By the time you’re reading this we might have a new Government, hopefully some sunshine and we’ll have a better idea of whether our home nations have crashed out at the first hurdle at Euro 2024 or are cruising their way to the later stages.
I have absolutely no interest in football but if you see me decked out in orange at all it is because I have drawn Netherlands in the office sweepstake so they are my adopted country for now. Anyway, I will return to the football later.
Our special features in this issue are heating, EV infrastructure and fire & safety. Some might think it slightly ironic including a feature on heating in the middle of the summer but considering many of us probably had our radiators on in June this year perhaps it is perfect timing.
Fire & safety is particularly topical as Grenfell Tower was recently lit up on the seventh anniversary of the fire that tragically claimed 72 lives. The disaster brought the issue of fire safety in high-rise blocks, as well as building safety standards in general, firmly under the spotlight. In particular, government regulations came under scrutiny, while significant gaps in knowledge, standards and competency within the construction industry became evident. It’s devastating and unacceptable that things had got so bad, whether through complacency, ignorance or underfunding, that it took a disaster of this magnitude to highlight the many shortcomings. Since then, however, we have seen vital improvements, thanks largely to the outcome of the Hackitt report, which led to a number of recommendations aimed at changing industry practices to create safer living spaces and subsequently the Building Safety Act 2022 and more recently the Building Safety Regulator, which assumed the role of building control authority for higher-risk buildings.
Turning towards EV infrastructure, it may surprise a few people to learn that electric vehicles were around as far back as the 1830s, not quite on the level of technology we see on our roads today of course, but then at some point in the next 150+ years the internal combustion engine became the go-to technology for everyday driving while electric cars became more of a pipedream. And yet now here we are with three in-depth articles focusing on them, including one which even takes a look at some specialist tools designed for installing EV charging equipment. While there is plenty still to do to ensure we have enough infrastructure in place to ensure a totally electric future for the automotive industry, it is a rapidly growing market which tradespeople and wholesalers alike can really benefit from.
Now back to the football, I was trying to see how many Euro 2024 footballers’ names I could shoe-horn electrical trade references into. So far I have Kieran Trippier switch (England), Marc-André ter Stegenerator (Germany), Jonas Wind turbine (Denmark) and David Strelectrician (Slovakia). Erm, that’s it!
– Tracey Rushton-Thorpe
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