How a little-known vaping group went from nothing to sales of $1bn in just two years

While the UK was still digesting the details of the Chancellor’s Spring Budget, a little-known vaping company took to Linkedin to proudly proclaim it had achieved $1bn (£800m) in revenue in just its second year.

Plxsur boasted adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of more than $200m (£156m) and claimed a 10 per cent share of the global vaping market – figures which looked to have propelled the business to become one of the fastest-growing companies in the world.

It also outlined plans to increase its share to 20 per cent in the next five years and to grow its revenue to more than $15bn (£11.7bn) by 2033.

But all was not quite as it seemed.

What is Plxsur?

London-headquartered Plxsur was co-founded by chief executive Nigel Hardy, chairman David Newns and Charlie Yates, who is in charge of the firm’s deals department.

Mr Hardy has previously worked at the likes of Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Associated British Foods, Japan Tobacco International and British American Tobacco.

Mr Newns is chairman of smart clothing business, Prevayl, and co-founded venture capital company Fearless Adventures with Mr Yates and Dominic McGregor, who is best known for setting up Social Chain with now-Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett.

Mr Yates is also a founding partner of Contrado Capital.

Where did the $1bn figure come from?

Although it claims to have achieved $1bn in revenue in 2023, Plxsur does not actually own the 12 vaping companies that generated the sales.

Plxsur said it has “partnered” with the independent companies to “have a louder voice in the industry, with responsibility at the core of everything we do and a unified mission to shape the future of vaping”.

The companies include Hale Vaping (Ireland), UEG Holland (Netherlands), DampShop (Belgium), Pro Vape (Latvia), Puff Store (Italy), Nobacco (Greece), Ritchy Group (Czech Republic) and Vape Empire (Malaysia) and Pacific Smoke (Canada).

Plxsur said its founders “have decades of experience in the vaping market, having been involved since its inception, and have strong connections within the global vaping industry”.

The company said this “has enabled Plxsur to grow at pace and at scale”.

As a result of Plxsur not owning the businesses, its Companies House listing is similar to an SME rather than a $1bn-revenue giant.

It does not have a large enough revenue, employ a sizeable number of people and have enough assets in order to be required to publish its full accounts on Companies House.

While the independent companies employ more than 2,000 people, Plxsur itself has a team of 11 based in London.

What are Plxsur’s ambitions?

In a statement, Plxsur said: “The past two years have seen a huge amount of financial and operational progress for Plxsur, and we have grown to become the world’s largest and fastest-growing group of independent vaping companies with current revenues of over $1bn. 

“The opportunity available for RRP across our 12 markets is significant and we are pleased that our Global Vaping Market Snapshot vindicates the belief that not only will this sector continue to grow at pace, but that vaping is quickly becoming the most popular form of RRP in the market.

“Plxsur remains well placed to capitalise on the growing trend of vaping across the globe, to unlock future value and play a leading role in shaping the future of the sector on a platform of responsibility.

“Our unique ability to retain our unique entrepreneurial spirit while growing at pace has been pivotal to our success over the past two years and we remain committed to achieving long-term value for all stakeholders with responsibility at the core of everything we do.

“Supported by a number of tailwinds including evolving market dynamics and customer preferences, we remain confident in the medium-term prospects of Plxsur and our ability to continue on our trajectory to promote responsibility in the sector, achieve our target of over $15bn revenues by 2033 and shape the future of vaping.”

Who owns Plxsur?

According to filings with Companies House, 160,000 A shares in Plxsur are held by a business called Mustard Kicks which itself is owned by Plxsur’s chief technical officer Chris Lord, Mr Newns and John McAvoy through CJLI Limited.

The same number of shares are held by Germany-based Sinobis Asset GMBH & Co KG and again by MD&C Creative Maison SA in Switzerland.

Django Davidson, founding partner at Hosking Partners in London, holds 29,000 shares in the company. He has previously invested in the likes of Obby, Brampton Bicycle and The Westbourne Drinks Company as well as Nutmeg.

A fund managed by Stonebridge holds 49,876 shares. The firm is run by managing partner James Cox who has been an investor and board advisor to Plxsur since January 2023.

Mr Cox is also the founder of Simba Sleep and an investor in Mr Newns’ company, Prevayl.

Mr Yates holds 30,000 shares while Mr Hardy holds 10,600, the same number as chief commercial officer Martin Miller.

A total of 73,257 shares are owned by Perdix Limited, a dormant company owned by Peter Passmore.

Des Naughton, the former managing director of British American Tobacco (BAT) e-cigarettes subsidiary Nicoventures, holds 10,000 shares.

James Kaberry, the chairman of SME Capital UK and chairman and joint CEO of Titan Wealth Holdings, holds 6,667 shares in the business. Mr Newns serves as a board member of SME Capital UK.

Mr Newns, Mr Hardy and Mr Yates all hold 60,000 B sarees each while Chris Lord holds 50,000.

Chief financial officer Sabrina Mc Laughlin holds 20,000 shares while Robert Burton, Plxsur’s group scientific and regulatory director, holds 10,000 shares, the same number as Mr Miller and group director of communications, David Bass.

Non-executive director Paul Devitt holds 5,000 shares while Tim Marlow, a partner at Contrado Capital and an investor in Fearless Adventures holds 10,000 shares.

Vijay Mistry, a director at Contrado Capital and a consultant at Fearless Adventures, also owns 5,000 shares.