Illegitimate vape shops ‘hamper’ reputable businesses

Kinnari Patel, who runs Honey’s of The High in Oxford city centre with her husband Hiten, has owned the high street independent shop for 13 years now.

Honey’s of The High has won many industry awards, including newsagents of the year and home news delivery of the year at the 2026 Fed Awards.

It comes as prime minister Andy Burnham has pledged to give powers to councils to say no to new vape shops in a bid to save Britain’s “hollowed-out high streets”.

Hiten Patel with last year’s award. This year the shop has won the same award again. (Image: Oxford Mail)

Mrs Patel said: “We’re a reputable business, have won a number of awards over the years.

“We like to make sure everything is correct; so we have the correct items, selling it to the correct people using an ID, for example.

“And then you see these other pop-ups that come up and they’re selling illegitimate things.

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“It does hamper our business because people will come in and say ‘this is how much we can pay for it there’.

“But they do not know what they’re are smoking at that price.”

She added that there are “so many vape shops around that can be a front for something” selling items that are possibly not UK duty paid.

Hiten and Kinnari Patel outside Honey’s of the High. (Image: Kinnari Patel)

“There are all these factors that hamper a reputable business like mine,” Mrs Patel added.

In April, Shafiullah Malikzadeh was ordered by the court to pay £8,955 for selling illegal vapes at Matean Market in Hollow Way, Oxford.

The 38-year-old saw 32 unit packs of vapes seized which contained nicotine containing liquid of up to five times the maximum permitted level.

Mr Burnham said high streets across the UK have become “unrecognisable over decades of decline” as he announced the changes, which would include scrapping the ‘aim to permit’ rule.

Retailers who want to set up shop selling e-cigarettes will need to ask their local council for permission.

Vape shops sit in a planning category known as Class E, a broad category covering shops, cafes and banks.

By putting vape shops into their own “sui generis” category, on which the Government will consult, it is thought every plan to set up a vape shop would need to go through the approvals process.

It has been welcomed by some of Oxford’s leaders, including safer Oxford cabinet member Lubna Arshad and Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds.

Ms Arshad said she wants high streets that are “safe, thriving and welcoming” while Ms Dodds said: “Together, we can support good local businesses and breathe new life into our high streets.

“It’s exactly these kinds of issues that local residents raise with me, who want our city to be the best it can be, not overtaken by forces out of their control.”

Gillian Golden, chief executive of the Independent British Vape Trade Association, said: “Rogue vape traders on the high street have been a blight on the legitimate sector, so we welcome measures such as extending closure orders on dodgy shops.

“For too long the media have conflated organised criminal networks with law-abiding vape businesses, when in fact these criminals just see illicit vapes as a commodity in the same way as illicit tobacco or counterfeit goods. That has damaged the public’s understanding of our sector.

“Research has shown that if even half of England’s current adult smokers were to switch to vaping, it would save the NHS £0.5 billion.

“Vaping will be soon be subject to excise duty, which HM Treasury estimates will bring in £0.2 billion in its first partial financial year (2026–27) and £0.6 billion per year by 2030.

“Cutting out illegal trade in vapes will be key in ensuring vaping products duty contributes to the UK economy rather than reinforcing an existing illicit sector.”