EDITOR’S COMMENT Will McGill


February 2026 ertonline.co.uk


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t the start of every year, our industry can feel less like returning to the office and more like stepping onto the bridge of a spacecraft. The engines are already humming, the dashboard is alive with blinking lights, and a stream of incoming signals demands attention before you’ve even had a chance to sit down. New products, new partnerships, new ideas — each one flashes like an alert insisting it’s mission-critical. The instinct is to reach for every switch at once.


What deserves your attention in 2026? A


flight plan. Instead, the focus is on fine-tuning what already works, introducing fresh ideas and new approaches to marketing while keeping the service standards that customers trust firmly locked in. It’s not a change of destination, just a smoother, smarter journey.


But any seasoned pilot knows that flying the craft isn’t about reacting to every signal. It’s about understanding which readings matter, which adjustments are small but vital, and which distractions can be safely ignored. Success depends not on noise, but on navigation. Take Martins of Hawkhurst, where a new Director hasn’t stormed the cockpit to rewrite the


A similar philosophy emerges in our interview with AEG, where innovation is framed as purposeful refinement. The technology being developed isn’t there to create more flashing lights on the console, but to make everyday life easier, intuitive, useful, and quietly transformative rather than attention-grabbing for its own sake. Even our mystery shoppers’ visit to Cardiff serves as a reminder that, however advanced the systems become, the fundamentals remain the same. Knowledgeable teams, genuine service and confidence built on experience are the equivalent of reliable navigation coordinates,


Enjoy the read.


the constants you trust when everything else is changing.


And that brings us back to the bridge. The businesses that will thrive this year are unlikely to be the ones chasing every blinking alert. They will be the ones who pause, assess their instruments and make considered adjustments, strengthening infrastructure, investing in people and building resilience for the long voyage ahead. In other words, focusing not on the loudest signals, but on the most meaningful ones.


Because in a universe full of noise, clarity is a competitive advantage.


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