AN ELECTRICIAN from Basingstoke has been celebrating after releasing a book all about the life of a sparky.

Gary Alder, 36 and lives in Beggarwood, has been an electrician for 18 years, starting his career in the industry as an apprentice electrician.

After qualifying, Gary focussed on project management, before joining the 'super sewer project' managed by tunnelling company Tideway in London, which aims to build a 25km 'super sewer' under the Thames to intercept nasty spills and clean up the river from millions of tonnes of raw sewage spilling untreated in the River Thames each Year.

Gary has been working on the project for the past six years, and is the lead electrician on the project.

In 2020, Gary became a chartered engineer and around the same time had a podcast talking about the electrical industry and the different careers and possibilities on offer.

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Basingstoke Gazette: Gary AlderGary Alder (Image: Gary Alder, Canva)

It was the podcast which fostered the idea for Gary to begin writing a book all about the industry and the 'wide spectrum of opportunities open to you by going down that avenue.'

He began writing the book, called So You Want To Be An Electrician in 2021 which took around two years to complete, and finally finished at the end of 2023. Gary has since self-published, with the book selling nearly 200 copies in its first month.

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Gary said: "It was a surreal moment to hold the first copy of the book after putting in all the hard work to get it published and finished. I felt really proud for it all to come together into something that has received good feedback in its first month.

"One of the most amazing things has been sending the copies out and handwriting all these different addresses scattered across the globe, and I'm thrilled to see the reach it has obtained already.

"It helps to promote the industry and all of the opportunities out there ready to be seized."

More information can be found at theelecbook.co.uk.