Welcome to the August issue of Electrical Wholesaler, and our first issue to go out under a Labour Government since 2010.
The Labour Party secured a landslide victory after the general election on 4 July, and it will remain to be seen how closely reality will match up to the new Government’s pledges on energy, housebuilding and skills development in the coming months and years.
In Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s first speech, he talked about “the opportunity of clean British power… cutting bills in your home for good”. New Chancellor Rachel Reeves, meanwhile, has shared her plans to “get Britain building again,” pledging to build 1.5 million homes in the next five years.
These ambitious targets will encourage confidence in the building and retrofit sector – but will necessitate appropriate support for skills development and investment in low carbon technologies to become reality. Turn to page 16 for some more detailed commentary from the industry on Labour’s plans.
Elsewhere in the issue, I spoke to ProofVision’s Will Uttley about his business journey developing innovative waterproof technology for wet environments. Turn to page 22 to read the interview. On page 20, meanwhile, Ansell Lighting’s Chris Anderson shares some great insights into the latest advancements in emergency lighting technology.
Plus, as always, we share our usual news, views, products and installations from market-leading businesses across the sector, including a Q&A with CEF’s Darren Staniforth about what wholesalers can expect from the latest series of TechTalks seminars, which kicks off in September – read more on page 18.
