I asked about installing heat pumps and got essentially a “now why would anyone go and do that”.

Obviously depends on local contractors and I’m sure they exist.

A lot of tradespeople are idiots and have knowledge that is decades out of date (or learned from people whose knowledge is also out of date).

The same issue is happening in Australia, with them often advocating for gas heating and hot water, despite bans on home gas supplies being rolled out in some states.