Public Affairs for Positive Change

Industry

Retail

Consumer

Corporate

What We Did

PR

Strategic Comms

Challenge

We bring experience of delivering compliant communications in a heavily regulated environment through our work with VPZ. VPZ is the UK’s leading vaping specialist and retailer with over 125 stores across the UK. Our role has been to develop an engagement campaign to influence policy around the disposables ban that comes into force in June 2025 the Tobacco and Vapes Bill which is going through Parliament. We developed a public health and policy engagement campaign to influence and drive change across the sector. We identified that disposables was the biggest threat to the industry and devised a strategy to position VPZ as a progressive and responsible retailer that spoke and influenced on behalf of the sector. We also continue to influence the Tobacco and Vapes Bill as it progresses through Parliament.

Solution

From the outset we developed a messaging proposition outlining the threat and the solution to meeting the growing disposables problem and our recommendations for the restriction of flavours in the Bill. The main issue is access - where products are readily available in grocers, supermarkets, sweet shops and services like mobile phone stores, with no age verification, education or controls. Our solution has called for both the UK and Scottish Governments to implement licensing and controls for selling vaping products, with penalties for those not complying with the rules. We developed a media engagement strategy with Technology Director Doug Mutter to sit down, educate and influence national health and political writers Provided reaction and commentary around policy announcements that gained national media traction Proactive announcements to build credibility through partnerships with national retailers like Morrisons and launch of national disposables recycling schemes Thought Leadership in national and retail trade media with Compliance Director Greig Fowler on licensing and the impact of restricting flavours Built a stakeholder map spanning health policy makers, MPs, MSPs, local authorties, local influencers and activists, and agencies like trading standards to shape and influence The Bill as it goes through parliament Amplification of storytelling and content across social channels to increase influence in the health debate Recent high-impact reactive commentary examples include the Vape Tax in the recent Budget where we got ahead of the policy plans and developed a responsive comment for national and sector media. We also issued our recommendation on the proposed flavour restrictions in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill

Impact

Our work has positioned VPZ as a credible authority and voice of the vaping industry. We identified the twin threats and VPZ is now viewed as part of the solution rather than the problem. We have achieved blanket coverage across the UK national media, featuring on the BBC special reports and have staged productive discussions with political figures across all parties to drive progressive change and take best practice from countries like New Zealand. VPZ's recycling scheme has made a significant impact in local communities throughout the country and we have developed partnerships with environmental activists like Laura Young in Scotland. We also continue to engage with MPs to build allies and positively shape the Tobacco and Vapes Bill as it goes through and gets debated in Parliament. Its directors Doug Mutter and Greig Fowler are positioned as credible and authoritative voices in policy debate.