A leading giant in the British vaping industry which claims to be the country's "largest supplier" of has collapsed into administration.
Leicester-based company JM Wholesale tumbled into administration last week after becoming insolvent. According to its website, it sells “trusted brands like Elf Bar, SKE Crystal, Lost Mary, ELUX, OXVA, Vaporesso, Voopoo, and Aspire”.
It reported a turnover of £7.4million for the year to February 2025.
Administrators reportedly blamed the company’s financial distress on increased government restrictions around vapes. The disposable vapes ban brought in last year made it illegal to sell or supply single-use vapes.
Administrators said tighter regulations like this contributed to a fall in orders and loss of revenue for JM Wholesale.
JM Wholesale was founded in 2017 by some university students after they struggled to find the “quality products” that they wanted online.
Just four years later, in 2021, the company moved to a larger premises in Leicester and hired 30 new members of staff. At the time, management said they hoped to be in the new space for the next decade. It was also the first mainstream CBD wholesaler in the UK
.One of the administrators, Chris Lewis, said: “It is regrettable that JM Wholesale has gone into administration and been forced to cease trading.
“As joint administrators, our immediate priorities have been to provide appropriate support to those whose jobs have been affected, whilst the administration protects the company’s assets whilst we seek to obtain maximum value for the benefit of the company’s creditors.”
It comes amid a Labour Party government crackdown on vaping and smoking following the banning of all single-use vapes.