2 days ago
WH Smith locked in legal battle over unsold vapes
The high street chain previously known as WH Smith is embroiled in a legal row over unsold vapes after a government ban on single use e-cigarettes.
TG Jones is facing a court battle over its contract with NPB Brands after it sent back boxes of unsold disposable vapes following the countrywide ban.
NPB Brands and TG Jones are in dispute over the terms of their contract. A court hearing is expected to take place next week.
TG Jones is the new name of WH Smith's high street stores after WH Smith sold off its estate to focus on airport and rail shops, which are still called WH Smith.
The legal tussle comes after the Government last month banned shops from being able to sell single-use vapes both online and in stores.
Traders that continue to sell them risk a fine of £200, followed by an unlimited fine or jail time for repeat offending.
The ban is part of a push to stop children buying disposable vapes, which have become popular thanks to their various fruit flavours.
Around 7pc of 11 to 17-year-olds vape regularly or occasionally, up from 4.1pc in 2020. Almost one in five of children in that age bracket admit to having tried vaping.
Figures from the World Health Organisation have suggested that the proportion of 11-year-olds who vape is significantly higher in England compared to countries including Italy, Sweden, Germany and Spain.
Announcing the ban last year, Andrew Gwynne, a former junior health minister, said the step would 'reduce the appeal of vapes to children and keep them out of the hands of vulnerable young people'.
From June, retailers have only been able to sell reusable vapes.
Ministers have said the ban will also stop the 'avalanche' of rubbish generated from disposable vapes – which are not refillable and are unable to be recharged.
Typically people have thrown them away with their general waste in black bins or littered. Even when they are recycled they need to be taken apart by hand.
The legal tussle over its supplier contract comes as the TG Jones brand starts to appear above high street stores, with the new name replacing WH Smith.
It follows the purchase of WH Smith's high street stores by Modella Capital earlier this year.
Modella said the TG Jones name 'feels like a worthy successor' to WH Smith.
A spokesman for the company said earlier this year: 'Jones carries the same sense of family and reflects these stores being at the heart of everyone's high street.'
NPB Brands declined to comment. A spokesman for TG Jones said: 'As a matter of policy we would never comment on a commercial dispute between ourselves and a supplier.'
