An e-cigarette shop has opened on Knaresborough High Street.

Kings Lites is based in the former Yorkshire Building Society unit that has been vacant since 2018.

The e-cigarette specialist already has two stores in York and is looking at opening a fourth site, with Harrogate on its radar.

Former professional boxer Zak Collins, founder and director of Kings Lites, said the store aimed to help smokers quit and move onto e-cigarettes.

Mr Collins said:

“It is a healthier alternative to smoking and saves you a fortune. Cigarettes now cost around £17 a pack, if you switch to e-cigarettes you are saving around £120 a week if you smoke a pack a day, that can add up to a family holiday.

“It is also better for the environment and we have recyclable vape bins in our stores.”

Mr Collins said he grew up following a healthy lifestyle but his parents smoked and he watched his mum struggle to quit using replacement products.

When she eventually managed it using an e-cigarette, Mr Collins had his “lightbulb moment” and opened the Acomb store in York to help others.

‘We have received a lot of hate’

A social media post by the company announcing its opening said the Knaresborough shop would “help, serve and advise the local community on living a much healthier and finically beneficial lifestyle”.

Mr Collins said a 2021 NHS review found people who used e-cigarettes to quit smoking were up to twice as likely to succeed as people who used other nicotine replacement products, such as patches or gum.

But he added there remained a stigma around e-cigarette stores. When Kings Lites announced its new location, it received a backlash on this Knaresborough Facebook group for what it does and its colourful frontage.

Mr Collins said:

“It is completely shocking, the shops in York have always gone down really well. We have received a lot of hate opening the new shop and it is difficult to understand and quite insulting.

“There is a market for us in Knaresborough and we offer a huge selection. The shop is a big change for the High Street but things are bound to change and the colour is just to draw people in, the ones in York are the same.

“I just hope people will give us a chance to show who we are. We haven’t set out to upset anyone or be garish we are just trying to help people quit smoking and give the people of Knaresborough a healthier alternative.”

Mr Collins didn’t comment on today’s vote to ban smoking and vaping for children born since 2009 but said:

“Children vaping is horrendous and the entire industry gets tarnished because of it. We take pride in offering people a healthier alternative.”

He said the company planned to “strike while the iron is hot” by expanding, adding it was looking at potential sites in the Harrogate area to open its fourth store.

Read more:

• Local MPs support smoking ban
• Harrogate fighter’s Canada dream ends with knockout 
• Drivers face delays as four-week Pannal gasworks start

Two local MPs have said they support today’s vote to make it illegal for anyone born since 2009 to ever smoke.

MPs will vote today on Rishi Sunak’s Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

Conservative MPs have been given a free vote on the issue and this afternoon’s Commons debate is being broadcast on Parliament TV.

Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, told the Stray Ferret he supported the bill. He added:

“Smoking is the leading cause of preventable illness and death in the UK and I want people to live longer, healthier lives rather than dying younger following a period of significant illness.

“Also NHS beds and appointments taken up by people with smoking-related illnesses mean there are fewer beds for people with other issues meaning longer waiting lists for treatment so reducing the number smoking is good for everyone’s health.

“Finally there are an amazing number of days lost in the workplace due to ill health caused by smoking.  Fewer smokers is better for our economy and our productivity.”

The Stray Ferret also asked Julian Smith, the Conservative MP for Skipton and Ripon, and Keir Mather, the Labour MP for Selby and Ainsty, if they would vote in favour of the bill.

A spokesperson for Mr Mather said:

“Owing to an urgent engagement in the constituency, Keir will be paired for today’s vote so will be shown as an abstention.

“However, he has asked me to let you that he supports the legislation in principle because it will be a positive step for public health which the Labour Party has supported for some time now.”

Mr Smith said:

“I support the policy and will be voting for it.”

Former Prime Minister Liz Truss told the Commons the idea that the government “protect adults from themselves is hugely problematic”. She added:

“If people want to vote for finger-wagging, nannying control freaks, there are plenty of them to choose from on the benches opposite.”

Read more:

• Amber’s restaurant at Cedar Court Hotel in Harrogate opens to the public tonight
• Ex-James Bond star Pierce Brosnan spotted in Harrogate bar

Efforts to help people stop smoking are being undermined by the unavailability of key medicines, North Yorkshire councillors have heard.

North Yorkshire Council’s executive heard while the authority’s public health team had seen improvements in the numbers of people quitting since taking its stop smoking service in-house, fewer people were using the service due to “no access to Varenicline (Champix) or Bupropion (Zyban)”.

The medicine issue was highlighted by the authority’s scrutiny of health committee chair, Cllr Andrew Lee, referred to performance figures which he said showed the council’s stop smoking results were “flatlining a little bit”.

According to Public Health England statistics in 2021, Harrogate and Scarborough have the highest smoking prevalence across North Yorkshire with 14.4% and 13.6% respectively.

Smoking remains the single largest cause of preventable ill health and premature death in the county and is a key driver of health inequalities.

Nearly 3,000 deaths in North Yorkshire between 2014 and 2016 were estimated to be attributable to smoking.

Analysts say the government’s target for England to become smoke-free by 2030 is being significantly hampered by the unavailability of smoking cessation medicines, and in particular “nicotine receptor partial agonists”.

Medicines such as Varenicline work by stopping nicotine from binding to receptors in the brain and reducing the rewarding effects of smoking.

When asked to explain why the number of people stopping smoking had tailed off, health and adult services director Richard Webb said there had been an improved level of quitting since the council had taken the service back in-house, before he pointed to the lack of medicines.

Read more:

• Calls for urgent action to stop North Yorkshire children vaping
• Health Secretary called upon to keep Ripon dental practice open

An officer’s report to the executive meeting stated quit rates were remaining low compared to previous years.

It stated the reductions in people accessing the service had been “largely driven by the limited access to stop smoking medications over the course of the last 18 months”.

The report stated although e-cigarettes have been an option as a stop smoking tool since July this year, e-cigarettes were only available via the Living Well Smokefree service and not through primary or secondary care, as well as not being available for pregnant smokers.

It added:

“Whilst it is still too early to quantify if this has influenced referral rates into the service and therefore successful quits, it will be interesting to compare to previous years and previous quarters to establish this if this is the case.

“We also expect the return of medications to market that support an individual to stop smoking.”

North Yorkshire County Council has emphasised it will not fund people’s use of e-cigarettes indefinitely after agreeing to supply the electric vaporisers to those wanting to quit tobacco.

The authority approved supplying e-cigarettes to smokers who choose to adopt them as a method of quitting, as part of its Living Well Smokefree programme, which is being credited with enabling a dramatic decline in smoking across the county over the last decade.

While some 18% of adults in North Yorkshire smoked in 2011, by 2021 that had fallen to just 11%, significantly less than the national average of 13.3%.

The authority’s executive member for public health Cllr Michael Harrison said in order to meet the national ambition of a smoke-free population by 2030 access to all stop smoking aids was essential.

The move follows a pilot by the county’s Living Well Smokefree service finding a 93% success rate of 144 people set a quit date with the intent of using an e-cigarette as a harm reduction intervention.

When asked if the government’s ambition to have a a smoke-free population by 2030 was possible in North Yorkshire, Cllr Harrison said it would take “real action”, such as the Living Well Smokefree Service initiative.

He said: 

“So many health complaints that people hace are still smoking-related, so it’s still one of the biggest concerns for the NHS and public health teams.

“It is right that we use public health monies to try and improve the situation. It’s great to see that there’s lots of people stopping, but there’s too many people starting smoking.”

Read more:

• County council plans programme to tackle children being ‘enticed’ to vape
• ‘Shocking’ lack of NHS dentists in Harrogate and Knaresborough raised in Parliament

A public health officer’s report states although the most recent evidence suggests that e-cigarettes are significantly less harmful than smoking tobacco, they are not risk-free.

Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine, as well as other ingredients such as propylene glycol, glycerine and flavourings.

Cancer Research UK says while some potentially dangerous chemicals have been found in e-cigarettes, levels are usually low and generally far lower than in tobacco cigarettes.

The charity says exposure may be the same as people who use nicotine replacement therapy, such as patches or gum, which the county’s stop smoking service is already providing.

When asked if supplying e-cigarettes to people could lead to mixed messages, particularly following concerns that an increasing number of children were being attracted to e-cigarettes, Cllr Harrison emphasised e-cigarettes were “a short-term tool”.

He said emphasised e-cigarettes would only be given to people giving up smoking tobacco when they were on the 12-week programme, during which time the strength of the e-cigarettes would be reduced.

He said: 

“There’s too many people going straight from not smoking to e-cigarettes, but that’s not a good idea. E-cigarettes are only a good idea in the short-term to help someone give up tobacco.

“Public health are not endorsing e-cigarettes, which evidence says are less harmful than tobacco, but the long-term effects of e-cigarettes are still unknown.

“We are certainly not going to fund someone’s e-cigarette habit. There is not going to be taxpayer-funded long-term e-cigarette use.”

A North Yorkshire County Council-controlled pension fund invests over £20m in two of the world’s largest tobacco companies, despite the council being in charge of public health and running its own quit smoking service.

The revelations come as part of a series of investigations by the Stray Ferret into controversial investments made by the North Yorkshire Pension Fund, which is controlled by the council.

You can click on the links to read our previous reports on how NYCC’s pension fund invests in fossil fuel companies and arms companies.

The Stray Ferret obtained a full list of the companies the pension fund invests in through a freedom of information request.

The NHS estimates smoking kills more than 1,000 people every year in North Yorkshire but the council’s pension fund holds £12.4m worth of shares in British American Tobacco and £8.9m in Phillip Morris.

Matt Walker, an NHS manager from Knaresborough who is also a Liberal Democrat campaigner, told the Stray Ferret he has seen first-hand the damage smoking has had on people’s health, including his own grandparents.

He said:

“If I was lucky enough to have a private pension then I certainly wouldn’t want it invested in tobacco companies. I don’t smoke for a good reason; I saw the painful premature death of my grandparents who both died within days of each other from smoking-related diseases.

“As someone who has worked in health locally for nearly two decades, I know that in North Yorkshire smoking continues to be the biggest preventable cause of ill health and early death.”

‘Live its values’

NYCC has a document called the North Yorkshire Tobacco Control Strategy for 2015-2025.

It says the council has a “proven record of success” in the provision of stop smoking services, with rates falling, in part thanks to its quit smoking service called Living Well Smokefree. The service is available to anyone aged from 12 and offers one-to-one help to quit.

Cllr Caroline Dickinson and LivingWell Smokefree team members.

The report says the county still has work to do, particularly with young people and those with mental health issues. It says:

“The impact of tobacco is felt most by the poorest in the county, not just on the smokers but also on their children and their communities. We must protect the health of future generations by ensuring smoking prevalence continues to fall.”

NHS manager Matt Walker called on the council to “live its values” and divest from its holdings in tobacco companies.

He added:

“The council also has smoking policies to protect the health and wellbeing of its staff. It’s important that any organisation lives its values. North Yorkshire County Council fails at the final hurdle as its pension fund holds over £20million in tobacco companies.”

‘Not an issue’

Harrogate Borough Council Conservative councillor Jim Clark has sat on the Pension Fund’s committee of councillors since 2001.

He told the Stray Ferret that he “doesn’t think there is an issue” with the council pension fund profiting from tobacco companies whilst at the same time being in charge of public health.

Cllr Clark pointed to the way tobacco giants such as British American Tobacco have diversified in recent years.

The companies now sell, what they market as, healthier alternatives to cigarettes, such as vapes and oral nicotine products.

Philip Morris’ chief executive Jacek Olczak said he hopes half of the company’s revenue will come from these smoke-free products by 2025.

Cllr Clark said:

“We know there’s a health issue with tobacco but some of these companies have other activities. It’s very difficult to get a company that deals in one activity now.

“We must remember, if we have shares in these companies, we can help to inform the debate.”

Responsible investment policy

As we have reported this week, the pension fund investments are managed by a private company called Border To Coast.

Government guidelines say fund managers can take ethical, social or environmental concerns into account when it invests, providing the fund’s finances do not suffer.

However, North Yorkshire’s responsible investment policy, last updated in July 2021, states that it will not implement an “exclusionary policy” against companies for ethical or social reasons.

It says:

“Whilst the Fund recognises that there is the potential for investment in certain sectors to cause harm, it will not implement an exclusionary policy against investment in any particular sector or company purely based on social, ethical or environmental reasons”.

Divesting from tobacco

The Greater Manchester Pension Fund, currently the largest local authority fund in the UK, divested from tobacco stocks in 2014.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of the health charity ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) told the Stray Ferret that North Yorkshire should follow suit.

Ms Arnott said:

“Local authority pension funds have a legal duty to get the best deal for their pensioners, but that doesn’t mean they have to invest in tobacco companies.

“Greater Manchester, the largest fund in the Local Government Pension Scheme disinvested from tobacco stocks years ago, on the basis that the tobacco sector is relatively small as a proportion of world equity markets and the Fund’s investment managers’ views were that such exclusion was unlikely to have a material adverse impact on returns.

“What’s true for Greater Manchester’s pension fund is equally true for North Yorkshire.”

Gary Fielding, treasurer of North Yorkshire Pension Fund for North Yorkshire County Council, said: 

“The pension fund needs to get the balance right on responsible investment and ensuring funds are available to pay pensions without further call on local taxpayers

“Rather than divesting from companies, the fund believes active engagement gives it, in collaboration with other pension funds, greater influence in effecting change within companies.”

Do you pay into the North Yorkshire Pension Fund and have an opinion on our investigation? Contact thomas@thestrayferret.co.uk