The week's biggest signal is heat. Two consecutive summers of late-June heat warnings have pushed workwear and on-site safety back up the editorial agenda, and brands from Carhartt to Makita are responding with products built specifically for the UK outdoor worker. That sits alongside a quieter but significant shift in how tradespeople buy and receive materials, with TradeKart continuing to add major names to its delivery platform. Here is everything worth knowing from today's research pack.

---

Heatwave Workwear: What Brands Are Actually Doing

The UK Health and Safety Executive has long required employers to assess heat risk on site, but the rules have no fixed upper temperature limit for outdoor work. That ambiguity puts the burden on contractors and individual tradespeople. Carhartt's UK team has been pushing back on this with a practical workwear brief built around UPF-rated, breathable fabrics. Their advice, confirmed in this week's Professional Builder coverage, centres on loose-fitting woven garments with UPF 30 or higher, light colours that reflect rather than absorb heat, and moisture-wicking lining at the collar and wrists.

Makita's new UK workwear range lands at a similar moment. The Makita Workwear site, now live at makitaukworkwear.com, lists garments designed in tandem with the tool range. The practical advantage for tool-focused tradespeople is colour co-ordination and a shared design language across PPE and kit, though the range is still building out.

Source: Professional Builder | Makita UK Workwear

---

TradeKart Grows Its Trade Platform

TradeKart, the rapid-delivery trade materials platform, has added two notable partners in recent weeks. Dulux Decorator Centre is now live on the platform, giving tradespeople access to paint and decorating sundries through the same quick-delivery system they may already use for fixings and timber. The Band of Builders charity, which supports tradespeople facing serious illness or injury, has also formalised a partnership with TradeKart. The logistics link makes practical sense: Band of Builders projects depend on getting materials on site fast, and TradeKart's trade-first model fits.

Source: Professional Builder | Professional Builders Merchant

---

Milwaukee Cordless Fastening: Battery Kits and Impact Range

Milwaukee Tool UK has refreshed its battery and charger kit listings, now prominently featuring the M18 REDLITHIUM HIGH OUTPUT packs alongside rapid chargers. For tradespeople running multiple M18 FUEL tools simultaneously, the kit format bundles a high-capacity battery with a fast charger, cutting downtime between jobs. Milwaukee's impact driver range spans from the sub-compact M12 models through to the full M18 FUEL units. The M18 FUEL impact driver delivers up to 305Nm of torque, which is roughly equivalent to the force needed to crack a very well-seated wheel nut on a light van, and it does so with four-mode drive control so you can dial back the power when driving into softwood or composite decking. The M18 FUEL impact wrench range goes further still, offering up to 1,356Nm of nut-busting torque, enough to shift fasteners on HGVs and heavy plant machinery.

Source: Milwaukee Tool UK | Milwaukee UK Impact Drivers | Milwaukee UK Impact Wrenches

---

Stabila LAX 60 G: Green Laser for Faster Layouts

The Stabila LAX 60 G is a compact self-levelling green laser level aimed at tradespeople who need to set out rooms or mark horizontal reference lines quickly. Green beam lasers are visibly brighter than red in daylight conditions, which matters on well-lit sites or outdoor work. The LAX 60 G levels itself automatically and projects a cross-line for both horizontal and vertical reference. Coverage and working range details have been assessed in recent trade coverage, with the unit seen as a competent compact option for first-fix setting out.

Source: ITS Hub

---

Stair Balustrades: Compliance Is Back in Focus

Richard Burbidge, one of the UK's longest-established balustrade and stair component manufacturers, has published a five-step installation guide covering the core compliance points under Approved Document K of the Building Regulations. The document governs protection from falling and requires stairway handrails to sit between 900mm and 1,000mm above the pitch line. It also specifies that balusters must not allow a 100mm sphere to pass through. These are not optional design choices. They are legal requirements on any new-build or notifiable renovation in England and Wales. The guide addresses both the structural fixing process and the key tolerances that inspectors check.

Source: Professional Builder

---

KGM Musso Saracen: 1,900 Miles In

Professional Builder's long-term loan test of the KGM Musso Saracen pick-up has reached its second update, now at 1,900 miles. The current focus is on how the double-cab pick-up handles tight residential streets, an increasingly common challenge as planners shrink road widths and extend parking restrictions into working hours. The Saracen's overall length sits at 5,255mm, which is longer than a standard Transit, and that has been the live test for KGM's claim that it is a practical trade vehicle rather than a lifestyle truck.

Source: Professional Builder

---

Bobcat Safety Footwear: New Merchant Display Programme

Bobcat Safety Footwear has released a new set of point-of-sale display boards for builders' merchants. The boards are designed to give the footwear range better visibility at trade counters, where buying decisions for PPE are often made quickly and without much prior research. Bobcat's footwear portfolio includes S1, S1P and S3 safety categories across a range of styles.

Source: Professional Builders Merchant

---

KNIPEX in the Editorial Spotlight

KNIPEX's needle-nose combination pliers have been featured in Professional Builder's June competition coverage, putting the German hand-tool brand in front of a large UK trade readership this week. KNIPEX combination pliers are notable for their grip geometry: the angled nose gives access to confined spaces while the rear section handles gripping and bending tasks without switching tools. If you are not familiar with the range, the brand's UK site is worth a look for tradespeople who work regularly with electrical conduit, cable trays or light fabrication.

Source: Professional Builder

---

Selco Supports York Road Project in Woking

Selco Builders Warehouse has announced the York Road Project in Woking, Surrey, as the first finalist of its 2026 Community Heroes initiative. The homelessness charity was selected from over 300 applicants. The programme provides building materials and trade support to charities with construction needs.

Source: Professional Builder

---

Ryobi ONE+ Battery Compatibility: What the Platform Actually Covers

Ryobi's ONE+ platform, now spanning over 100 tools, uses a common 18V battery connection across the entire range. Tools from the earliest ONE+ generation through to current brushless models all share the same physical connection. The practical caveat is that older chargers may not communicate with newer HIGH PERFORMANCE or HP batteries, even if the physical fit works. Ryobi's UK compatibility guide, covered in detail by ITS Hub this week, maps which combinations are fully supported.

Source: ITS Hub

---

Watchlist

---

Sources