A NEW business with just two employees has made a turnover of £12 million thanks to the nostalgic tastes and smells of traditional school puddings.

Blackburn’s Vape Dinner Lady, established in June 2016 by entrepreneur, Mo Patel, is cooking up a storm in the burgeoning e-liquid market with its unique range of products inspired by classic old-school puddings.

Flavours such as lemon tart, strawberry custard and rice pudding have fast-become ‘cult favourites’ among its global fanbase in over 50 countries across Europe, Australia and America.

The company, situated in Duckworth Street, Blackburn, has said it has a commitment to investing in the use of premium quality ingredients manufactured in the UK, coupled with a more customer-focused approach.

Since launching, the company has scooped 11 international awards, including ‘Best E-liquid’ for ‘Lemon Tart’ at the Hall of Vape Expo in Stuttgart Germany, which attracts over 1200 E-liquid brands.

Vape Dinner Lady also beat businesses from all global shows to win ‘Best Overall Exhibitor’ award at the second annual Vapouround Awards ceremony held in Birmingham.

They recently featured on BBC One’s The One Show as part of a lengthy piece on the rise of vaping.

Commenting on the rise of Vape Dinner Lady, Mr Patel, said: “In everything we do, we want to make people smile. We stay focused on the customer.

“Our underlying business – and life – principle is based on taking ordinary people and doing extraordinary things.

“I think we’ve achieved that with Vape Dinner Lady.”

According to Mr Patel, the use of commonly used cheap ingredients left the vaping experience wanting and in his mind has prompted a determined search for a liquid formula that ‘truly made the grade’.

Mr Patel said: “I was captivated by the booming business of vaping as an alternative to smoking, but the real motivator to set up the brand was driven by my own experience of using e-liquids.

“Despite the myriad of products and flavours available, the selection on offer simply weren’t up to much, in my opinion.

“The experience was disappointing, and the flavours tasted synthetic.”

Future plans for Vape Dinner Lady will include an imminent move to a new headquarters in Blackburn to accommodate its fast-growing team.

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