We made it on to local radio..
We had great fun the other day, being interviewed for BBC Radio Leicester – talking about Tinker and Fix, how the business came into being and, more generally, about the value of good tools for the garage, workshop and garden.
Ben Jackson, afternoon presenter, made the trip over to speak to us both and we spent an enjoyable couple of hours chatting about what we do and hand tools in general.
Turns out Ben is a customer, having bought a couple of Frank Toolrolls for his sons. Hence why he made contact with us to be on his show – because he rates what we do. Also because we are fairly local – Rutland is its own county, but BBC Radio Leicester is close by and covers lots of what’s happening out in our neck of the woods. He’s also a huge car restoration fan – of the classic variety, although he had also driven a Scimitar back in the day, so he was interested to see ours and chat through some of the pitfalls of driving and owning them. His leaky roof sounded better than our electrical gremlins that we’ve yet to fix.
We chatted for quite a while – and it was great to talk about all of the different types of tools we sell for the garage, workshop and garden. We talked about different tools from around the world – sourcing them and using them. To be honest they probably had to cut out the section of the conversation about the different types of trowel there are from across the globe because Edd said ‘down rabbit holes’ one too many times when describing the Hori Hori garden trowel from Japan, and the Sneeboer Dutch Trowel (if you’re interested in what you might have heard – you can read this blog).
It’s odd listening back to yourselves, especially when you get to hear all the verbal tics. But the process of being interviewed and chatting about the highs and lows of running your own business as a married couple, during this current economic down turn, was interesting and an opportunity to reflect on how far Tinker and Fix has come over the last few years, pre and post Covid. Ben was particularly interested to discuss the change of patterns of how and why people buy different tools and if ‘buying once, buying well’ was a trend, whether TV’s Repair Shop had an influence, and if the push to be more eco friendly was encouraging people to restore and maintain their tools more. He was also interested to hear about how we find and choose the best tools for us to sell.
If you’re interested in listening to us ramble through some topics, to hear Edd describe the origins of the company and the Frank Tool Roll (Frank lived in Leicester for most of his life, and was a HUGE fan of listening to Radio Leicester – so there was definitely something poignant thinking he would have loved listening in) We're on just before the 41min mark here
Overall, it was fun and made us look forward to the forthcoming events season, because that’s when we can talk tools with customers and help people to choose the right ones for themselves or as a gift for the gardener or car restorer in their lives, and explain how to look after and maintain their tools to keep them sharp and working well.