Dundee vape business Prime Vapour has closed after falling into liquidation.
Prime Vapour, which was housed in the Overgate before moving to different premises on Nethergate, which closed suddenly earlier this month.
Quantuma Advisory Limited, liquidators based in Glasgow, have been appointed to oversee the winding down of the firm.
Prime Vapour sold electronic cigarettes and multi-use vaporisers and had previously spoken out against disposable devices which are due to be banned.
In a statement, chair Mohammed Asif Chaudhry said: “At a general meeting of the members of (Prime Vapour Dundee) the following special resolution was duly passed.
“That it has been proved to the satisfaction of the meeting that the company cannot by reason of its liabilities continue its business and that it is advisable to wind up same and, accordingly, that the company be wound up voluntarily”
Posting on the company’s social media, one worker said: “Prime Vapour Dundee store is closing indefinitely.
“I think I speak for all past and present employees in the Dundee branch when I say the biggest enjoyment we got working here was interacting with our customers.
“You would cheer us up when the weather made us miserable. You kept us afloat when the world was locked down.”
Prime Vapour supported disposable vape ban
Speaking previously with this paper, a Prime Vapour spokesman said they believed not enough was being done to stop young people using disposable vaping products.
It followed an announcement on the ban of disposable vapes earlier this year.
Of the ban, he said: “Primarily, I think it is a good thing.
“There are far too many bad actors in the game, who will not check IDs, who do not care about the devices being used once, then thrown away.
“Not enough checks are being carried out – by the authorities and trading standards.
“The younger ones do not need to come into shops anymore, they can have them delivered to their door and it’s unlikely ID checks are being carried out.
“The disposable vapes provide two problems, really — an environmental one and a moral one.”
Vaping on the rise in young people
Meanwhile, the use of high-strength vapes has “increased sharply” in recent years, researchers found.
A significant proportion of vapers are opting for the highest-strength vapes they can legally get, academics from University College London (UCL) said.
Among the vapers using the highest-strength vapes, the vast majority (93%) used e-cigarettes containing nicotine at the top end of the legal limit – 20mg/ml.
The rise was “most pronounced” among those using disposable vapes and young adults aged 18-24.
Large rises were also seen among current smokers and recent ex-smokers, but not long-term ex-smokers.
Researchers said that the rise in higher-strength vapes coincides with the growing popularity of disposable vapes.
Conversation