Tag: VPZ

VPZ partners with Morrisons to launch 10 new stores across the UK 

The tie-up will create up to 40 jobs and ‘make stop smoking services more accessible in communities across the country‘

VPZ, the UK’s leading vaping retailer, is set to open 10 new stores by December 2024 as part of a groundbreaking partnership with the supermarket chain Morrisons, with plans to expand further during 2025.  

The new in-store outlets will expand the brand’s presence in communities throughout the UK, with seven key locations in Leeds Hunslet, Birmingham Stirchley, Glenrothes, Peterhead, Darlington, Stratford and Grantham. 

The collaboration will also introduce a new innovative mobile pod concept for customer parking areas, with two planned for Nottingham and one in Rotheram. 

The partnership will drive positive change by making stop smoking services more accessible in communities throughout the country, whilst educating smokers on the benefits of more sustainable vaping products. 

The new sites will help expand and complement VPZ’s mission to help people on their journey to quit smoking by improving access to expert stop-smoking advice and education. 

VPZ stores offer a dedicated one-to-one service to help smokers quit. VPZ specialists are trained and have expert knowledge, engaging with smokers to educate them on the health and financial benefits of switching to vaping.  

Furthermore, as a part of their shared commitment to environmental responsibility, all new stores will include VPZ’s comprehensive recycling programme. The service is open to all vapers, as anyone can visit the new stores and dispose safely of their vaping devices or e-cigarettes. 

Greig Fowler, Director at VPZ, said: “Our partnership with Morrisons to open 10 new stores is a pivotal step in our mission to transform the health of our nation by empowering more people to become smoke-free. 

“I believe that together we will be making it easier for smokers to access the resources, help and education they need to quit smoking, while also offering a convenient and sustainable shopping experience.” 

He added: “We are looking forward to launching our new in-store locations, pod concepts and exploring further growth in 2025.” 

VPZ has recently voiced concerns that the newly announced vape tax increase will unfairly impact the most vulnerable and set back the UK’s 2030 smoke-free targets. As vaping remains one of the most effective methods to quit smoking, VPZ has warned that higher taxes on vaping products could discourage smokers from switching, undermining both health and financial benefits. 

VPZ also supports plans to ban disposable vapes across the UK and Scotland by June next year, however they have highlighted the rise of ‘Big Puff’ disposable vapes which threaten to bring a new youth vaping epidemic and even greater damage to the environment.  

The imported products are exploiting a loophole in regulations to create a new and larger single-use vaping product ahead of the disposables vape ban.  

Greig Fowler added: “These illegal ‘Big Puffs’ undermine our objectives and are poised to create a public health crisis with unregulated products flooding the marketplace.  

“At the current moment, data shows that more than ever there is a need for the Government to step in to support trading standards and local authorities to keep up with the scale of the ‘Big Puff‘ epidemic.  

“We urge for a better collaboration between the industry and regulatory bodies to address this arising issue promptly and ensure that these vapes do not flood the UK market even further and endanger the quit-smoking progress that has been achieved so far.” 

To date, Edinburgh-based VPZ has already helped over 1 million smokers in the UK quit since it was established in 2012. 

 

VPZ rewards eco-friendly festivalgoers at Party at the Palace

  • VPZ, the UK’s largest vaping retailer, will be attending Party At The Palace and plans to reward environmentally conscious festivalgoers who recycle their disposable vapes at the event.
  • The festival, which takes place on August 10 -11th at Linlithgow Palace, will be attended by the vaping retailer who alongside offering smoking cessation tools and advice will be debuting their innovative recycling service on the go.
  • Festivalgoers will be able to recycle any disposable vapes in VPZ’s bins at their stand and be rewarded with £1 off a reusable alternative.
  • Doug Mutter, Director at VPZ, said: “We are looking forward to bringing along our own innovative recycling services to Party At The Place to tackle the environmental problem of disposable vaping alongside offering incentives to those recycling to access reusable alternatives.”

VPZ, the UK’s largest vaping retailer, will be rewarding eco-friendly revellers during 2024’s Party At The Palace.

Festivalgoers are set to benefit from the vaping retailer’s one year anniversary of its partnership with WasteCare which saw VPZ launch a recycling service for vaping devices and e-cigarettes across all its UK stores.

Disposable vapes contain lithium batteries and plastic and when littered they can cause harm to the local environment.

This vape recycling service will be debuting in a mobile form at Linlithgow Palace and will be open to all vapers throughout the festival, as anyone can visit the stand and dispose safely of their vaping devices or e-cigarettes.

VPZ will have two recycling bins throughout the weekend at Party At The Palace, both located at the seating area at its stand with one for batteries and one for disposables.

For their eco-friendly efforts, for every disposable vape recycled at the Party At The Palace, VPZ are offering festivalgoers £1 off the purchase of any reusable AEQ vape at the event.

VPZ Director Doug Mutter said: “At VPZ, we are pioneering in the battle against waste and are proud to have launched our vape recycling service across all stores and now debuting it on the go.

“Our appearance at Party At The Palace will be a great chance to tackle this burgeoning environmental issue head on and aid people to safely dispose of disposable vapes throughout the event.

“We strongly believe this innovative service and intervention is vital in responding to an emerging environmental problem whilst educating vapers on the long-term financial benefits of using reusable products.”

Alongside being in attendance to educate on the environmental impact of vaping, VPZ will also be offering a dedicated one-to-one service to help smokers quit. VPZ specialists are trained and have expert knowledge, engaging with smokers to educate them on the health and financial benefits of switching to vaping.

To reflect VPZ’s full commitment to helping UK smokers on their stop-smoking journey, the vape specialist is also introducing a 30-day switch guarantee. This guarantee offers a full refund to anyone who doesn’t make a complete switch to vaping in 30 days, supporting VPZ’s confidence in the role of vaping for a Smoke-Free 2030 national goal.

By introducing this policy, VPZ is not only investing in the well-being of people trying to stop smoking but also educating them on the financial benefits of vaping.

VPZ Director Doug Mutter added: “VPZ is the UK’s leading vaping specialist, and we are spearheading the fight against the nation’s number one killer – smoking.

“At VPZ, we are much more than a vaping retailer, as our new 30-day guarantee provides a solution to Smoke-Free targets and stands by our promise to support all smokers on their own quit-smoking journey.

“Our approach gives adult smokers the help and advice they need at a time when local stop-smoking services across the country are under threat whilst supporting the country’s ambitions to become a smoke-free nation by 2030.

“We are fully supportive of the UK government’s ban on disposable vaping products and it is positive progress that we have a proposed enforcement date for April 1 next year but it’s critical that they take on board advice and guidance to regain much-needed momentum and help the country meet its 2030 ambitions.

“VPZ has been calling on the UK Government to introduce licencing and controls for selling vaping products for the past two years and it’s hugely important a ban operates alongside a licencing scheme where there are proper punishments and policing in place to enforce the ban and tackle the growth of the existing black market.”

Researchers at King’s College London found vaping to be a more effective treatment than nicotine replacement therapy for stopping smoking.

A further report from the Royal College of Physicians Tobacco Advisory Group backs vaping as an effective treatment for tobacco dependency and recommends that it should be included and encouraged in all treatment pathways. The report also found that the long-term impact of vaping is 95 per cent less harmful than smoking cigarettes.

To date, Edinburgh-based VPZ has already helped over 700k smokers in the UK quit since it was established in 2012.

Information on the UK Government’s Smoke-Free by 2030 plans can be found here: 

https://publichealthmatters.blog.gov.uk/2017/06/16/our-ambition-for-a-smokefree-nation-is-in-sight/

Vaping ‘best way to stop smoking’, says Vape boss

VPZ is the UK’s leading vaping retailer with over 160 stores throughout the UK. Since it was established in 2012 it has helped over 700,000 smokers quit.

VPZ Director Doug Mutter says the 12 per cent rise in vape sales figures across the industry is no surprise due to its effectiveness as a smoking cessation tool but urged the wider industry to take steps to educate consumers on sustainable products.

Doug said: “The significant increase in sales figures across the industry last month highlights once again that vaping is the best way for people to quit smoking and make a major lifestyle that improves your health and financial wellbeing.

“At VPZ, our stores offer a dedicated one-to-one service to help smokers quit and our consumer intelligence tells us that the majority of customers prefer being instore where they can access a personalised service and get the right guidance and advice from our staff that can’t be accessed elsewhere.

“VPZ specialists are trained and have expert knowledge, engaging with smokers to educate them on the health, environmental and financial benefits of switching to reusable and sustainable vaping products.

“Our approach gives adult smokers the help and advice they need at a time when local stop smoking services across the country are under threat whilst supporting the country’s ambitions to become a smoke free nation by 2030.

“As the UK’s leading vaping retailer we are supportive of the Government’s disposable vape ban but it’s important that they take on board advice and guidance to regain much-needed momentum and ensure that the country meets its targets.”

Edinburgh-based VPZ to launch UK-wide public vape recycling service

VPZ, the UK’s largest vaping retailer, has teamed up with WasteCare to launch a nationwide recycling service for vaping devices and e-cigarettes.

Vapes contain lithium batteries and plastic and when littered they can cause harm to the local environment.

VPZ in partnership with WasteCare is committed to tackling the problem head-on and has announced ambitions to responsibly recycle all kinds of vaping devices during 2023.

Doug Mutter, VPZ Director, said: “We believe this innovative service and intervention is vital in responding to an emerging environmental problem whilst educating vapers on the benefits of using reusable and more sustainable products.”

VPZ, the UK’s largest vaping retailer, has teamed up with the leading waste management provider, WasteCare, to launch a nationwide recycling service for vapes and e-cigarettes.

Vapes contain lithium batteries and plastic and when littered they can cause harm to the local environment.

Now, VPZ in partnership with WasteCare has announced ambitions to responsibly recycle all kinds of vaping devices during 2023.

The service is now live in the whole VPZ’s network of over 150 stores throughout the UK. The service is open to all vapers, as anyone can visit a store and dispose safely of their vaping devices or e-cigarettes. All recycling processes will be handled by WasteCare which will be responsible for safely collecting, treating, and recovering disposable vapes and reusable hardware devices from within its plant in Elland, West Yorkshire.

VPZ is the UK’s largest vaping specialist with over 150 stores throughout the country. The Edinburgh-based retailer and manufacturer has already helped over 700k smokers in the UK quit since it was established in 2012.

Director, Doug Mutter, believes the innovative recycling service will help clean up local environments throughout the country whilst educating vapers on being responsible and using more sustainable vaping products.

He said: “We are excited to be launching this ground-breaking service with WasteCare to respond to an emerging environmental issue.

“Any form of littering is unacceptable however the proliferation of disposable vape use has led to single-use devices being discarded in local environments.

“Our partnership with WasteCare responds to this challenge head on and vapers can come into our network of over 150 stores throughout the
country to recycle their vape devices, both disposable and reusable, in a safe and responsible way.

“Our service will also help us engage with adult smokers and vapers to educate them on the sustainable and environmental benefits of using
reusable products,” he added.

The WasteCare Group was established in 1980.  Employing over 500 personnel across 17 regional Service Centres, the company is the UK’s largest independent recycling company specialising in recovering value from hazardous and challenging waste streams.

“With the growing demand for vapes and e-cigarettes, we are delighted that VPZ is leading the way in providing a safe and environmentally sound way to tackle what is becoming a major challenge,” explains Peter Hunt, Managing Director of Wastecare.

“WasteCare is the UK’s only permitted recycler of portable batteries.Every vape contains a lithium battery and our plant is designed to safely recover the precious material from the vaping device, as well as the metal and plastic components in it.”

VPZ continues to call on both the UK and Scottish Governments to introduce tighter controls and licensing for selling vaping products.

Director, Doug Mutter, said: “At the moment we have a challenge in the industry where many imported, unregulated, disposable vaping products are readily available from local convenience stores, supermarkets and several other general retailers with no age verification checks or control in place.

“This is an emerging problem that threatens the huge progress of vaping in transforming the health of the nation and helping the country meet it’s smoke-free targets.

“We are urging the UK Government to act now and follow best practices from countries like New Zealand, where flavoured products can only be sold from specialist licensed vaping stores. Thus, ensuring that an appropriate challenge 25 policy is in place and consultation is aimed towards adult smokers and vapers.”