Campaigners have urged the UK Chancellor Philip Hammond to freeze tobacco duty when he delivers his autumn budget statement on October 29.
Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ group Forest said today that tobacco duty had been rising for years because of the so-called tobacco tax escalator.
Today, more than 80 percent of the retail price of cigarettes and rolling tobacco went to the government.
And a further increase in tobacco duty would once again hit those who could least afford it, including the elderly and the low paid.
“As well as forcing some people further into poverty, it will inevitably encourage others to buy their tobacco abroad or on the black market at home,” Clark said.
“This will hit legitimate retailers and the government will lose revenue; so no-one wins apart from criminal gangs and illicit traders.”
Calling for a freeze on tobacco duty, Clark said that while smoking might not be a healthy lifestyle choice, tobacco was a legal product and targeting smokers with punitive taxation was unfair on consumers and retailers.
“Fair’s fair,” he said. “A freeze on tobacco duty is long overdue and would be welcomed by millions of smokers who are tired of being singled out by successive governments.”
Tag: United Kingdom
Call for duty freeze
PM takes next, big step
A new campaign that aims to persuade UK smokers to go smoke-free with the support of friends and family has been launched today by Philip Morris Ltd (PML), the UK and Ireland affiliate of Philip Morris International.
The campaign, called Hold My Light, is designed to offer the UK’s 7.4 million smokers a new, innovative approach to going smoke-free. Smokers are encouraged to ask friends and family to pledge small, practical offers of support if they commit to giving up smoking for an initial 30 days.
The £2 million campaign features a website, video and major advertising campaign across digital and print media aimed at both smokers and their potential supporters.
In a press note today, PML said that the Hold My Light campaign was based on similar behavioural-science initiatives that had created positive societal change and was aimed at the 60 percent of smokers who said they wanted to quit.
‘The website, www.holdmylight.co.uk suggests the kind of pledges that supporters might offer – from looking after your pet to cooking dinner every night,’ the note said. ‘Asking smokers to give up cigarettes for 30 days is based on Public Health England research that found smokers who gave up for 28 days were five times more likely to stop smoking completely.’
Peter Nixon, MD of PML said the campaign broke new ground that was an important next step in the company’s going smoke-free and ultimately stopping cigarette sales. “There are more options than ever before for smokers to give up cigarettes but often they don’t realise that alternatives, like e-cigarettes and heated tobacco, are a better choice than continuing to smoke,” he said. “Our research has shown that smokers want personal support from friends and family if they are to give up cigarettes – and that is what Hold My Light is designed to offer.”
The new campaign was developed by PML as part of its New Year’s commitment towards a smoke-free future and reflects the company’s position that quitting smoking and nicotine use altogether is the best decision that a smoker can make.
The company said the campaign marked the first time a tobacco company had launched a smoke-free campaign directly aimed at encouraging UK smokers to give up cigarettes.Promoting facts
The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said yesterday that it had upheld 17 complaints about Nicoventures Trading’s Vype website at www.govype.com.
A number of other claims were said to have been informally resolved after the advertiser had agreed to remove them.
Johnson & Johnson Ltd, which was said by the ASA to have understood that only factual content was permitted on marketers’ own websites for unlicensed nicotine-containing electronic cigarettes and their components, challenged whether 20 statements made on the website were promotional claims, and therefore in breach of the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (CAP Code).
The ASA said that factual claims about products are permitted on marketers’ own websites and, in certain circumstances, in other non-paid-for space online under the marketer’s control.
An inspection of the Vype site was apparently made on January 2.
The ASA’s ruling was that the website must not appear again in its ‘current’ form.
It said that it had told Nicoventures to remove the claims found to be in breach of the Code and to ensure that they did not use promotional claims for unlicensed nicotine-containing e-cigarettes or e-liquids on their website.
More information is available here.Strong revenue growth
British American Tobacco said today that it was continuing to deliver good market share gains against a backdrop where expectations remained unchanged for industry volume to be down around 3.5 percent for the full year.
‘In the US, we are performing well, with growing value share and pricing in line with expectations,’ BAT said in a note posted on its website. ‘US industry volume decline remains in line with historic ranges and is expected to be down around 4.0-4.5 percent for the full year, with a slight improvement in H2’
The company was delivering an update ahead of analyst and investor meetings during the ‘coming weeks’ in which it said it would discuss the progress of the business and the opportunities ahead.
Also as part of its update, BAT said its geographic expansion in respect of Tobacco Heating Products (THP) was continuing to progress well, with THP revenue expected to grow substantially. In Japan, where the THP category remained flat, glo’s share was now at 4.4 percent, up from 3.3 percent at the start of the year.
‘BAT’s global vapor business is expected to deliver double digit volume and constant currency revenue growth in 2018, on a representative basis, with Vuse in the US continuing to perform well driven by the launch of our pod-mod product, Alto, and the reintroduction of Vibe,’ the company said. ‘Vype continues to grow share, with ePen3 showing promising initial results in the UK and Canada
‘THP and vapor revenue is showing strong growth and is expected to reach £900 million of reported revenue in 2018, led by THP. The revision from the previously announced revenue target of £1 billion is largely driven by a reduction in planned year-end stocks in Japan as the THP category remains flat and the effect of the Vuse Vibe recall in the US.
‘In Oral Tobacco, we expect strong constant currency revenue growth on a representative basis, with good performances in both the US and Europe, following the continued success of Epok.’Vapers to get fair deal
UK vapers are to be given the chance of accessing life insurance at rates close to those paid by non-smokers, according to a press note put out by the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) and the insurance adviser Future Proof.
Until now, vapers – and people who have quit smoking by using nicotine replacement products – have been paying the same premiums as smokers, despite their having switched to less harmful products.
Currently, a 40-year-old smoker who takes out £200,000 of life cover over 25 years can be expected to pay £38.09 a month, whereas a non-smoker would pay £16.06 a month for the same level of cover.
But Future Proof is said to have launched the UK’s first ever price-comparison site especially designed for vapers, a site that will allow them to be separated from smokers and to access tailored insurance packages. The offer applies to former smokers who have been smoke-free through vaping for a year.
According to the press note, a 40-year-old vaper with a 25-year, £200,000 policy, would pay £18.77 a month, much less than a smoker would pay but more than a non-smoker, non-vaper would pay.
David Mead, chief executive of Future Proof, was quoted as saying that his company had wanted to bring an easy-to-use price-comparison site to help vapers save money. “The biggest winners are people who have only been vaping and people who have not been using tobacco products for at least 12 months,” he said.
Meanwhile, a UKVIA spokesperson described the initiative as “fantastic news for vapers all across the UK who will finally be given fair treatment”…
“Vaping has been recognised as being at least 95 percent less harmful than smoking and it is a great sign to see the insurance market is finally acknowledging this evidence and is moving away from treating vapers as smokers.”
The vaper friendly life insurance comparison site is here: https://www.futureproofinsurance.co.uk/life-insurance-for-vapers.Warning: changes ahead
Graphic warnings on UK cigarette packs are expected to be replaced by Australian versions in the event of the country’s making a no-deal exit from the EU, according to a story at bbc.com.
Tobacco manufacturers have had to print images highlighting the dangers of smoking on all their products sold in the UK since 2009.
However, the government said in August that the images would have to change because the European Commission owned the copyright to those currently in use.
Now it says the Australian government has agreed to supply alternatives.
The change is one of many small ways in which a no-deal ‘Brexit’ could affect British life, and which are being flagged up by government departments via ‘technical notices’.Marketing change
Kingsley Wheaton, currently Regional Director, Americas and Sub Saharan Africa (AMSSA) at British American Tobacco will take up the role of chief marketing officer on January 1.
In a note posted on its website, BAT said that Wheaton had been with the company for 22 years and had been a member of the Management Board for nearly seven years. ‘Having held several senior roles in marketing and general management, Kingsley joined the Management Board as Director, Corporate and Regulatory Affairs in 2012,’ the note said. ‘In 2015 he was appointed as managing director, Next Generation Products before taking on his current role as regional director, AMSSA in November 2017.’
An announcement regarding Wheaton’s successor as regional director AMSSA is to be made ‘in due course’.
BAT’s current chief marketing officer, Andrew Gray, is due to step down from the management board at the end of December and to leave BAT on March 31.Imperial ambitious on NGPs
Imperial Brands said today that it would be hosting a capital markets event in London this afternoon focused on the Group’s Next Generation Products (NGP) business.
The event coincides with the issuing today of a trading update.
‘Today’s event will provide insights into how we are executing against our NGP strategy,’ Imperial said in a note posted on its website. ‘At the heart of our strategy is a desire to create something better for the world’s smokers. We want smokers to switch to alternative products with lower health risks. We are enabling this transition by providing an outstanding vaping experience, endorsed by a trusted brand and underpinned by leading edge science.’
Imperial said the event’s presentations would set out the considerable potential NGP offered consumers and why this potential would be additive also for Imperial and its shareholders. ‘We will highlight how we are developing the pioneering brand blu with a compelling vaping proposition and a dynamic innovation pipeline to appeal to adult smokers,’ Imperial said. ‘Our omnichannel approach is building distribution strength across traditional retail outlets, vape stores and online, ensuring our products are available when and where smokers want to buy them.
‘The strong growth in sales of myblu, with an increasing rate of pod repurchase, reflects a really positive response from smokers, vapers and retailers across our current market footprint. Revenues have been gaining momentum this year, resulting in an annualised exit run-rate of around £0.3bn, positioning the Group well for accelerated growth in FY19 and beyond.
‘Our NGP ambitions are reflected in our management incentives to deliver compound annual revenue growth of 35-150 percent over the three years to FY20. The upper end of this range equates to NGP revenues of around £1.5 billion in FY20. We also have clear levers to drive profitability and expect the NGP business to begin to contribute to Group profit as we exit FY19, with margins continuing to build thereafter.’
Imperial said that it was announcing today plans to launch, Pulze, a heated tobacco product early next calendar year.
Presentation materials will be posted on Imperial’s website www.imperialbrands.com.Bowles to succeed Durante
Jack Bowles (pictured), currently COO of British American Tobacco’s international business, is due to succeed Nicandro Durante as the company’s CEO following Durante’s retirement on April 1.
In a note posted on its website, BAT said that Bowles would become chief executive designate on November 1 and would join the Board on January 1.
Bowles joined BAT in 2004 as CEO of BAT France and thereafter became MD of the BAT listed subsidiary in Malaysia. He was appointed to the Management Board of BAT in 2009 as regional director for Western Europe and subsequently served as regional director in both the Americas Region and the Asia-Pacific Region before taking on his current role as COO in 2017.
“Having conducted a far-reaching succession process with strong external and internal candidates, the Board is delighted to appoint such an experienced and dynamic successor from within BAT,” chairman Richard Burrows was quoted as saying. “Throughout his career at BAT, Jack has demonstrated excellent strategic leadership; growing businesses, driving productivity improvements and building strong management teams. In his most recent roles, as director, Asia-Pacific and, as COO, he has played a key role in developing our potentially reduced-risk products business.
“Jack‘s track record of innovating, and his experience across so many different geographies and areas of our business, position him extremely well to build on Nicandro’s achievements and write the next chapter in BAT’s history.”
Meanwhile, Bowles said that he was honored to succeed Durante. “It is an exciting time for BAT with many changes in our industry but also great opportunities,” he was quoted as saying. “With our depth of talent, our iconic brands and our range and pipeline of potentially reduced risk products, I am confident that we will take full advantage of these opportunities as we accelerate the transformation of BAT into a stronger multi category tobacco and nicotine products company.”Durante to retire
British American Tobacco’s CEO Nicandro Durante (pictured) is to retire next year.
In a note posted on its website, the company said that Durante, who had been with the company for 37 years, eight as CEO, had told its board that he intended to retire on April 1.
Richard Burrows, chairman of BAT, described Durante as an outstanding chief executive.
‘He was the architect of the current strategy to transform the business and, with the successful establishment of BAT’s potentially reduced-risk products business and the acquisition of Reynolds American Inc., he has created a stronger, truly global tobacco and nicotine business,’ Burrows said. ‘Through this period of great change, Nicandro has substantially grown the business, delivering consistent strong growth in both earnings and dividends during his tenure.’
Durante said it had been a privilege to have led ‘such a great company’ for the past eight years. ‘We now have a growing potentially reduced-risk product business fully embedded in our organisation and the integration of Reynolds has been successfully completed.’
The note said that the board had identified a lead candidate to succeed Durante and that the company would make a statement ‘in due course’.
