Thanks for that little tid bit. I just assumed (wrongly) that everything was 230/240 volts including outdoor power tools. The only time I saw that configuration was on US warships and aircraft carriers to be specific.
It's been that way here for years now - basically because builders are completely incompetent and too dangerous to use power tools
The company I work for bought the old cinema next door, and had it converted to shop units - the builders kept borrowing extension mains leads, you could guarantee no lead lasted more than half a day before they cut through it!!.
Not only that, round the back of the building is a mobile phone site (for Orange), it's got a mast at the top of the building, with a large cabinet on the ground below - the builders used a digger just to the right of the cabinet, and what a shock - they went straight through the underground cable feeding it. It's not rocket science is it?, big metal box with no visible wires, where did they think it got power from?.
Incidently, this same feed powers the workshop where I work, so I lost all power as well.
So the electricity company came out and repaired the break (no doubt at huge expense), so what do the builders do - dig the other side of the cabinet - BANG!! - through the same cable again. So the electricity company were out again to mend the break. A day or so later they were digging down the carpark, just a few yards away - BANG!! - straight through the cable again, you can even see where the cable comes out of the ground and runs up the wall to the workshop where I am. This time it even blew wires off the wall in the workshop, and melted some entirely - I still can't figure out quite how, although it is a 3 phase cable.
So I've got a VERY, VERY low opinion of builders and electricity