recession

[ME]

We are getting quieter too.

 

I have had to let two of my part-time girls go (at work) - which wasnt nice.

 

The media have a lot to answer for in this, "News at Ten" should have its name changed to "Pass me the noose I am gonna hang myself".

 

I have told the missus that if it all goes tits then I am off to the States - so at least I have something to look forward to if it does !!!

[starlight32]

We are getting quieter too.

 

I have had to let two of my part-time girls go (at work) - which wasnt nice.

 

The media have a lot to answer for in this, "News at Ten" should have its name changed to "Pass me the noose I am gonna hang myself".

 

I have told the missus that if it all goes tits then I am off to the States - so at least I have something to look forward to if it does !!!

 

Were you really that close to your staff?

 

Sorry but my suffolk mind wanders every so often.........

[mysecretlife]

It’s pretty bleak out there for people involved in volume housing, but there’s plenty pf public money (Q.E hospital, city library, new street station) being spent in Birmingham so fingers crossed.

[ME]

Were you really that close to your staff?

 

Sorry but my suffolk mind wanders every so often.........

 

it aint funny mate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

one of them had cracking norks !!!!!!

[tweedledee]

things in the building industry in ulster are well slowed too. have enough to keep us to christmas but who knows what the new year will bring. ah well theres always the dole and more shooting time. think positive.

[digger]

Any one in London or the surrounding area who is a good chippy, sparks, plumber or multi (inc void teams) PM me. Work as a surveyor for a HA, last four years been a supervisor for a maintenance company. They are looking for staff on either PAYE or sub contract basis working to SOR on version 5. Always work within the HA sector due to budgets being set years in advance. I know guys who still clear £5k a week and its not slowing down

[amateur]

Well my second income business is growing well, recession or not.

 

If you want to do the same, take a look at www.

 

Ian

 

Reason for edit: Advertising

 

 

I see that the mods got at me then - but allowed digger's above posting - what's the difference?

 

We are both only trying to maybe help someone out of a hole.

 

If anyone does know someone who wants to earn some money just pm me

Edited November 19, 2008 by amateur

[Willow32]

Ok , this might upset people............now that we have hit a recesion the poles and alike will be going home.....this will then leave jobs for UK people who will spend money in the UK ( and boost our economy ) and not sending it abroad to boost they countrys economy...................

 

Regards

Willow32

[bootneck]

Sadly redundancies are starting to occur around here, both from large and small firms. Belt tightening time me thinks!

[happyhunt]

I feel sorry for the ordinary bloke who's gonna take a knock ,but bankers,self employed builders, plasterers, electricans, gas fitters, plumbers, and car showrooms have ripped us off for years , they should be able to live very comfortably for years to come on what they have made in the last couple of years.

[digger]

Should the moderators feel my post was an effort to earn money for myself they will delete it. I stand to make nothing other than help people out.

Willow - the recession is not a way for fat lazy English builders to get back into building its a way of proving transit filled pub car parks on a Fri lunch time are the reason the vast majority of companies employ Eastern Europeans. Reliability, work ethic, trust, ability to meet dead lines and respect.

I will earn my salary regardless of whether people contact me or not, I offered a hand in friendship which I now regret.

[Plumbob]

I feel sorry for the ordinary bloke who's gonna take a knock ,but bankers,self employed builders, plasterers, electricans, gas fitters, plumbers, and car showrooms have ripped us off for years , they should be able to live very comfortably for years to come on what they have made in the last couple of years.

 

With respect Happyhunt not all of us are rip off artitsts, most of my work is from repeat customers if they were not happy with my prices I would be sat at home. As said before in this thread the downturn should sort the good from the bad, and that can only be a good thing for the ordinary bloke.

[myzeneye]

happy hunt, your talking out the hole in your **** mate. ive NEVER "ripped anyone off"....never.....

i dont advertise, my work is all done on reputation/recommendation .... i charge fair prices and i have never had anyone quibble over the quality of the work or the price theyve paid for it..... i spent a long time, serving my time, going to college etc so that i could learn my trade, i work LONG hours and very often drop everything to help a customer out when there in need of help be it gas leaking,water leak or no heating/hot water.....and obviously, for me to be able to do this, there has to be a justifiable charge other wise my entire life would be at the beckoned call of the customer.... believe me, the phone NEVER stops ringing....

if youve been ripped off in the past, i suggest you either get some realistic quotes before accepting any work or get your hands dirty and do the work your self.

there are alot of lads in the building trade who are in real **** right now, facing loss of there business,homes etc.... think on....

[JohnGalway]

even the black hole has disapeared

 

Only because the CERN lab developed a fault, it wasn't cold enough, or it was too cold, I forget which either way they have to repair it lol. You wait on fella, this time next year black holes will be ten a penny down at Aldi

 

The media have a lot to answer for in this, "News at Ten" should have its name changed to "Pass me the noose I am gonna hang myself".

 

Same here, I was just remarking about that to my dad today. If they'd no money to talk about there would be a LOT of dead air time over here. They haven't the intelligence to report anything properly. I don't need to be told 75 times a day we're in the ****, everyone knows it, I'd like to hear who's killed the most pirates off Somalia today without having to look it up on the internet.

 

Now there's a thought, mines, big spikey sea ones, they should have given them out free to the round the world yachts. I'd watch that, high seas death match Hell yeah, Ka-BOOOOmmmmmm!!!!sssssssssss, recession, what recession? That green boat just nailed fifty seven pirates, did you SEE that colum of water???

[pair away]

the media are making things worse , we all need to no whats going on in the world but they are milking it or all its worth , 4 weeks ago i finished my shift at 06.00 ( nights )drove the 25 miles home turned on the tv to be told by GMTV that they have been told ( by managment and the union )that the firm i work at is shedding 1000 jobs , this made my **** twitch a little so im on the phone to my boss who tells me hes been told nothing about it , i then have to wait another 2 hours till sombody from the union comes in to work , only to be told by him that no numbers have been discust in the meeting with management , by this time im so wound up i cant sleep and then had to go back in the next night and cope with a 12 hour shift , so thanks GMTV you ******* .

 

sorry rant over , thats better

[bignoel]

Only because the CERN lab developed a fault, it wasn't cold enough, or it was too cold, I forget which either way they have to repair it lol. You wait on fella, this time next year black holes will be ten a penny down at Aldi

 

 

 

Same here, I was just remarking about that to my dad today. If they'd no money to talk about there would be a LOT of dead air time over here. They haven't the intelligence to report anything properly. I don't need to be told 75 times a day we're in the ****, everyone knows it, I'd like to hear who's killed the most pirates off Somalia today without having to look it up on the internet.

 

Now there's a thought, mines, big spikey sea ones, they should have given them out free to the round the world yachts. I'd watch that, high seas death match Hell yeah, Ka-BOOOOmmmmmm!!!!sssssssssss, recession, what recession? That green boat just nailed fifty seven pirates, did you SEE that colum of water???

 

black holes at aldi 10 a penny darn at least they could do buy one get one free at hard times like this lol lol

[Marky Mark]

I feel sorry for the ordinary bloke who's gonna take a knock ,but bankers,self employed builders, plasterers, electricans, gas fitters, plumbers, and car showrooms have ripped us off for years , they should be able to live very comfortably for years to come on what they have made in the last couple of years.

 

Who is the ordinary bloke happyhunt?

 

We are all in whatever business we do to make a living and to make things as comfortable for our families as possible,

 

It doesn't matter who you work for or what you do, you could argue that everyone is ripping everyone off, if you are not happy with a particular price for a service or product everyone has the freedom of choice and can choose to either take it or look elsewhere!!

 

You can only rip yourself off!!

 

Mark

[al4x]

I know what happyhunt means, some of the less reputable tradesmen particularly down south have been charging like wounded bulls and getting away with it. I'm doing a house renovation and had such a lot of chancers its unbelievable from chippies wanting £250 each a day all the way through to architects and structural engineers taking the ****. Funnily enough the chippies have been on my back ever since looking for work and both the architect I used and structural engineer have been made redundant. Correct me if I'm wrong but somewhere arround £150 a day is pretty fair for the average tradesman and the ones I'm using now know at the moment they need to keep on the right side of the job as there are plenty of people looking for work, rather than the old scenario of they felt you were lucky to have them at all

[lord_seagrave]

Well, I have no hesitation in recommending both the guy who did my heating and plumbing and the carpet fitter to anyone who is looking for reliable tradesmen in SE London and Kent. Neither has advertised, and they are busy - genuinely nice guys and a pleasure to deal with.

 

If anyone needs detail please PM me.

 

LS

[Andy W]

Correct me if I'm wrong but somewhere arround £150 a day is pretty fair for the average tradesman and the ones I'm using now know at the moment they need to keep on the right side of the job as there are plenty of people looking for work, rather than the old scenario of they felt you were lucky to have them at all

£150 a day for beeing self employed! Out of that do they pay there own tax and NI, vehicle costs (mileage, tax & insurance & repairs) rent on workshops or similar and still have enough left to show a profit.

 

That equates to £18.75 per hour, I could work for a company and have a company vehicle and all the benefits and no hassle for £14 per hour.

 

I am glad I am in a niche trade with little competition.

 

I am with myzeneye on this one, I also provide a first class service that can not be rivalled by my competitors, I dont let folk down, I charge a fair price for my skills, I only advertise in the yellow pages, have a huge customer base and make an excellent living but it is all my own doing, no one helped me, as far as I am concerned everyone has the same opportunities in life just that some are prepared to take risks and others want the security of working for someone else and let them take the risks.

 

Anyway the old addage applies, pay peanuts, get monkeys, every trade is full of cowboys and those after the quick buck, us who do a good job are here to stay.

Edited November 20, 2008 by Andy W

[V8landy]

We have just our Xmass party cancelled at work!

[al4x]

£150 a day for beeing self employed! Out of that do they pay there own tax and NI, vehicle costs (mileage, tax & insurance & repairs) rent on workshops or similar and still have enough left to show a profit.

 

That equates to �18.75 per hour, I could work for a company and have a company vehicle and all the benefits and no hassle for �14 per hour.

 

I am glad I am in a niche trade with little competition.

 

I am with myzeneye on this one, I also provide a first class service that can not be rivalled by my competitors, I dont let folk down, I charge a fair price for my skills, I only advertise in the yellow pages, have a huge customer base and make an excellent living but it is all my own doing, no one helped me, as far as I am concerned everyone has the same opportunities in life just that some are prepared to take risks and others want the security of working for someone else and let them take the risks.

 

Anyway the old addage applies, pay peanuts, get monkeys, every trade is full of cowboys and those after the quick buck, us who do a good job are here to stay.

 

ok so their self employed basis is costed at about 40K a year for which they have to pay for a vehicle and getting to work but then the rest of us with a job do the same, except we can't offset it and fuel and all costs against tax.

Obviously if you start a small company with premesis etc then its different but for the average self employed tradesman who lets face it rarely shows the cash to the tax man its not a bad game to be in in the good times

[Andy W]

Obviously if you start a small company with premesis etc then its different but for the average self employed tradesman who lets face it rarely shows the cash to the tax man its not a bad game to be in in the good times

When you get paid by cheque or BACS there is no hideing it, and dont forget the hassle the self employed have and when your 8 hour day ends we can still be working and when we go home there is administration work to do, works schedules, parts ordering, invoicing, VAT, debt chasing and if our work dries up we get no help or benefits, perhaps a reduced NI stamp and thats it, if we dont earn we dont eat its as simple as that and regarding the good times we have to make provision for the bad times, we cant just go and blow the lot on flash cars and expensive guns.

 

I will tell what I did 3 years ago, I had £3k saved, should I swap my car or risk it and set up another business and stand the chance of losing it all, I set up another business and 3 years on it is going strong for minimal outlay so why should I not benefit from the 2 business's that I took risks setting up which could of failed miserably and cost me a lot of money or even my house.

Edited November 20, 2008 by Andy W

[MM]

to combat the cost of living in my house, we have to work overtime. The wife agreed with me on this, and as she gets a better rate, i suggested she works the overtime, and i watch TV with the kids

[myzeneye]

i often wished i did a 9-5...

today, on site at 8am grafted hard all day, and if im honest, for the level of skill/knowledge involved, i would just not entertain doing it for £150.

i can do a boiler swap in a day, no problems, but its not a job that id take 150 for.... reasons, well, what it cost me to learn my trade (properly) and pay outs to all the governing bodies such as corgi etc... running costs, plus the fact ive already visited to survey the job, spent time accurately quoting the job rather than just thinking of a figure and doubling it, got quotes from several merchants for best price to get the costs down, rang back with quotes....done the work, left site, disposed of the rubbish(at cost) then returned for any tweeks required in the following days, usually to top up a sealed system or show a customer for the millionth time how to use there programmer etc......

what this lot equates to, is very long days, evenings out looking at jobs, doing drawings/quotes etc.... alot of running round,diesel costs.... and basically a **** social life wich often impeeds on family life too much.....

 

ive just sat down now after a long day crawling through a crappy loft, covered in insulation and brick dust from cutting a flue hole out.... up a ladder with a transformer in the freezing cold wind......blah blah blah....

feet up.... phone rings... someone else... "my boilers died, can you come and get it up and running we've got a baby etc etc..... "....... im off out again, sons in bed, wifes sat board watching telly....again.....

 

its not all its cracked up to be....believe me....