Winter kit season has started. The day's lead item is an explainer on Milwaukee's HEXON Heat Technology, the honeycomb heating-element design that replaces the three-pad layout most heated workwear still uses — and the reason your old heated jacket is hot in three places and cold everywhere else. With app-controlled independent heat zones and quoted maximum heat in under two minutes, it is the first meaningful move in heated gear for a while, and worth understanding before the merchant winter displays go up.
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Top Stories
Milwaukee HEXON heated gear technology explained
Milwaukee's HEXON Heat Technology replaces the conventional three-pad heated garment layout with a tubular honeycomb network of carbon fibre elements across chest, back and shoulders, which the company says gives 40 times more coverage in the same footprint and reaches maximum heat in under two minutes. The paired Heated Gear Power Source with App Control adds 10 heat levels and independent zone activation — the feature with real on-site value, since running only the zones facing the wind roughly doubles useful run time.
Source: ITS Hub | Full piece
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h&b Group names new Chairman
Steve Durdant-Hollamby has taken over as Chairman of the h&b independent builders merchant buying group, bringing experience from both merchanting (Lords Group Trading) and manufacturing (Genuit Group).
Source: Professional Builders Merchant | Full piece
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Also in Brief
- Saint-Gobain gas-fired fixings for EWI: The week's most significant product launch — single-shot gas-fired fixing replacing drill-and-fix on external wall insulation, around 30% faster in independent trials, with hand-arm vibration, noise and masonry dust exposure removed at the fixing stage. Source: Professional Builder | Full piece
- Board Aid seeking UK stockists: British-designed plasterboard ceiling support tool for one-person overhead boarding, no panel lift required. Source: Professional Builders Merchant | Full piece
- CUPA PIZARRAS slate fixing specification tool: Free online BS 5534-based tool generating project-specific slate fixing specs. Source: Professional Builder | Full piece
- Saniflo Saniboost Smart booster pump: Variable-speed mains boost solving low pressure in a Dublin property; up to 97 l/min, 5.5 bar, adjustable from 1.5 bar. Source: Professional Builder | Full piece
- Autumn and winter safety boots: Alongside HEXON, the other seasonal kit item — Overland Shoes making the case for waterproof footwear, and what the revised EN ISO 20345 S3S to S7L markings actually mean. Source: Professional Builder | Full piece
- Smoke breaks study: The Northerner-commissioned £8,400 figure is still circulating. Brand-commissioned, uncorroborated headline number; noted rather than written up. Source: Professional Builder
- Evergreen brand pages (no new information): Milwaukee's impact driver, impact wrench, battery/charger kit and power tool category pages, Makita's workwear site and battery transportation guidance, and ITS Hub's drill, drill bit, impact driver, angle grinder and Makita gardening guides all resurfaced unchanged. Standing coverage exists for each — including our new angle grinder buying guide.
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Watchlist
- Winter kit season: HEXON is the first of what will be a run of heated gear and winter workwear launches through September and October. Worth building out a comparison of the main UK heated gear platforms — Milwaukee, DeWalt, Makita — before the buying season peaks.
- Milwaukee HEXON UK pricing and availability: the ITS Hub explainer covers the technology but not UK RRPs or which garments in the range carry HEXON. Follow up once Milwaukee UK publishes.
- Impact driver buying guide gap: ITS Hub's version keeps appearing in packs; our nearest existing coverage is the combi drill vs impact driver vs SDS guide. A dedicated buying guide is a sensible next commission.
- Source registry maintenance: four feeds have now failed for consecutive runs — Tool Advice (DNS failure), Professional Electrician & Installer (timeout), Powertool Superstore (403) and Power Tool World (403/bot challenge). The pack is consequently thin on independent power-tool news and leaning heavily on Professional Builder and ITS Hub.
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