Greater Manchester vaping company VIP has gone into administration because of an unpaid $3 million tax bill.
A buyer is being sought for Radcliffe-based Must Have Limited, trading as VIP, which was launched in 2009 by co-founders Miguel Corral and David Levin.
Shortly after being taken over, in 2014, its television advert was banned before the watershed for being “overtly sexual” and using “irresponsibly sexualised e-cigarette use.”
VIP’s PR has been handled by Hale-based Peppermint Soda since April 2015.
VIP has 165 shops across the UK and was acquired for more than £30 million by American firm Victory Electronic Cigarettes Corporation in 2014. All 165 retail outlets are continuing to trade as normal and all 265 staff have been retained.