Vapouround magazine Special Issue 01 | Page 66

F E AT U R E INTERVIEW: PHIL & NATHAN W W W . V A M P I R E V A P E . C O . U K 64 VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE USA Q: Can you tell us how you got started in the industry, a little bit about your backgrounds and how you came together to form Vampire Vape? We came up with the idea for Vampire Vape in 2012 whilst having a coffee and a vape. We were vaping a well known e-liquid from China and, like many others, we had come across countless problems with importing e-liquid. The main problem is that the quality standards were always hit and miss and it could be difficult if not impossible to get problems rectified. We thought we could do things far better ourselves from the UK and so we decided to give it a go and we are really glad that we made the decision that we did. Q. What about your backgrounds. Are they useful to your current business at all? Phil’s background is in business and he has owned and managed a variety of different companies since 2006 so this is clearly very useful indeed. Nathan’s has come from a sales background selling industrial refrigeration, packaging and industrial supplies to companies all over the UK so both sets of skills really add to this business overall. Together we have a skill set which really works and it also helps that we are friends and get on really well together too. Q. Starting a new business must be daunting, even if you have done it before. Were there any particular challenges or testing times when you put this one together? The main challenge here was that this is a relatively new industry so there is no template to follow as such so it is just a matter of trying things out, trying to anticipate problems and dealing with them as and when they occur. This does tend to slow things down a bit and it can be frustrating but also great fun when it begins to come together.