The Team Behind VapeBeat

How a Frustrating Experience Quitting Smoking Led to the Creation of VapeBeat

VapeBeat was founded in 2015 by Richard Goodwin after a problem that millions of smokers face every single day: finding good quality information about vaping products.

Having recently quit smoking and switched to vaping, Richard discovered that buying a vape wasn’t nearly as straightforward as he’d expected.

The market was fragmented, product quality varied enormously, and reliable information was surprisingly difficult to find.

Most websites at the time either repeated manufacturers’ marketing claims or published thin affiliate content that did little to help people choose the right device.

Coming from a publishing background, Richard believed the industry needed something different.

At the time, he was working at Dennis Publishing in London, producing editorial content for some of the UK’s biggest technology publications. Instead of creating another ecommerce store or review site, he decided to build an independent publication dedicated to answering one simple question:

“If someone wants to stop smoking, what information do they actually need?”

That idea became VapeBeat.

Building a Team Around Genuine Industry Knowledge

In the early days, VapeBeat consisted of just Richard.

Rather than filling the site with rewritten press releases, the goal was to build a team made up of people who had genuine experience using vape products and working within the industry.

That search eventually led Richard to a now-defunct online vaping forum where he met the writer known only by his pen name, Drake Equation.

To this day, Drake’s real identity remains one of the vaping industry’s best-kept secrets and, for the record, Drake is in no way affiliated with or similar to the Drake’s Vapes brand, a UK-based juice company.

What convinced Richard to bring him on board was the sheer depth of his knowledge.

Drake wasn’t simply familiar with popular vape kits. He had an encyclopaedic understanding of manufacturers, hardware design, product reliability, e-liquid formulations, chipset performance, factory quality control, and the countless brands entering and leaving the market every year.

According to Richard, he’d never spoken to anyone who understood the industry quite like Drake.

Drake became Editor of VapeBeat, helping shape the publication’s editorial voice and testing methodology.

VapeBeat 1.0: Helping Smokers Make Better Decisions

The first version of VapeBeat focused almost entirely on education.

Instead of chasing news stories or publishing endless product announcements, the team concentrated on building a practical knowledge base for people trying to quit smoking.

Early content answered questions like:

• Which vape should I buy first?
• What nicotine strength do I need?
• What’s the difference between pod systems and mods?
• Which brands can be trusted?
• Which products should I avoid?

Everything was written from the perspective of helping real people navigate what was, at the time, a confusing and rapidly changing market.

That educational approach continues to guide the site today.

Expanding Editorial Expertise

As the vaping industry matured, so did VapeBeat.

By 2020, the publication had grown beyond beginner guides and product reviews into a much broader editorial platform covering industry news, regulation, technology, and consumer buying advice.

Around this time, Christopher Horton joined the editorial team.

Chris brought more than 15 years of hands-on experience from inside the vaping industry.

Unlike many reviewers, his background wasn’t solely journalism.

He had worked throughout multiple areas of the business, including:

• Vape retail
• Distribution
• Product sourcing
• Supply chain logistics
• Product testing
• Consumer purchasing analysis

His experience working with hundreds of devices and e-liquids gave VapeBeat a much stronger understanding of how products perform outside laboratory specifications and marketing materials.

Chris also played an important role in tracking the industry’s shift towards pod systems and, later, the explosive growth of disposable vapes.

His practical knowledge continues to inform many of VapeBeat’s reviews, buying guides, and opinion pieces.

Bringing Scientific Expertise Into the Editorial Process

As vaping became increasingly politicised, public debate shifted away from products and towards health, regulation, and tobacco harm reduction.

The VapeBeat team recognised an important limitation.

Although the editors possessed years of industry experience, none were medical doctors or public health researchers.

Rather than commenting beyond their expertise, they sought guidance from one of the world’s leading tobacco harm reduction specialists: Dr. Marewa Glover.

Dr. Glover has spent decades researching smoking cessation, nicotine use, Indigenous health, and tobacco harm reduction.

Her involvement gives VapeBeat access to expert perspectives on:

• Emerging health research
• Tobacco harm reduction
• Smoking cessation evidence
• Public policy
• Regulatory developments

This collaboration helps ensure that health-related content is informed by recognised scientific expertise rather than speculation or opinion.

Moving Beyond Media Into Ecommerce

By 2023, VapeBeat had built one of the web’s largest independent libraries of vaping content.

The next logical step was putting those recommendations into practice.

Rather than creating a separate online shop, VapeBeat launched its UK ecommerce store directly inside the main website under the Buy Vapes Online section.

The decision reflected the publication’s editorial philosophy.

Instead of stocking hundreds of brands, VapeBeat chose to focus on products the editorial team already recommended and used.

Today the store specialises in:

• Premium nicotine salts
• Bar-style nicotine salts
• Pod vape kits
• Replacement pods
• Carefully selected hardware from brands including Vaporesso, OXVA, and UWELL

The goal has always been quality over quantity.

A Partnership Built Around UK Manufacturing

One of the most important milestones in VapeBeat’s history was its partnership with Drip Hacks.

The relationship began naturally.

Richard and the Drip Hacks team both come from Congleton in Cheshire, and both shared a similar belief about the future of UK vaping.

Rather than importing generic products, they wanted vape juice sold in Britain to be:

• Manufactured in the UK
• Produced under high manufacturing standards
• Fully compliant with UK regulations
• Consistent from bottle to bottle

That partnership also enabled VapeBeat to offer nicotine salt products in larger, fully compliant formats through innovations such as QuickMix and Longfills.

As UK regulations and taxation continue to evolve, these formats are expected to become one of the most cost-effective ways for adult consumers to purchase premium vape juice while remaining fully compliant with UK law.

Independent Reviews Remain at the Centre of VapeBeat

Although VapeBeat now operates as both an ecommerce business and an editorial publication with strict journalistic ethics at its core, editorial independence remains central to how the publication works.

Products are sourced in several ways.

Some are purchased by the editorial team using their own budget. Others are supplied by manufacturers or retailers for testing.

Regardless of how a product arrives, every review follows the same principles:

• Products are tested in real-world conditions.
• Strengths and weaknesses are both reported.
• Commercial relationships do not determine review scores.
• Products that fail to meet editorial standards are criticised, even when supplied directly by manufacturers.

This separation between editorial judgement and commercial activity is fundamental to maintaining reader trust.

Looking Ahead

What began in 2015 as one former smoker trying to make sense of a confusing market has grown into a specialist publication read by hundreds of thousands of people each month.

Over the past decade, VapeBeat has expanded from a small educational website into a platform covering product reviews, industry news, regulation, nicotine science, smoking cessation, and UK ecommerce.

While the industry continues to change, the mission has remained the same:

Help adult smokers and existing vapers make informed decisions based on experience, careful testing, and evidence, rather than marketing claims.

That commitment continues to shape everything VapeBeat publishes today.