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Fire at Glasgow Central (08/03/26)
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It's now being claimed that the vape shop in question was not on Scotland's mandatory register of such premises. If so, given it was hardly in an inconspicuous location, it is hard to see why this had not been identified and enforcement action taken.
The vape shop at the centre of a devastating fire in Glasgow city centre was not registered to sell vapes and had paid no business taxes, it was revealed today.
The extraordinary blaze began in the store on Sunday afternoon, leaving a landmark Victorian building in ruins and shutting Scotland's busiest railway station.
The fire started on an adapter charging system which was full of chargers under the counter, according to a witness who ran into the shop soon after it began.
Flames spread through the store at 105 Union Street then into the historic B-listed Forsyth House building next door and around the corner onto Gordon Street.
Now, the Daily Mail can confirm the business in the store was called 'Junaid Retail', trading as 'Scot's World', and was noted as having occupied it since August 2024.
The business rates bill for 2025/26 was however returned to the local authority Glasgow City Council, with respondents claiming the owners had 'gone away'.
But landlord Afton Estates confirmed Junaid Retail was still the occupier, so the council updated the billing address to the company's registered office in Hamilton.
However no payment for business rates has ever been made by the company, and the account was therefore transferred to the council's debt recovery partner.
The Mail can also confirm there is no registration for the address on the Scottish Government's Register of Tobacco and Nicotine Vapour Product Retailers.
Businesses selling vapes must enrol on the register under law, with failure to do so potentially leading to fines of £20,000 and even up to six months in prison.
The register - intended to enforce age-restriction laws - has no record of 105 Union Street, in one of several revelations first reported by investigative website The Ferrett.
The Union Street business was sold a fortnight ago to another owner under the same company name, according to a report by the publication's co-editor Karin Goodwin.
The Ferret visited the business's registered address in Hamilton, where a similar shop to the Glasgow one was found selling vapes and rolling papers as well as DIY tools.
This store put the website in touch with a man called Ajaz Sarwar, who claimed to be the owner of the Union Street shop until it was sold two weeks ago.
Mr Sarwar claimed he was told would get one year of business rates relief before he would have to pay, but once this grace period had ended he was 'struggling badly' and the shop 'was not making enough money' to afford the payment.
Mr Sarwar also told publication that he did not think vapes were included in the regulations for registering – and it was only for the sale of tobacco.
He added: 'I cannot comment on what happened next. That is for the new owner. But when I heard what had happened I had so much pain. Words cannot describe it.'
The Mail spoke to the vape shop's current boss Arslan Ali on Monday, who said the fire 'shouldn't have happened' and that he is 'standing with all' after the blaze, adding that the incident was 'hurtful' and 'disappointing'.
Mr Ali has been contacted for comment again today following the latest claims.
Afton Estates, which bought the building housing the shops and the floor above for £540,000 in 2008, is under no obligation to register the selling of vapes.
Glasgow City Council said enforcement officers visited the shop about 15 months ago to check it was complying with age restrictions, and it passed the test.
A spokesman told the Mail today: 'Our enforcement on the sale of nicotine products focuses on under-age sales and illicit tobacco.
'We proactively visited these premises in November 2024 to undertake a test purchase to ensure compliance with age restrictions on the sale of nicotine products.
'This test purchase was passed and it was also observed at that time the stock of nicotine products being sold complied with the relevant legislation.
'The focus of our enforcement effort is determined by the complaints and other intelligence that we receive. We have received no complaints about the sale of nicotine products at these premises.
'Our approach to ensuring compliance with the register is primarily through education and guidance when we receive complaints or intelligence about an individual premises.'
A planning application lodged with the council in September 2024 to convert the store into a hot-food takeaway was rejected in December last year.
Maureen Burke, Labour MP for Glasgow North East, yesterday called for an urgent review of vape shops in the city, saying an audit was needed to prevent a 'repeat' of the blaze.
She said: 'Given the large quantities of products containing lithium batteries, vape shops pose a greater risk of fire; therefore, it is essential that appropriate fire safety measures are in place.'
Writing to Susanne Millar, the chief executive of the council, Ms Burke said: 'I am requesting that Glasgow City Council undertakes a review of vape shops operating in Glasgow to ensure we do not see a repeat of [Sunday's] fire.'
At Holyrood, Glasgow Scottish Conservative MSP Annie Wells also urged ministers to work with councils on a review of the rules on vape shops 'to protect public safety'.
First Minister John Swinney said: 'There is an obligation on any business owner, and particularly an owner of a vape shop, to make sure that their business is safe.
'And we may well be looking at the implications of that failure on other adjoining buildings.'
Reform UK Glasgow City Councillor Thomas Kerr said his party wants 'the temporary removal of disposable vapes from sale while a full investigation is carried out'.
The UK Vaping Industry Association called the fire an 'isolated incident' but also advised members 'to check their fire risk assessments'.
Eyewitness Lamin Kongira told BBC Scotland News that he saw the fire had begun around an adapter charging system - full of chargers - under the counter in the shop.
There are believed to be around 6,500 vape shops in Scotland.
E-cigarette and vape use has risen rapidly. In 2011 there were about seven million adult e-cigarette users globally, increasing to 68million in 2020.
While many users vape in a bid to quit cigarettes or because it is seen as being safer than smoking, concerns have been raised about the number of young people taking it up.
It comes as some train services at Glasgow Central resumed today after the fire, but the main part of the station will remain shut for the rest of the week.
Network Rail said it will not be possible to open the upper part of the station this week due to the 'high level of instability' of the facade of the fire-damaged building in Gordon Street.
It said assessment work needs to be carried out to determine the safety of the building, and experts will then be able to assess whether there has been any damage to the high-level station.
The fire service reduced its presence at the scene this morning, though three appliances and one high-reach vehicle remained at the corner of Union Street and Gordon Street.
After a full site assessment, the low-level station, which is below the main concourse of the high-level station, reopened for train services from this morning.
Glasgow shop where fire broke out 'wasn't registered to sell vapes'
The extraordinary blaze began in the vape shop in Glasgow city centre on Sunday afternoon, leaving a landmark Victorian building in ruins and shutting Scotland's busiest railway station.www.dailymail.co.uk
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All the more reason to prioritise, not just the most obvious locations, but also those which present the most significant risk.
Haywain
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For who? There will be multiple insurers involved - those of the building owners and of each of the individual businesses occupying the building. It’s likely that some of them won’t have been insured but if they saved money in that way they aren’t likely to be able to afford court action to recover their losses.
Public criticism and pressure are how services improve.
which is why I posted about having a finance-focussed police force in https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/vape-shops-and-fire-safety-concerns.299582/page-2#post-7708650
I wouldn't go so far as to say they should be paramilitary or extend to public order issues, but they could be far more clued-up (and cost-effective) than Companies' House, the Financial Services Authority and HMRC all put together.
Have seen that reported but also seen reports that they passed a local authority underage test visit to vape purchases.
If the LA have managed to log that they clearly knew what the premises were being used for
No doubt all the facts will be revealed eventually
Not necessarily - the equation needs to consider effectiveness for purpose as well.
Southsider
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A two car 156 has just passed Giffnock heading towards East Kilbride.
Lewisham2221
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Indeed, I'd probably say most enforcement - of any rules and regulations - in the UK is reactionary/intelligence lead rather than genuinely proactive, the authorities simply don't have the resources to be genuinely proactive in most circumstances. It's the threat of enforcement action/penalty that causes compliance in most cases, rather than enforcement itself. However, there will always be those willing to take the chance of non-compliance.
Unfortunately, actual reality across a range of services historically has not shown that to automatically be the case, whereas others do much more with what they have.
Southsider
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And just gone by in the other direction.
Deepgreen
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I am travelling to the Highlands tonight on the sleeper, returning by day from Rannoch on Monday. I imagine my journey will take me from GQSt across to Edinburgh (saving the walk to GC and the heart-breaking sight of the building remains, at least) and then to KX, which will make a change!
Vape shops are one of the scourges of towns and cities today, and I would hope that more attention will be paid to them (and other similar money-laundering fronts) following this incident.
Vape shops are one of the scourges of towns and cities today, and I would hope that more attention will be paid to them (and other similar money-laundering fronts) following this incident.
for those of us not familiar with the network around Glasgow, any idea what the significance of this might be?
aaronspence
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Just walked past the station, no longer spraying water on it, though road still closed
318266
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It is one of the lines presently not served due to the closure of the High Level.
Southsider
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It normally runs from Central. Doubt if this one did but getting ready for service resumption?
Photo from here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgjqzl7wrzo
This photos shows the ruins of the building after the fire, from street level.
Anyone know what the rectangular structure at an angle within the ruins was? Lift shafts?
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QueensCurve
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https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/UnionStreetIncident - Glasgow City Council has now taken control of the fire site. The remains of the Union Corner building are to be demolished on safety grounds.
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hexagon789
Veteran Member
Fire escape for the collapsed building I think I saw mentioned somewhere.
Photo from here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgjqzl7wrzo
Anyone know what the rectangular structure at an angle within the ruins was? Lift shafts?
aaronspence
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I think it’s the frame of the advertising LED screen that was on the roof
Photo from here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgjqzl7wrzo
Anyone know what the rectangular structure at an angle within the ruins was? Lift shafts?
hexagon789
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