Why Rising Costs Are Changing My Channel

This one is a bit different. There’s no Spectrum on the bench and no clever tool to show off: it’s a straight chat about why things on the channel have slowed down, why the place behind me looks like a half-packed warehouse, and what happens next. I’d been putting this video off for too long, so in the end I just read it off a bit of paper.

What changed

Before the UK mini budget sent interest rates soaring, things were tough but manageable. The channel was finding its rhythm and I was balancing it with my day job. Then the financial landscape changed: interest rates went up, and so did the cost of everything else. To keep the channel running I took on extra work with the day job, but lately even that extra work has dried up.

Higher energy costs and the general cost of living in the UK have made it impossible to keep funding the channel as it is, in this space. I also spent a lot of time looking for extra commercial sponsorship to bridge the gap, but that came to nothing, because the same pressures are hitting everyone.

Mark from Mark Fixes Stuff talking to camera about rising costs during a 2024 channel update — Not the easiest video I’ve made

Thank you to my supporters

Some long-term supporters have had to rationalise their own spending, and I completely understand and respect that. I’m incredibly grateful to my Patreon supporters, past and present. Before everything skyrocketed, that support is what let me buy tools, take on new projects and buy parts, and knowing people want me to make content is what makes me want to make it.

My family have been brilliant about Mark Fixes Stuff too. But running a fairly big filming area with all my tools out had become too costly, and it was starting to affect their daily lives. When I couldn’t buy parts without raiding the family coffers, it got to me. That’s a big part of why content slowed down.

Mark Fixes Stuff filming space during the 2024 channel update before the move to a smaller studio — The filming space I’m having to leave

What happens next

I’m moving to a downsized operation. This isn’t the end: the channel will carry on. The move might take a while to organise and complete, and I’m going to try to keep making videos while I look for somewhere smaller to work out of. I’ve still got lots of plans, and the channel has honestly been one of the best things I’ve ever done.

Around every corner I found another corner.

I’d held off saying anything publicly because I kept thinking something would turn up. It didn’t, and you’d have noticed things changing anyway, so it felt right to explain. If you’d like to help keep the lights on in the new place, there’s Patreon and Ko-fi, but simply watching and commenting helps too.