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There is a pause in the hubbub of conversation in the workshop and everyone watches as a young man plugs in the vacuum cleaner that just minutes earlier had been in several pieces on his workbench.
As the machine whirs into life, the people in the room break out into muted cheers and clapping. There are smiles all round.
Over the course of the next hour, Vincent Pearce, a 24-year-old American studying design at the Royal College of Art in London, and his fellow volunteer, Tony Woolf, a retired BBC sound engineer, help fix a range of electrical equipment brought in by hopeful owners – from a radio alarm clock to a CD player; a hotplate to a lamp.
Woolf says: “It is such a great thing to be involved in. Doing something positive and hopefully helpful … it is just a lovely place to be.”
The Fixing Factory in Camden is one of a range of repair options springing up around the UK – from repair shops to pop-up cafes or repair hubs – that is trying to meet the growing demand for fixing rather than throwing away broken possessions.
Advocates say the trend has several upsides – from cutting household costs to reducing waste, tackling emissions and creating jobs.
Fiona Dear from the Restart Project, one of two groups behind the Fixing Factory in Camden, says: “There is so much resource that goes into making these electrical products that for some, like laptops and phones, up to 80% of their lifetime emissions come before they even get into the customers’ hands. So if you don’t keep them going for as long as possible we are just wasting all those resources.”
The UK has an unenviable record when it comes to e-waste, ranking second worst in the world per capita, behind Norway. A study found that almost half a billion small, cheap everyday electrical items had ended up in landfill in the UK in just 12 months.
Now a new scheme that has transformed “repair culture” in other European countries is to be trialled in the UK.
Repair vouchers, which give people 50% off the cost of repairing broken electrical items, will be available from next month in a trial across north London. If it is successful, advocates hope it will be rolled out nationwide.
Dear says: “It’s a really exciting development because this will mean it is cost efficient for people to repair all sorts of products, from kettles to vacuum cleaners, which people can often just think: ‘Oh, why don’t I throw it away and get a new one – they are not that expensive.’ Now there will be a viable alternative.”
A similar scheme in Austria, initiated by the climate ministry, has had a huge impact, with 1.5m repair vouchers used at 3,000 repair shops since it was set up in 2022. Experts estimate it has saved about 4,000 tonnes of e-waste.
Karin Huber-Heim, director of Circular Economy Forum Austria, says: “It has been a real success story. It is very well known and liked here and has helped establish a thriving repair industry and culture that we want to last long after the voucher scheme has ended.”
One challenge that advocates in both the UK and Austria have identified is a paucity of people with the required skills to carry out the repairs.
Dear says: “What we’re hearing is that there is loads and loads of demand [for repair services] – but the problem is that many existing shops and set-ups are struggling to get in new repair technicians as older ones reach retirement.”
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She says repair skills are no longer taught in school or at home. “There aren’t any repair accreditation schemes. There’s nothing that is bringing people into repair and so, basically, repairers are retiring, and then they’re closing down their businesses.”
In Austria, Huber-Heim says they are considering including repair skills in all their apprenticeships – from solar panel engineering to bicycle mechanics. “We realised that there is no point setting up a separate repair qualification because repairing a solar panel is different to a fridge, [which] is different to a bike.”
The UK scheme will launch on 1 April. Repair businesses can sign up online and then customers can go to the same website, download a voucher and look up which repair shop might be able to help in their area.
Boosting repair culture is just one part of the solution to what is a structural problem. Campaigners are also calling for:
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Products to be designed so repairs are easier.
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The removal of VAT on parts and labour for repairs.
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A repair index to help the public choose more repairable and durable products.
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Discount rates from councils for repair shops.
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New qualifications to encourage repair training, accreditation and apprenticeships.
Back at the Fixing Factory in Camden, a steady stream of people are still coming through the door, clutching broken vacuum cleaners, lamps and kettles.
Sarah Howden, head of sustainable consumption at the charity Possible that helps run the programme, says the demand has been so strong the centre is now offering courses to train new fixers – as well as sessions for those that just want to brush up on DIY skills.
Howden says this is just the start: they are planning two new Fixing Factories in London in the coming months and have the ambitious target of a repair hub on every high street in the country.
“There is a real desire from all sorts of people to be able to repair things rather than throw them away and that helps not just in terms of cost but also the environment. It is one of those things that just makes sense from every angle.”
