Not even Bob the Builder could fix Gen Z

Will Gore, The Independent

About two decades ago, I decided that it was time to transform myself from a soft-handed, martini-quaffing, media-dwelling young thing into, well, a sort of grown-up. So, I did what any self-respecting individual in such a position would do: I went to Homebase and bought myself a toolbox. It was a fairly simple affair, but big enough to fit my entire collection of tools into it — which at that stage comprised a saw, a couple of screwdrivers, a pair of pliers, some sandpaper and a few other odds and ends. I felt pretty manly by the time I’d packed away my gear, and only then realised I had nowhere in our small flat to actually store the toolbox. “Never mind,” I told my wife-to-be cheerfully. “I’ll just make a box for it and keep it in the garden.” She laughed at me — a lot. I tried to make a box for my box. And failed.

Eventually, I found somewhere indoors to stash it, where it gradually gathered dust. Unlike the toolbox, the tale of my first unsuccessful attempt at DIY still gets pulled out at family gatherings with remarkable regularity. This kind of modern-day fable could explain why poor old Homebase fell into administration this week. There may still be customers willing to buy the odd tool, and even a nice toolbox to keep them in ever so neatly. But how many people then know how to actually make or repair anything? Men (and women) of my grandfather’s generation would turn in their graves if they knew what the world had come to. Indeed, men like my grandfather would probably be able to knock out a pretty decent coffin in which to do their turning.

My granddad, born of farming stock, was an extremely handy fellow. If something needed fixing, he could probably sort it. If wood needed working, he had the tools for the job and was ready to use them. Vices? Sure, he had a couple — both attached to a sturdy workbench. Even my dad has always appeared capable of doing things himself, especially in the garden, where he seemed to spend half of my childhood building fruit cages and pergolas, or creating elaborate trellis networks. For younger generations, however, DIY skills have waned. And even when we might have an inkling about what is required, we apparently lack the patience or confidence to have a go. Any number of surveys in recent years have suggested that people under 50 are essentially hopeless with a spanner. And I’m afraid if you’re under 30, you have no excuse, given that you grew up on a diet of Bob the Builder and Handy Manny.

All this is good news for plumbers, carpenters, electricians and the like. In some places, demand for decent tradesmen and women is so high, it can be a struggle to find someone willing to pop up that shelf you thought you could secure yourself but now feel too panicked to even try to fit. Bricklayers are in such short supply that wages have increased vastly ahead of inflation as construction firms try to attract talent. Still, the DIY reluctance of younger Brits is less positive for the likes of Homebase. Will other home improvement suppliers follow it into a financial hole? Well, as it goes, the answer may be “no”. Retail analysts suggest that the rot at Homebase actually set in as the result of bad management decisions by a previous owner.

Ironically, they had ditched the soft furnishing and chic fittings which had previously marked Homebase out from the likes of B&Q, and had focused instead on the kind of no-nonsense DIY products its rivals were known for. The strategy failed, and with a diminished market share, Homebase was unable to cash in when the Covid pandemic pushed us all to have a go at some DIY in the absence of anything else to do. Maybe, then, we DIY refuseniks aren’t to blame for Homebase’s woes. In fact, it was during precisely that Covid time that I finally got my toolbox out again in earnest. I put in a pond in our front garden (now home to many randy frogs); I built a desk for my daughter (still standing, if underused); and most recently I relaid and repointed some paving slabs (more or less on the level). As it turns out, confidence is more important than innate skill. Either way, it helps to have a decent set of tools and somewhere to keep them. And if you can get there before the administrators close its doors, I can highly recommend Homebase for all your toolbox needs.