Gary Ross, founder and CEO of blip, a small business insurance provider for tradespeople, has spoken out on the rise in tool theft. Gary said: “The rise in tool theft is an epidemic. Tool theft isn’t just a loss of equipment; it’s a threat to livelihoods and the integrity of skilled trades. Each stolen tool represents hours of hard work and investment, hurting the foundation of small businesses and hitting the pockets of tradespeople during a cost-of-living crisis. “Growing up with family working in the trades I know first-hand the toll it can take mentally and physically, add the stress of ha ..read more

Gary Ross, founder and CEO of blip, a small business insurance provider for tradespeople, has spoken out on the rise in tool theft. Gary said: “The rise in tool theft is an epidemic. Tool theft isn’t just a loss of equipment; it’s a threat to livelihoods and the integrity of skilled trades. Each stolen tool represents hours of hard work and investment, hurting the foundation of small businesses and hitting the pockets of tradespeople during a cost-of-living crisis. “Growing up with family working in the trades I know first-hand the toll it can take mentally and physically, add the stress of ha ..read more

Bristan Group has announced the installation of 1,666 solar panels, each weighing 22kg, at its head office and distribution centre in Tamworth, Staffordshire. This installation forms part of the group’s wider sustainability initiatives and ambitions to create an energy-efficient infrastructure, as outlined in its Environmental, Social and Governance report in September last year. In line with the organisation’s ambitions to reduce its carbon footprint, Bristan Group made plans to better utilise its existing infrastructure and has now installed 1,666 individual solar panels on the roof of its h ..read more

Daniel Särefjord, Aira UK CEO, has released a statement in response to the release of the new policy paper from Which? that calls for an overhaul of the Energy Performance Certification (EPC) regime. Daniel said: “The Which? policy paper shows that the Energy Performance Certificate regime is outdated, counterintuitive and badly designed to meet consumer demand for accurate home energy efficiency ratings. EPCs should have a greater focus on the impact of the home on the climate, a metric that is lacking at this time. “Which? repeatedly highlights the integral role that heat pumps will play in ..read more

For four consecutive years, Spirotech has been named a ‘Great Place To Work’. Since 2020, Spirotech has worked with Great Place To Work to gain insight into employee perception, cooperation and leadership within the business. Great Place To work is a global organisation that applies data and insights from approximately 10,000 businesses across the world to benchmark individual performance and advise employers on how to improve employee engagement. Rob Jacques, UK business director at Spirotech, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled that once again Spirotech has been awarded ‘Great Place To Work Cer ..read more

City Plumbing has stated that it is set to solve a long-term problem for housebuilders, regional developers and large subcontractors, by launching ten new Plastics Supercentres across the country. The centres are to stock large quantities of Wavin soil, waste and plastic plumbing products and drainage options, along with other brands. The initiative was inspired by feedback from customers that it was impossible to find enough plastics stock for new build projects in one visit. The new Plastics Supercentres will stock the full profile of everything needed to complete multiple new build units in ..read more

Nusku, a Bristol-based start-up, has raised almost £1m of investment, including a grant of more than £700,000 from the government announced this week. A statement said that the company formed in 2022 after a “chat over coffee about why heat pumps aren’t more popular”, it led to its founder Russell Murchie leaving his job at Dyson to tackle the problem. Two years later and Nusku has six employees, a workshop and office space at Future Space – the University of the West of England’s innovation centre – and now funding from a £727,000 grant from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DE ..read more

More than half a million customers could get access to compensation and fairer energy bills under new regulations to improve their consumer rights, according to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). Ministers have taken the latest step to introduce much needed regulation to the heat network market, publishing the government’s response to a consultation on consumer protections for homes and businesses connected to heat networks this week. Heat networks are a way of heating multiple buildings from a central source. They can save costs and use green energy, a statement said. Cu ..read more

The latest Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) report, published in April, shows builders’ merchants’ value sales were down 4.7% in February compared to the same month a year ago. Volume sales dropped 7.5%, while prices increased 3.1%. With an extra trading day this year, like-for-like sales were down 9.2%. Year-on-year, eight of the 12 categories sold more than February 2023 with Workwear & Safetywear, +18.3%, the leading category. Miscellaneous, +10.2%, and Decorating, +6.2%, also did better than merchants overall. Renewables & Water Saving, down 20.9%, was the weakest category ..read more

Ideal Heating and Heat Pump Installer Network (HPIN) have teamed up to launch the Ideal Heat Pump Expert scheme. According to a statement, the scheme aims to take the hassle out of installing heart pumps and enable installers to increase their income and future-proof their business, at zero cost. The partnership makes the heat pumps market more accessible to installers, it noted, through a simple process covering everything from training, to paperwork, to payment. The Ideal Heat Pump Expert scheme provides a simple solution to begin heat pump installations and also takes care of Microgeneratio ..read more