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By Paul Mans of CP Electronics The potential to yield substantial savings and reduce operating costs through an energy efficient retrofit solution is now widely recognised by commercial building owners and managers. However, the motivation to achieve cost savings is not the only reason that energy efficient retrofits are implemented because many are now undertaken through a sense ... Full story

Home automation is fast becoming one of the most efficient ways to manage your energy use and reduce your carbon footprint, but while we are all aware of this in theory do you actually know which products you should be stocking to make it happen? The simple fact is that there are hundreds of different systems out there, all of which have the ability to control ... Full story

By Jon Churchley, Commercial Manager for HellermannTyton As 2013 gets underway, the economic climate continues to be difficult and the electrical sector is no exception. To succeed in these challenging times, electricians and electrical contractors need as much help and support as possible from wholesalers, manufacturers and equipment suppliers.  Using research and market intelligence to keep ... Full story

By Nick Smith, Marketing Manager for Crompton Lamps As most of us know from personal experience, when we buy a product and it fails to deliver what was promised it tends to colour our view of the company that supplied it. Many wholesalers will have also experienced this with products that they have sold in good ... Full story

The subject of training in the electrical industry continues to be a topic of strong debate but with further cutbacks on the cards, do young people face an uncertain future? I have long been a strong advocate of training and apprentice schemes and in a recent meeting I had with the Electrical Distributors Association (EDA) ... Full story

As we welcome in the New Year I think we are all hopeful that 2013 will bring with it some good news and a move towards better times. As far as the industry is concerned there would appear to be a general feeling that we have reached a turning point, with many new projects in ... Full story

By Malcolm Duncan, Managing Director of Super Rod Last year, I was asked to write a review on social or digital media as Super Rod was recognised as one of the more active companies within our industry. The subject asked if it represented an opportunity or a distraction from our real business. Twelve months on, I ... Full story

By Alan Clarke, Technical Support Manager at Heatrae Sadia Historically a T&PR valve has been used to ensure that the hot water temperature of an unvented cylinder never exceeds 100ºC.  However, Part G3 of the Building Regulations and the UK Water Regulations has recently been revised to allow alternative approaches to be taken, as long as ... Full story

As we come to the end of another year there are mixed feelings in the industry about 2012 – some people have had a lot to celebrate but others have continued to struggle – including our industry charity the EEIBA. The EEIBA’s mission is to reach out to everyone with a connection to the electrical and ... Full story

We are all struggling with information overload, and keeping up with market developments is a tall order when it seems that the market never stands still for more than five minutes.  Everyone has something new, better or improved to offer, so it’s a big ask for you and your staff to know enough about them ... Full story

By Andy Douglas, Managing Director of Timeguard The Government’s Green Deal initiative may be putting the focus on payback – whether or not the costs of an initiative are recouped through reductions in energy consumption within the lifetime of the product or installation.  However, to businesses, improving energy efficiency is as important to brand building as ... Full story

Periodically, our industry gets involved in the debate, direct or distribution.  This usually coincides with tough times when people are faced with difficult decisions as sales start to decline. Over the years, Super Rod has played its part in the various debates, firmly committing itself to the distribution network, both in the UK and across the world. Recently, alongside their US distributor, Super Rod formed a ... Full story

The future is green, but it could be greener if there was a greater shift in regulatory attitude towards building and lighting controls. Approved Document Part L is set to grab everyone’s attention when the updated version is published later this year ahead of it becoming law in 2013. When you consider that one of the ... Full story

We are often told that having a choice is a good thing and in many ways it is, but in the electrical industry it can sometimes prove to be a bit of a nightmare and LED lamps are a perfect example. Since their introduction, LED lamps have started to appear at a rate of knots with ... Full story

By Ernest Magog of Lumicom Many of your customers will be involved with refurbishment projects, and with more and more people cutting budgets and spending less this number will continue to grow. This is great news for you as they will still be buying new products. But there are a number of elements which they need to ... Full story

This issue we are most definitely focussing on all things British – or more to the point - British manufacturing. Over the past twelve months I have seen quite a turnaround in the area of manufacturing and where once companies were moving all of their manufacturing abroad to take advantage of cheap parts and labour, ... Full story

By Richard Shaw, Managing Director of Ellis It doesn’t seem too long ago that the fate of the British manufacturing industry was well and truly sealed. The obituaries were being written and invites sent out for its wake as more and more businesses opted to outsource manufacturing to the Far East. Fast forward to today and manufacturing ... Full story

Over the last few years we have all been bombarded with a series of new websites, Facebook pages, Twitter and regular email updates. But what exactly does all this add to the industry and is it useful or is it just another distraction from our day job? In the past few months alone I have seen an explosion in social media, some of which is good ... Full story

By Paul Mans, Managing Director of CP Electronics. Saving energy is more important than ever and as far as I see it we have two options – we can either switch off the power completely and sit in darkness; or we can make the best use of the products which are available on the market. Option one ... Full story

Perhaps one of the most exciting areas of lighting is the development of new and improved light sources, and new technologies such as LED certainly attract a great deal of attention. However, every light source has its strengths and its weaknesses so it’s important to understand which ones work best in different applications. At the same ... Full story

By Paul Dawson, Commercial Director for Scolmore International When the editor of a lighting magazine believes that there is still a way to go before LED should be considered as a direct replacement for every light source, we realise that we still have a job to do to convince the trade, let alone the general public, ... Full story

By Malcolm Duncan, Managing Director of Super Rod. Over the last few years we have been bombarded with advice that we firstly have a web-site, then a Facebook page, Linked-in and now a Twitter account. But what has this given to our businesses in real terms, i.e. what has it contributed to the bottom line, or ... Full story

By Dave Lewis, Managing Director of Apex Wiring Solutions The electrical wiring and accessories sector will continue to evolve strongly during 2012 and beyond to meet the challenges of new technologies, the availability of affordable skilled labour and the latest methods of construction, notably off-site pre-fabrication, green and lean. However, now, during the tough economic conditions faced ... Full story

By Simon Rowlinson, Marketing Manager - Domestic Circuit Protection for Electrium Sales Limited Encouraged by domestic feed in tariffs, renewable electricity produced locally in domestic premises, is making micro-generation a rapidly growing business opportunity for one set of wholesaler customers - MCS qualified installers. Up until now however there has been one problem in that there are ... Full story

By Andrew Baker, UK and Ireland Sales Manager for Flir Systems Ltd Originally highly exclusive, thermal imaging is now main stream and it can be applied to so many different tasks. In addition to detecting faults in the fabric of buildings, it’s ideal for locating the source of energy loss and for spotting any thermal irregularities ... Full story