Hartlepool vape distributor Phoenix 2 Retail wins two awards at the UK Fast Growth Index awards
A Hartlepool vape wholesaler has double reason to celebrate.
Leading distributor Phoenix 2 Retail, based at the Queens Meadow Business Park, was announced winner of the fastest-growing consumer goods crown category at the UK Fast Growth Index awards in London recently.
Its co-founder Rachael Kelly also walked away from the night with the title of Fastest Growing Female-Led Firm.
Set up by Rachael and her husband Chris in 2020, the company now employs 80 people across three sites and supplies millions of vapes and other smoking alternative products each year to a host of leading retailers, including Morrisons, Tesco and Booker.
Managing director Chris said: “First of all I’m incredibly proud of Rachael, whose belief in what we were setting out to achieve led us to establish Phoenix 2 Retail, and whose day-to-day involvement all-too-often goes unnoticed. But not anymore.
“Inevitably, any success we have is a shared project. We want to make a difference to smokers by helping them to access the products they need to find a suitable alternative to the hugely catastrophic damage that combustible cigarettes can cause.
“We have done that by ensuring fully tested and compliant products are being sold legally, responsibly and conveniently in the same retail outlets where they do their weekly shop.
“While this award is a reflection of our hard work as a company, it’s also a reflection that what we are setting out to achieve is making a difference to smokers who are looking for a healthier life.”
Phoenix 2 Retail was also awarded a silver in the Best Growing Business in the UK Business Awards, rounding off a successful year.
The company said it has strengthened its position at the forefront of the industry by launching an independent testing regime, forging a safe retailing partnership with Safe and launching a recycling scheme for single-use vapes, anticipating the ban on disposable vapes from June 1, 2025.
The scheme addressed people’s concerns with vapes, while also helping Phoenix 2 Retail build trust in its operation, strengthen its reputation and boost its turnover, which is expected to reach £200m this year, up from £160m for 2023.