The UK vape industry is currently facing more uncertainty than any time since regulations began with politicians seeking unprecedented powers to restrict flavours, retail displays and product packaging.

Disposables will be banned throughout the UK from April and there are plans to introduce new vape taxes.

We would also now have a new Tobacco and Vapes Act on the statute books, had the General Election not stopped it in its tracks, but we can expect to see this legislation back before parliament, although perhaps in a revised form.

This year the Forum theme is ‘The Changing Vaping Environment – Succeeding in a New Policy Landscape’ to reflect what needs to be done against a backdrop of unprecedented regulatory change.

The vape sector has helped bring down smoking rates to a record low with affordable, technologically-advanced products which deliver nicotine to smokers in a far more appealing way than patches or gum ever can.

This year we are battling for the future of our industry so that we can continue to give adult smokers a reduced risk product which has only a fraction of the risks of cigarettes. We also want a vape licensing scheme which would come down hard on those who sell to children and provide £50m-a-year to fund an unprecedented nationwide Trading Standards enforcement action.

The annual Forum and Awards Dinner which follows are the vaping industry events of the year, which attract hundreds of delegates and guests and are attended by senior executives from the vaping industry together with MPs, government advisors, public health professionals, regulators, enforcement organisations, think tanks, researchers, product and service providers and the investment community.