Independent retailer Benedict (Ben) Selvaratnam said his store’s location in the heart of the bustling and occasionally challenging south London suburb of Croydon, can sometimes make carrying out its role as a beacon for the responsible retailing of age-restricted products a challenge.
But the frustrations are no different to those in many of the country’s town and city centres: “There’s about four or five vape shops surviving around us and no one knows how. So people come in our store to and ask us for duty free cigarettes, as brazenly as that.”
Strict policies
Ben added that keeping abreast of the rules around selling certain products has also made things trickier: “We have our store policies and make sure staff know how to deal with things. But there’s always new rules, new duties coming in - there’s new legislation I heard next year about plain packaging on vapes too…”
Upcoming changes to vape rules have thrown up their own challenges. Ben added: “Everyone expanded their range to accommodate all the new flavour types, and now we’re being told that the category’s going to be impacted further.
“So that’s always a challenge, and we only buy vapes from one supplier now because with vapes, just from a regulatory point of view, they’re always changing the rules and the products. So that’s definitely our biggest challenge.”
As mentioned, the location of Ben’s store throws up other challenges with regards to a different age restricted category - alcohol: “We have a big street drinking problem and also with underage drinkers - there are town centre behavioural issues with some of our clientele. So alcohol has also been a challenge.”
Challenge 25
Staff at Ben’s store are instructed to use the Challenge 25 policy for alcohol sales, something which has worked well, he said: “We have issues with ID for sales, especially during the summer, and this summer period we’ve had a big focus on Challenge 25, making sure the team understand the ID and everything that’s required.
“I think now we’re getting that word out with everyone, so if you come and try and buy something from us, we’ll request ID or challenge you.”
In terms of the harm underage sales could do for Freshfields Market, Ben is clear: “The biggest risk for us is losing the trust and reputation we’ve built in the community.
“One careless transaction can create a far greater problem than the value of the sale.”
“There’s obviously the potential fines and the consequence on the licencing. Trading Standards aren’t great in terms of enforcement or going around checking, but because we work quite a bit with the council, with our role as a co-founders of the Croydon Business Association, we don’t want to take any risks or damage our reputation. One careless transaction can create a far greater problem than the value of the sale.”
Everyday occurrence
Thankfully, Ben said that violence isn’t currently an everyday occurrence in his store, but that his staff can still face arguments: “They get verbal abuse and occasionally threatening behaviour. On paper, it’s quite straightforward, but obviously when you’re dealing with angry customers in a queue or with a queue forming behind them, it can be challenging.”
Ben concluded by admitting that the strict regulations and moving goalposts around age-restricted products are, in the end, worthwhile. However, he added there are still changes he’d make.
“I think the system needs more consistency. We get new rules coming at us all the time, and responsible retailers like us invest in training. But there are people who don’t. They’re flouting the rules and it does seem like they’re getting away with it.
“These vape shops are just going to continue doing what they do.”
“These vape shops are just going to continue doing what they do. They’re selling duty-free cigarettes now with no fear of the consequences. I think for fags now there’s quite a few packs that have hit the £20 mark. So if you’ve got someone offering £5 fags or vapes, it just drives people into that market.
“We know with the cost of living and the with the whole economy - inflation, petrol prices - people don’t care. So you get a grey market, people are seeing they can save 75%, and they don’t have to buy it from the back of a van or in the car park. They can just walk into a shop and buy it.”
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