Why Andy Burnham is wrong to suggest vape shops are the villains

You’re shady as heck. That’s how prime minister Andy Burnham today tarred the more than 18,000 people working in the vaping sector in the UK. Burnham considers vape shops “dodgy businesses” and has announced a raft of measures that will “stop the proliferation of vape shops on our high streets”.

It comes after the July announcement that vape shops – which the government claimed “do not make a positive contribution to local communities” – would see their business rates rise to fund a 20% cut in rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues.

“Dodgy” is not a difficult accusation to make. Police raids on vape shops frequently turn up illicit products and bundles of cash and drugs, while their links to organised crime are well documented. Combined with the moral panic over youth vaping, the label is easily applied.

The rise of the high street vape shop is also highly visible and relatable across the country. The number of such stores on high streets across England increased by almost 1,200% between 2014 and 2024, according to analysis of Ordnance Survey data by Health Equity North. Some 28% of local authorities have 10 or more vape stores in their areas.

But is it fair for Burnham to be vilifying an entire sector?

The truth is, unsurprisingly, a bit more nuanced. There are dodgy vape retailers, but there are also law-abiding ones. Yet the PM is making no distinction. The vape industry, which suffers from the actions of shady operators more than any, has for years been calling for tighter regulations, a retailer licensing scheme and tougher penalties for illicit traders.

“Responsible retailers have no interest in seeing these types of businesses continue to open unchecked,” John Dunne, director general of the UK Vaping Industry Association, tells The Grocer.

But at the same time it is ”vital” that specialist vape shops are not caught up in a blanket crackdown, he adds. “They are responsible local businesses and should not be treated in the same way as rogue or inappropriate operators.”

As John McGuire, compliance director at vape retailer VPZ, puts it: “Treating all vape retailers as anti-social is the wrong call.”

“The real issue for vape retailing is inconsistent enforcement, which lets non-compliant sellers undercut responsible retailers. We’d like the government to go further on regulation, rather than exclude our sector from the high street revival we very much welcome,” he adds.

A subjective view of vape shops

Burnham’s blanket statement that vape stores “aren’t good for our communities” feels highly subjective. Alcohol, for example, was a factor in 39% of all violent crimes in 2023/24, according to government figures, and 95% of violent incidents occurred in or around drinking venues. But Burnham is giving them a huge leg-up with new business rates cuts. Perhaps because, as he claims: “I do like a pint, and I have been known to give a DJ set from time to time.”

In picking out vape shops for a kicking, he is also actively ignoring other shop categories with strong links to organised crime, like mini-marts, barber shops and sweet stores.

And why stop at vape shops? Why hasn’t he come for the charity shops, nail bars and tanning salons Brits – at least those in my local Facebook group – always bemoan the ubiquity of? Will his effort to revive the high street see Burnham come for out-of-town supermarkets next? Daytime trading restrictions for online retailers? A mandatory butcher, baker and candlestick maker in every shopping precinct?

The real crux of the issue, though, is whether vape shops have really “replaced the shops, services, and community spaces that people are crying out for” as Burnham claims. Or are they providing jobs in the local community and filling retail space that would otherwise remain empty? 

There are already laws in place to deal with rogue traders and organised crime – vape shops included – if only local councils and trading standards were properly funded to enforce them.

But it’s unfair to demonise an entire industry because a small part may be dodgy and it doesn’t fit in with a rose-tinted view of what a British high street should look like.