NEWS
6 ASIAN TRADER 21 FEBRUARY 2025
DEFRA’s new guidance
confirms that from 1 June 2025,
all disposable vapes will be
illegal. This applies to sales
online and in shops and to all
vapes whether or not they
contain nicotine.
The guidance released is for
importers, retail outlets, vaping
product manufacturers and
wholesalers.
This includes any shop or
business that sells single-use
vapes, such as a convenience
store, market stall, petrol
station, specialist vape shop and
supermarket.
As mentioned in the
guidance, for a vape to be
considered reuseable, it must be
both rechargeable and refillable.
A vape is not considered
reuseable, if it is rechargeable
but not refillable, or refillable
but not rechargeable
A vape is not considered
rechargeable if it has a battery
you cannot recharge or a coil
you cannot buy separately and
easily replace (the coil is the
part of the vape that’s powered
by the battery to produce heat,
vaporising the e-liquid). With a
reusable vape, you may be able
to directly remove and replace
the coil, or remove and replace
the pod (or cartridge) in which
the coil is encased.
A vape is not considered
refillable if it has a single-use
container, such as a pre-filled
pod, that you cannot buy
separately and replace, or if you
cannot refill the container.
And to be reusable, a vape
must have a battery you can
recharge and be refillable with
vape liquid.
The DEFRA guidance clarifies
that if you sell vapes, you must
ofer a take-back service where
you accept vapes and vape parts
after the introduction of the ban
comes into force.
DEFRA advises how to stay on right side of the law, avoid fines
Government publishes
Government publishes
guidelines on disposable vape ban
guidelines on disposable vape ban
Poundland has seen a
significant reduction in
serious incidents of theft
and lesser cases of anti-so-
cial behaviour after
installation of body
cameras, one of its top
executives has stated.
Calling body cameras
are a “great visual deter-
rent” Adam Starkey,
Investigations Manager at
Poundland stated, “Since
installation of the body
cameras, we have seen a
significant reduction in
serious incidents.
“Colleagues have com-
mented that the cameras
support their confidence in
dealing with anti-social
behaviour and they feel
protected in the working
environment.”
Having analysed data from
the six months before and
after installation, the stores
where body cameras have
been deployed have seen an
average of an 11% decrease in
incidents reported,
specifically violence
towards colleagues,
whereas stores without
the body cameras have
seen a significant increase,
especially in violent,
weaponised crime.
A high number of
spotlight stores (high
shrinkage outlets) have
benefited from a significant
decrease in shoplifting or have
dropped of the spotlight list
entirely.
“As a company we are
focused on listening to our
colleagues’ safety concerns
and to help them with the
issues they face in stores.”
Highstreet chain sees drop
in crime with body cameras
Carlsberg: out of Russia
Carlsberg: out of Russia
– into profit
– into profit
Carlsberg announced it returned to
profit in 2024 thanks in part to
completing the sale of its Russian
subsidiary.
The Danish brewer sought to
pull out of Russia after the Ukraine
invasion in February 2022, but it
was only in December 2024 that it
was able to sell its Baltika brewery.
The amount of the transaction
was not disclosed, but the compa-
ny’s annual statement indicated
that Carlsberg received 2.3 billion
kroner (£258 million).
2024 has been a year of major
events for Carlsberg, with the
acquisition of Britvic.
Village c-store reopens
Village c-store reopens
three-years after fire
three-years after fire
The store in Gargunnock, near
Stirling, has reopened its doors
after a three-year hiatus caused by
a devastating fire.
Thanks to the eforts of the local
community, a new retailer Ashok
Pothugunta and the support of
Nisa, the much-needed store is
back.
The initiative to revive the shop,
led by Gargunnock Community
Shop Limited, saw 259 investors
contribute a total of £65,415
through a community share ofer.
The campaign exceeded
expectations, demonstrating the
strong commitment of residents to
save their only local store.
Tesco axes 400 jobs in
Tesco axes 400 jobs in
stores, head ofce
stores, head ofce
Tesco plans to cut about 400 jobs
from stores and its head ofce,
seeking efciency savings so it can
“invest in the business”.
The move follows that of
Sainsbury’s, which said last week it
planned to reduce its headcount by
over 3,000 roles.
British companies, and
particularly large employers, are
facing increased costs this year
after the Labour government’s first
budget in October hiked National
Insurance contributions for
employers and the national
minimum wage.
Tesco said it would try and find
alternative roles for impacted staf.