Knightsbridge has Christmas lighting all wrapped up

Christmas is a time for celebration and for households across the UK to unbox all those decorative lights and add a touch of the festive spirit to their homes, both inside and out. And thanks to Knightsbridge, the age-old problem of too many plugs and not enough sockets is a thing of the past. Now lighting the Christmas tree, windows, house front and garden is simplicity itself with its range of smart plugs, extension leads and outdoor sockets. The 16A smart plug, 10A three-gang smart extension lead with quad USB charger, and smart IP66 13A 2G outdoor socket outdoor, bring unrivalled flexibility and control to any seasonal displays. Designed to be quickly configured into the user-friendly SmartKnight app, the wiring accessories can be controlled via a smartphone. To get started the user simply downloads the SmartKnight app to their smartphone from either Google Play or the Apple App store and follows the instructions. Once downloaded they will be able to take advantage of a variety of features to give them finger-tip control over their Christmas lighting arrangements, including timers, schedules, scenes, and geo-fencing (so any lighting can activate when the homeowner returns). And they can also issue instructions to either Alexa or Google Assistant to turn lights on or off. And just to make sure all outside lighting displays are impervious to our great British winter, there’s a Knightsbridge range of IP55 weatherproof boxes to accommodate and protect extension leads that might be powering those Christmas illuminations.

Toolstation offers tradespeople one year subscription to accounting software

Toolstation has launched an offer, designed to help electricians, plumbers, carpenters, builders and other tradespeople, save money and help them run their businesses more conveniently. Existing and new Trade Credit Account customers can secure a FREE year subscription to Quickbooks accounting software. The launch comes as research by Toolstation reveals that 40% of tradespeople manage their own accounts, but 60% of those don’t use any software to help. In fact 26% of tradespeople find keeping on top of paperwork the most challenging aspect of their job. The initiative has been launched as HMRC is set to introduce its Making Tax Digital rules from April 2023. Under these new rules, any business or sole trader with an income of over £10,000 will have to file returns to HMRC quarterly instead of annually as they currently do. In practical terms it means they will need to use compatible software to keep their records and send an income and expenses summary to HMRC every three months. Toolstation’s Trade Credit Business Development Manager, Renato Vieira, says:  "It’s clear from our research that almost half of tradespeople manage their own accounts and that’s one of the reasons we have launched this new initiative, to give them a helping hand. While the Making Tax Digital rules are intended to make filing tax returns easier, many don’t currently use any software to help them, so we would encourage anyone with a Trade Credit Account to take advantage of this free offer to help them with their paperwork and quickly prepare for these new rules.”

T-Level students benefit from NET Future Faradays event

Leicester College’s T-Level students found out more about the electrical industry, apprenticeships and employability at an interactive ‘Future Faradays’ event that took place recently. The Future Faradays programme is an initiative from electrical industry charity National Electrotechnical Training (NET) that aims to inspire and inform full time electrical students about the industry, the proper way to become fully qualified and the opportunities available to them. During the event, around 50 students heard informative talks from Stuart Wiles and Lucy Willett, final year electrical apprentices at Leicester City Council, qualified electrician Stephanie Ward from PA Housing Association, project engineer Miah McCullagh from Elmleigh Electrical Services and Neil McManus, Leicester College’s Construction T-Level programme manager. After the presentations, students had the opportunity to interact directly with each speaker during networking sessions to explore each topic in more detail. The students’ own presentation skills were also put to the test after they were set a challenging task to improve classroom lighting efficiency. Students had been working in teams over the previous two weeks and, at the event, presented their research and solutions to the industry speakers. After each team were judged on the quality of their presentation, teamwork, research and solution, the top two winning teams were presented with a range of prizes from CK Tools and Scolmore. Commenting on the benefits of the event, Neil McManus says: “The event provided a great opportunity for the learners to speak with employers and apprentices and hear first-hand what life is like as an apprentice and what skills employers look for in an employee. The team task was also brilliant for allowing the learners to showcase their talents and presentation skills. All students received excellent Information, advice and guidance on opportunities and routes within the electrical industry and the event has given them some real-life experiences and confidence in what can be achieved with hard work.”

Christmas lights safety warning

The UK’s biggest electricity distributor is reminding people adding Christmas lights to the outside of their homes this festive season to put safety first. While you still need to take care not to overload indoor electricity sockets when adding fairy lights, the growing trend for increasingly grand displays outside can also bring risks. As the festive season gets underway, UK Power Networks wants everyone entering the Christmas spirit, to celebrate safely. Debbie Chachulski, an education and engagement advisor at UK Power Networks, has a number of tips to help people put up their decorations stay safe and ensure their Christmas is not ruined. She says: “This year many people are getting into the festive spirit and putting up their Christmas lights earlier than usual, and we encourage them to follow our simple advice to stay safe. “If you are installing lights, be sure to take care and keep well away from any cables you may see coming into your property, as our electricity lines are sometimes mistaken for phone lines. Anything that gets close to a live overhead electricity power line, can conduct electricity which can injure or kill, even at a domestic voltage. “Extra care should be taken to avoid power lines that are a bit less obvious, for example if they come from another property to serve several homes, and are clipped along the front of your property.” 10 top tips for a safe Christmas lights switch on, are: Look up and keep your ladder clear of power lines Position the ladder on a stable surface Discard any old festive lights with frayed wires Replace old lights with new low voltage lights Check lighting used outdoors is designed for outdoor use Use a residual current device (RCD) which will interrupt the power if it detects a problem Keep water away from wiring when watering a real Christmas tree Avoid trailing wires by positioning your tree near a power socket Avoid overloading plug sockets Switch fairy lights off when going out or to bed

Have yourself a very Merry Xmas! with the KNIPEX Advent Calendar

With Christmas approaching, pliers’ specialist KNIPEX has given the festive season even more cheer! The company is again launching its popular advent calendar on 1st December - and there’s a prize to be won every day. To enter is simple; open a window and answer a question every day throughout December. All correct answers will go into a draw and the winners will be selected at random. There will be up to five prizes awarded each day, which will include innovations from 2021 such as the KNIPEX CutiX (90 10 165 BK) and the incredible Pliers Wrench XS (86 04 100). In addition, the big prize to be won on December 24 is a KNIPEX BIG Basic Move Plumbing kit (00 21 06 HK S), an incredible addition to any toolkit or workshop. To be in with your chance to win make sure to answer the questions each day from 1st December. The KNIPEX advent calendar is ready to make the festive season a very jolly one.

Three digital tools to boost your employees’ efficiency and morale

What makes a business profitable and successful? Is it hiring the right employees? Focusing on your most profitable products and services? What about productivity? In today’s digital world, we have tools at our fingertips that allow us to do more in our workday, making our people and ultimately our businesses more productive. But where do you start? Here, we cover why improving productivity is key to your business performance and how you can use technology to increase productivity, efficiency, and profitability. Why is productivity essential to your business? Productivity refers to how efficient your personal, team, or business output is. Poor productivity, especially in service businesses, can lead to poor profitability because the cost of delivering your services is higher. A OnePoll survey found that over a quarter of an employees’ working day is taken up with avoidable administrative tasks. Based on an average workweek of 36.1 hours, eliminating these tasks can give workers over nine hours a week back. Not only is productivity key to your business, but it’s also important to your employees. If your ability to do your job is hindered by unnecessary processes, outdated technology, or repetitive queries that you have to deal with, you’ll find yourself frustrated and lacking motivation. Employee satisfaction and productivity are intrinsically linked. Happy workers are more productive, but workers who are given the necessary tools to be productive are also happier. Slow or outdated technology affects worker productivity and morale, with one in five saying they lose focus as a result. The good news is that technology can also be used to increase employee productivity and morale. Here are three digital tools you can implement to improve your employees’ efficiency. 1.     Utilise cloud technology for documents Have you ever worked collaboratively on a document with colleagues only to end up with multiple versions, not knowing which one is correct? Not only is this hugely frustrating, but it also wastes a lot of valuable time. A public sector employee survey found that 15% of employees say this is their biggest frustration with collaborative working. As recently as a few years, collaborating on a document was difficult – you’d email it out to the relevant people, and they’d all send back a different version with their own amends. But that doesn’t need to be the case any longer. With solutions like OneDrive, you can store key documents in a shared cloud location and work on the same version either simultaneously with your colleagues, or separately. These tools also come with version control, so if something goes wrong, you can always roll back those changes. 2.     Give your people the power of automation One of the biggest barriers to productivity is manual, repetitive tasks that get in the way of the really valuable work that requires a human touch. If your business processes contact or application forms from customers for example, manual reviews and approvals can take a lot of unnecessary time. A tool like Microsoft Power Apps allows your end users to create automation workflows without the need for coding. Once, any sort of automation would either require an expensive plugin solution or coding from your developers, but this is no longer the case. This means your IT team can create automated workflows to reduce manual tasks that are regularly impacting your workforce. Your employees could also create their own solutions, so you can empower them to make their role-specific tasks more productive. You can create anything from small workflows that automatically assign new leads to the relevant salesperson to larger-scale end-to-end solutions that approve a customer’s housing application and automatically generate the legal documentation. Think about how much time all of this would save and what your people could do with that time. 3.     Give your people time back with customer self-service Human interaction is still critical to customer service. As the use of chatbots has risen, we’ve seen a backlash from customers who want the option to speak to a human. 85% of customer interactions online are now answered by a robot, highlighting the massive increase in chatbot usage. However, it’s key that you balance customer demands with business resources. Many businesses have jumped in with two feet and implemented chatbots on their websites with no option to speak to a human operator, and that’s one of the most frustrating things for customers. But it doesn’t mean chatbots and automation don’t have a role to play in customer services. Your approach to customer service should be blended in order to provide your clients with the right support at the right time. Implementing self-service options, like the ability to log a support ticket and chatbots with multiple options for routine queries, will help take repetitive tasks off your customer service team. This, in turn, will allow them to focus on the customers who really do need to speak to someone. You could start off online enquiries with a chatbot that guides customers through common queries. Then, if their query isn’t on this list, you can transfer them instantly to a human operative. A huge 73% of people find it difficult to continue their query when switching from one channel to another, so this allows you to meet their needs seamlessly. Productivity is a buzzword that’s thrown about a lot, and its meaning can get lost in the surrounding jargon. Ultimately, it’s about giving your people the tools they need to be able to do their job in a timely and efficient manner. Not only will these productivity tools improve your employees’ output, but they’ll also make your business more efficient and profitable. By Chris Shields, Sales & Marketing Director at Perfect Image.

Sevenoaks MP meets apprentices training to keep power flowing

Sevenoaks MP Laura Trott MBE met apprentices training to keep power supplies flowing and support their local communities Net Zero carbon goals. Electricity distributor UK Power Networks has a specialist network training centre at Sundridge where trainees from the South East, London and East of England learn to maintain safe and reliable electricity supplies for a network which delivers power to 19 million people. The company has 67 craft and higher apprentices training as cable jointers, linesmen and women, substation fitters and electrical engineers – essential skills to maintain and upgrade the network as more Electric Vehicles and heat pumps connect to the grid. Ms Trott toured facilities where trainees practice their skills on substations, power lines and underground cables under the expert eye of their instructors. As well as being shown round the facility, the MP discussed with apprentices the work they will be doing in the future to repair cables after power cuts, connect new homes, businesses and low carbon technologies and upgrade supplies. Keeping safety front of mind is a top priority throughout apprentices three-year training, as the company focuses on maintaining high safety standards. All craft apprentices complete the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award to build the teamwork they will need in their new career and new recruits are coached in delivering excellent customer service. Ms Trott says: “It was fantastic to meet the local apprentices and talk to the next generation of electrical engineers who will be helping deliver Net Zero carbon emissions. “I am so pleased the company’s regional technical training centre is based here in Sevenoaks and Swanley. It not only helps keep the power flowing to local homes and businesses - but is also providing local green skills and jobs needed for a zero carbon future right here on our doorstep.” Andrew Pace, director of HR at UK Power Networks, comments: “Our apprentices are preparing to play really important roles in the future of their local communities, where they will maintain and upgrade networks which keep power supplies flowing to everything from homes and businesses to schools and hospitals. “We are investing in the next generation of highly-skilled craftspeople and engineers who will maintain a smarter, more flexible network keeping supplies reliable for the millions of homes and businesses which depend on it and support the net zero carbon transition.”

Smith Brothers to provide EPC services for power generation scheme

Specialist high voltage engineering and contracting firm Smith Brothers, has been appointed to provide engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) expertise to a portfolio of projects – designed to support the transition towards more sustainable power generation. The £78m programme – a joint venture between LMPH and Victory Hill – represents a commitment to fund innovative net zero flexible power generation projects in the UK. Under the scope of works, Smith Brothers will provide EPC support in relation to the pair of planned combined heat and power plants, which will bring together high-efficiency, gas-fired engine technology with a carbon capture and re-use system – to provide a clean, net-zero, flexible, and dependable electricity solution for the UK. The Yorkshire-headquartered electrical engineering specialist will also act as the Independent Connection Provider (ICP) for the new 10MW, 33kV Western Power Distribution (WPD) loop connection at the Rhodesia site in Nottinghamshire. Once operational, the projects will produce highly efficient flexible power, which will help secure the supply within the UK electricity grid and contribute to the growth in renewable generation capacity. Alan Hoyle, project manager, of Smith Brothers adds: “This carbon capture project is the first project of its kind in the UK and represents the future of power generation – if we’re to achieve our nation’s net zero ambitions. As such, we’re delighted to be joining such a powerhouse of organisations to deliver on this vital scheme. Richard Lum, Co-CIO of Victory Hill Capital Advisors LLP says: "The UK harbours ambitious plans to hit net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and is rightly increasing capacity for renewable power generation. At the same time, fossil fuel generators continue to leave the system. “While admirable, the situation risks creating a perfect storm for system interruptions if supply from weather-dependent renewable sources is unable to keep-up with accelerating demand for electricity in the coming decades. “The aim of this portfolio is to ensure the UK electricity grid can meet growing demand and keep the lights on without resorting to excessive levels of harmful fossil fuels, as it becomes increasingly reliant on renewable power. These projects will provide a highly efficient, flexible source of power that can be called upon when needed, and at short notice, to plug any shortfall in power generation from wind or solar." Six months of design work is already underway, with work scheduled to begin on site in summer 2022, and energisation expected in 2023. Smith Brothers joins some of the world's leading industrial technology companies as part of the delivery, including Rolls Royce/Yellow Power, Swedish industrial group, Climeon, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group subsidiary Turboden based in Italy, and privately-held Swiss Carbon Capture technology manufacturer, ASCO Carbon Dioxide Ltd.

There has been Midlands Business Awards success for Niglon!

The team at Niglon is absolutely thrilled to announce the company has been shortlisted in the Family Business of the Year category at the 15th annual Midlands Business Awards. Commercial Director Paul Dawson says: “With the ceremony set to take place next March, it’ll be a while before we find out if we’ve won – but being named as a finalist is a fantastic honour which is all down to the hard work of our team. “Niglon’s history dates back to the 1940s and we currently have the third and fourth generation of the Hinley family working within the business – as well as having had the pleasure of having two generations of multiple other families working for us. “And yet it’s not just the passing down of a company from generation to generation which makes it a family business, it’s more about the ethos of the organisation – something which the judges were clearly able to establish from our awards entry! “We’re looking forward to the ceremony in March, and until then a huge thank you to not only the Niglon team – but of course our customers too, as we simply wouldn’t be where we are today without each one of you.”

Regulations for Smoke alarms change to ensure greater protection

Following a recent government consultation, the regulations for Smoke and Carbon Monoxide alarms in England are set to expand for both privately and socially rented homes. The amendments will seek to increase resident safety and bring more consistency to regulations between the rental sectors. The consultation proposed to amend the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 and Approved Document J, with the aim of extending the existing private rented legislation to socially rented properties; it also considered the important question of whether the existing legislation was sufficient. The amendments will improve fire safety within social housing, with landlords being required to install at least one Smoke alarm on each storey of their properties. There are several amendments to the requirements for Carbon Monoxide alarms to bring greater protection to residents. The first requires all private and social landlords to install a Carbon Monoxide alarm in any room of a property that has a fixed combustion appliance, such as boilers, warm air heaters, fires and water heaters (excluding gas cookers). In addition, it will be a legal obligation for landlords to install a Carbon Monoxide alarm in any home when a new fixed combustion appliance is fitted (excluding gas cookers). Although gas cookers are exempt from the proposed legislation changes, it is still recommended within the British Standards that these appliances are also covered. By law, all landlords will also be required to repair or replace alarms once notified of a fault, however regular alarm testing will remain the residents’ responsibility. The consultation also suggests that more information should be provided on the siting of alarms and that the guidance will signpost towards the relevant British Standards for installation. Any alarms used should be 3rd party certified to the relevant British Standards – BS EN 14604 for Smoke alarms and BS EN 50291 for Carbon Monoxide alarms. National Technical Manager for Aico, Andy Speake, says of the consultation “At Aico, we strive to promote best practice and deliver safer homes, so it’s great to see the proposed amendments to the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 and Approved Document J, be so well received. The recommendations are welcomed by all of us working in the industry, and the expansion of the regulations will certainly bring greater levels of protection to residents of rented homes across England.”