Growing vape firm to add more than 20 jobs

A Blackburn business which makes liquids for the e-cigarette industry is expanding again after buying new multi-million-pound premises in the town.

Vampire Vape has acquired a 115,000 sq ft factory and offices in Global Way close to the M65 between Blackburn and Darwen, marking the company’s second major expansion in a year.

Founded by Phil Boyle and Nathan Walton in 2012, Vampire Vape only purchased new premises on Shadsworth Business Park in 2016, but has quickly outgrown the facility.

The move to Global Way is expected to create between 20 and 30 new jobs, taking the workforce at the firm to more than 100 staff. As well as selling to wholesalers in the UK and Europe, Vampire Vape also exports to countries including Russia, Ukraine and the USA.

The purchase of the premises has been officially completed. The firm was advised on its purchase of its new premises by the commercial property team at law firm Harrison Drury.

Phil Boyle, co-founder of the business, said: “This new facility is more than 10 times the size of our previous premises. It gives us significant new manufacturing capacity and there’s more room to expand too if needed. We’re investing £1million in new machinery and cleanroom technology for the building. We currently have 67 staff and expect to employ 100 people by December.”

The company, which is capable of producing hundreds of thousands of bottles of liquids each week, puts its success down to the use of e-cigarette products, or ‘vaping’, becoming more mainstream and regulated.

Phil added: “We’ve quickly become one of the main UK-based manufacturers of e-liquids. Where many other businesses in our industry are importing liquids, we’ve focused on producing our own product in-house to very rigorous safety standards, which gives us complete control over the process.”

Mike Fetherstone, from Harrison Drury’s commercial property team, said: “Phil and Nathan are a very entrepreneurial duo. It’s great to see two local people growing a successful business in the town and creating new jobs. Purchasing this building offers so much potential for expansion and gives them a solid foundation for the future.” The building at Global Way was previously occupied by office furniture maker GGI Office Furniture (UK) which stopped trading and entered administration in May.