We may finally be out of lockdown in just a few short months, and we’ll be able to return to some sort of normality. This has to be good news for everyone in the UK, and a testament to how well the vaccine rollout has been going.
Of course, right now tradespeople are allowed to continue working during the lockdown, as detailed in this article we put together here, but must adhere to strict safety guidelines. That means social distancing, the wearing of face masks and regular hand sanitiser.
As Boris Johnson has announced that June 21 will be the first day UK citizens are free of social constraints, we imagine that tradespeople will also be free to get back to a little bit of normalcy. That means you likely won’t have to worry about having multiple people in the same building while working, as social distancing will be a thing of the past.
Of course, we’d still recommend some safety protocols remain in place. Is it so bad that you have to wear a mask? If we continue to do so, then maybe we can limit the number of illnesses that spread around sites like the plague, forcing many to lose days of income. Of course, we’d continue to advocate for proper hygiene, even if you forgo the masks.
With lockdown now set to end, the agenda can be refocused on the levelling up of the economy, which has been promised by the UK Government. The electrical industry should be a big benefactor of this levelling up, as it has promised a ‘Green Revolution’.
Despite this green revolution, the UK’s first policy that was supposed to spark this revolution has gone down like a bucket of cold sick. The Green Homes Grant Scheme has been universally unpopular with consumers, with the Government revealing that it is gutting the scheme’s funding by £1.5 billion. Hopefully some new and improved support will be announced during the upcoming budget.
Thankfully there are already a whole host of solutions that could supercharge the green economy, some of which we covered from the Environmental Audit Select Committee. We’ll just have to wait and see what the Chancellor announces next week.
This editorial originally appeared in the Electrical Review Newsletter dated February 25, 2021. To ensure you receive these editorials direct to your inbox, subscribe to the newsletter now.