By the time you read this we will just be a few days away from the start of the 2026 World Cup. Out of mild curiosity I had a look back to the June 2022 issue of this magazine to see if I had referenced the tournament at all on this page. I’m sorry to say I did not – but then even my faintest interest in football did not get off the ground until Euro 2024 – it’s amazing what the possibility of winning a sweepstake can do, although sadly my plucky Albanian team didn’t come through for me in the end.

With varying kick-off times, and subsequently extended opening hours for the UK’s pubs, not to mention the numerous ‘Fan Parks’ dotted around the country, the World Cup is expected to trigger an unprecedented, simultaneous surge in residential and commercial power consumption. It also serves as a timely reminder of how the UK’s electrical trade is one of the essential engines behind modern entertainment and infrastructure. Just imagine the scenario if there was a power cut during a penalty shoot-out – it would be worse than when our Wi-Fi service goes down!

For many of us, sport and other forms of entertainment and leisure are a vital way to have something different to focus on outside of work. Some people might enjoy their work while for others it is something they must endure in order to pay the bills and put food on the table – but rarely is a job easy or stress-free every single day. Whether it’s watching a football match, going to the theatre or a taking a walk in the countryside, we all need that ‘escape’ on a regular basis to clear our heads and take a mental breather.

I am writing this column during Mental Health Awareness Week (11th-17th May 2026), which offers an important opportunity for the UK’s electrical industry to confront a challenge that has too often remained hidden behind hard hats, deadlines and long shifts.

However, attitudes are beginning to change. Across the UK construction and electrical sectors, more employers are recognising that mental health deserves the same attention as physical safety. Toolbox talks now increasingly include conversations around wellbeing, while training organisations are encouraging managers to identify signs of burnout, depression and stress before problems escalate.

A safer industry is not only one with fewer accidents, but one where people feel supported, valued and able to speak openly when they need help.

Enjoy the issue!

– Tracey Rushton-Thorpe

Catch up on previous ‘Editor’s Viewpoint’ here

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Welcome to the June issue of Professional Electricians Wholesaler. It creeps up on you doesn’t it? One day you’ve still got your heating on and the next you’re looking for your floor-standing fans to cool you down.

This time last year we were looking forward to the Euro 2024 football championships – where has that time gone? I say ‘we’ when my own real interest only extended as far as whether my team in the office sweepstake – Albania – could maybe win me some money. It turned out that outcome was about as likely as Danny Dyer being named as the new Pope.

So it’s safe to say that tournament didn’t exactly light a football spark in me that I never knew existed and I’ve been quite happy living in blissful ignorance of the sport since then. Well until recently, however, when former England footballer Stuart Pearce was announced as the new Patron of the Electrical Industries Charity (EIC). “Odd choice”, some people might think. “Why does an ex-professional footballer have any interest in our industry charity?” Well, as many of you will already know, Pearce started out as an electrician before signing his first professional football contract and he has continued to be a great ambassador for the electrical trade, speaking at industry events and highlighting how useful a working knowledge of a trade can be in life.

Reading up on him a little bit more, he did continue with his ‘second’ career even after turning professional, doing jobs for teammates and famously advertising his business in matchday programmes. Now, I’m not going to turn this column into a “How many of today’s millionaire players would do that?…” kind of rant – as I’m sure you can do that yourself!

It’s a fantastic appointment for the EIC as it continues its amazing support for people in the electrical industry who have suffered or are suffering personal hardships.

Stuart Pearce’s ‘sliding doors’ moment, in terms of his career at least, got me thinking about our own paths we’ve taken, and what our alternative lives might have looked like had we followed a different route. In the extended team in just our office alone we’ve got staff who have previously worked in other areas that could have led them in a different direction. One is a former motor racing journalist, another was a stage manager in the West End, while a third enjoyed a brief stint at the BBC with Top Gear, (no, they weren’t The Stig.)

Personally I wanted to be a fighter pilot – but I wasn’t allowed as I was too small!

Enjoy the issue!

– Tracey Rushton-Thorpe

Catch up on previous ‘Editor’s Viewpoint’ here

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Welcome to our June issue and congratulations to you all on making it through what feels like a very long winter. As I sit here writing this, the sun is shining and the world feels like a great place to be.

It certainly feels like we have seen the back of the dark and dreary days.

As we now head into summer it’s time to take advantage of the longer days and shorter nights but it’s also time to shed the cloak of doom and look ahead – and perhaps start a plan of action for changes which you want to make.

One of the interesting things I have noticed this month is all of the news we are hearing about apprenticeships. In April this year the Government announced that non-levy paying employers would no longer be limited to a maximum of ten apprenticeship starts which has allowed smaller organisations to increase their number of apprentices and effectively start to fill the skills gap and grow their business.

We often hear about the ‘skills gap’ in the electrical industry with many citing an ageing workforce and lack of new talent entering the industry as a problem. This isn’t unique to the electrical industry and is actually something which is widespread – particularly in the construction industry. But what are we doing about it?

The news for non-levy paying employers is very welcome and will be a huge turning point for those looking to recruit new Apprentices into their businesses. But if you turn to our news pages you will see the good news is more widespread.

Let’s start with the fact that entries are open for the ECA Edmundson Apprentice of the Year Award. What a great opportunity that is and what a great way to raise the profile of electrical apprenticeships which are helping to bridge that skills gap.

We then move on to the decision by the Department for Education to list apprenticeships on the UCAS portal. The news story features a worrying statistic that only 8% of pupils thought that an apprenticeship would lead to a good job despite the fact that the Higher Education Statistics Agency cite that 85% of apprentices versus 80% of university graduates had reached employment. This is certainly food for thought.

Apprenticeships have had a bad reputation with many people over the years and have often been seen as the poor relation to a university degree – that simply isn’t true and hopefully the news that they will now be listed on the UCAS portal will do a lot to change that.

We can however all do something in the longer term. The skills gap will not go away on its own and it is up to every single person working in the electrical industry to do their bit. It is clear that the apprenticeship route will be crucial in the longer term in bringing new blood into our industry – we just need to all get involved to make sure it happens….and that it is sustainable.

So while you’re enjoying the start of summer have a think about those things that you might like to change whether it’s a personal commitment or one for the business you are working in because industry training is the way forward so let’s embrace it.

See you next month,

Tracey

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