75 per cent to 40 per cent
Small business multiplier frozen for 2025/26
Cost to the convenience sector: £267m (increase of £68m)
Total cost of main announcements (year-on-year difference): £666m
ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “The cold hard facts are that the measures announced in the past 24 hours have added two-thirds of a billion pounds to the direct cost base of the UK’s local shops. At a time when trade is tough and operating costs are stubbornly high, this will be challenging for our members to absorb and there will be some casualties on high streets and in villages and estates across the country.
“Not all shops will be impacted the same. The smallest retailers, with low NICs bills and lower rateable values for their shops, will benefit from the welcome increase in the employment allowance and the retention of 40% of the retail, hospitality and leisure business rates relief. Retailers with a larger store, a number of sites or those operating a chain will receive limited benefit from these mitigations, and this will impact their ability to invest and to continue to offer services in the communities they serve.
The following additional measures were announced by the Chancellor in the Budget speech today:
Flat rate levy on vaping liquids from October 2026 of £2.20 per 10ml
Fuel duty frozen and the 5p cut extended for another year
A new commitment to tackling shop theft and funding directed to tackling organised gangs
Lowman continued: “The Chancellor’s commitment to tackling shop theft will be warmly welcomed by our members, but they are interested only in action and in crime against their stores and their colleagues being tackled effectively. We stand ready to help implement a new, and better-funded strategy to stop shop theft, abuse and violence against our members.”