P20-21 Wiring Accessories Scolmore:Layout 1 28/01/2021 14:38 Page 20 WiringAccessories
What’s new for 2021?
Marie Parry, group marketing director, Scolmore Group, looks at the wiring accessories sector and what will be driving trends in 2021.
T
his time last year, the focus for an article on trends in wiring accessories might have covered the continuing growth in smart and connected products, or the demand for decorative
devices fuelled by consumers’ unlimited access via social media to an array of interior design inspiration. Fast forward 12 months to 2021 and few could have predicted that a key focus for anyone involved in the manufacture, specification and installation of wiring accessories would be the antiviral or antimicrobial properties of these products.
Antiviral attributes Whereas antimicrobial products have been associated with healthcare settings such as hospitals and care homes to help with infection control, we are now seeing much more demand for them across an array of settings where there is a high volume of traffic. These include offices, hotels, educational premises, retail outlets to name just a few. It is well documented that switch plates, such as light switches, dimmers and sockets have one of the highest touch rates in any environment, and as such are likely to hold a significant number of microbes on their surfaces. Products with antimicrobial properties have an important part to play to help inhibit the spread of infection and this is what is driving demand. It is clear that the fight against the coronavirus is far from over and may
prove something we have to live with in the long term. We can only see an increase in demand for any products and solutions that provide some measure of protection against the spread of infection. Everyone, from specifiers, building owners and developers, to contractors, end users and consumers, is striving to make working and living environments as safe as possible and antimicrobial wiring accessories are top of the list of products being specified. We took the step early last year to further enhance the hygiene
properties of our white, moulded wiring accessories. In addition to the anti- bacterial testing already carried out on Mode, Mode Part M and Polar plates, they have now been independently tested and shown to have anti-viral properties against enveloped and non-enveloped viruses. After a contact period of 4 hours, all tested plates were shown to have a 99.9% kill off rate
20 | electrical wholesalerFebruary 2021
ewnews.co.uk
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