Happy new year! I wrote this on a day that was still just about within the legal timeframe to say that, so that’s the first awkward bit over with for another year. The second awkward bit is that this column may contain spoilers – so if you haven’t yet watched Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, which premiered on Christmas Day, you might want to pause reading until you have seen it.

So here we are kicking off 2025 with your January/February issue to keep you occupied for a little while at least as we navigate our way through the cold and seemingly never-ending weeks that always seem to arrive around this time of year. Some of you might be attempting to do this without cheese, chocolate or alcohol and if you are, well done, I salute you!

Many tradespeople might have returned to work with some brand new tools as they can make ideal stocking fillers – more so perhaps than a radiator or a heat pump would (unless they have a particularly large stocking). Personally I would have liked my very own Norbot, the robotic garden gnome from the aforementioned Wallace and Gromit film, preferably without the annoying song which is still stuck in my head today.

Before (spoiler alert) Feathers McGraw reappeared to deploy the robot for his own evil intentions, it looked like an incredibly useful invention. Taking care of household jobs inside and out, for a brief period, it became a bit of a neighbourhood money-spinner for our favourite plasticine characters. There were claims in some quarters that the storyline was an ‘attack’ on the dangers of modern technology. However, a far more measured view is perhaps that technology has done wonders for the world and continues to do so, but overreliance on it can create its own problems.

These themes have of course been covered previously in numerous films and TV series – although none quite as funny as Nick Park’s creation. Also, some jobs are actually still fun to do ourselves – who else felt a bit sorry for the neglected old teapot? And I might have got a bit too excited by the delivery of a new chainsaw late last year (bought for gardening purposes, I hasten to add!).

In the construction industry, we rely on the skills and knowledge of tradespeople to carry out work to the necessary level of competence and quality. In order for them to do this they require various types of tools and technology and wholesalers are responsible for showcasing many of these products, whether it’s the latest powertool or a brand new smoke detector.

So yes, I am quite confident that humans and technology can co-exist for a little while longer. And on that note, I’m off to find some cheese.

– Tracey Rushton-Thorpe

Catch up on previous ‘Editor’s Viewpoint’ here