Retailers are reporting a surge in sales of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) since New Year’s Eve, with sales expected to continue climbing throughout January as smokers make resolutions to be healthier, and wet weather keeps them indoors.

E-cig sales at Matt Gibbons’ Gluggles store in York have jumped in the past week. “I have noticed a big increase in demand for e-cigs as people are thinking about a fresh start for the new year,” he said.

“New Year’s Eve in particular was a very busy day for the category, and I have even had to place emergency top-up orders for more stock because I was running low.

“There is now a much wider acceptance of e-cigs compared with just a few months ago, and now that they have become more efficient, people are using them as opposed to gum and patches,” Matt added.

In Seaford, East Sussex, Bipin Haria of Seaford News was also expecting strong new year sales. “E-cigs have been selling really strongly in my store since we introduced them last summer, and I expect to see further growth in 2013 as more smokers turn to them in a bid to cut down on their tobacco consumption, and to smoke uninterrupted indoors, particularly if we get more wet weather.”

He added: “It will be interesting to see if the Department of Health’s (DoH) new anti-smoking campaign will contribute to a further rise in e-cig sales.”

The DoH’s £2.7m advertising campaign to encourage adult smokers to quit tobacco smoking will run for nine weeks.

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