Children ban and tax blamed for vape shop closure

An entrepreneur has said the "major blow" caused by government rules banning under 18s from vape shops and new taxes on nicotine liquid due to start this autumn made him decide to shut his St Peter Port store with the loss of one job.

Pete Brierley from Vape Head saw "quite a downturn" when the ban on children came in as "obviously you can't leave a pushchair" outside when shopping.

Government rules also require vape shops to obscure windows so products cannot be seen within 9.8ft (3m) of the door in a move designed to protect children "from exposure to the advertising of vaping".

Brierley added new taxes that would see people paying £2.20 tax per10ml of liquid would also hit trade.

He said this would cause the cost of 100ml of liquid with added nicotine shots more than double with customers paying £26.40 tax for the bottle.

He said people could import 50ml of liquid with no added tax, "so basically the States of Guernsey are saying, do not support local retailers, buy online."

"I think a lot of people will just turn to online because it so much easier," he added.

Earlier this year more than 1,000 people signed a petition organised by the VapeBar asking for the ban on children to be reversed.

At the time Deputy George Oswald, the president of the committee of health and social care said: "The committee considers protecting children from exposure to the advertising of vaping products a priority."

Brierley added: "If there hadn't been any law changes we would probably still be there," and said he planned to keep a larger range at his convenience store in the town.

The tax is due to be introduced later this year, and the States said it would be publishing further details about its introduction shortly.

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