robinhood69 Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 Must be a few smallish builders on this site (Loft Conversions, Extensions etc)Im just wondering how most are fairing generally in different areas of the country.Were in the Northants area and work the neighbouring counties,things are the lowest work wise ive ever seen. Would like to know how people are doing.Thoughts please. Graham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobt Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 Im a BCO, we have few new houses on the go but loads of extensions, as people are not moving, they all seem to be doing the jobs they always planned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeinVA Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 I know here things are rough. We have about two years of homes up for sale and and the foreclosure rate is still rising. Of course the media is using this Swing Flu as a weapon of destruction citing the Pandemics arrival as the straw that may break the Camels back. Anyway, i can list a whole pile of residential builders that have gone tits up. Some of the Residential builders are now coming over to the commercial side and they are really making a mess of things? res. building and commercial building are two different animals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight32 Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 I have been getting quotes and quite frankly I think there are too many builders who are not cutting their cloth to suit the climate. I think this is down to most of them not having seen a recession and think it will all miraculously go away. Of all the prices I have been getting all I am seeing is figures which were quoted during the boom. The last recession in the 90's I was affected by greatly and had to adjust terms accordingly and survived. As for plumbers..... they are two a penny at the moment, in the last month three major outfits have gone pop in my area. Its always the case those that adapt to a change in economic climate survive....full stop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonno 357 Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 Must be a few smallish builders on this site (Loft Conversions, Extensions etc)Im just wondering how most are fairing generally in different areas of the country.Were in the Northants area and work the neighbouring counties,things are the lowest work wise ive ever seen.Would like to know how people are doing.Thoughts please. Graham Would you say the quotes/estimates for job have dropped over the last 12 months? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robinhood69 Posted April 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 Would you say the quotes/estimates for job have dropped over the last 12 months? Yes Jonno,weve cut our staff in half and have passed on that and the vat decrease to customers.Weve also dropped our earnings by 25% and re structured our finances.Weve also changed the way we advertise and believe all of these measures have knocked a fair bit of our quotes.However we are being undercut thats for sure,theres a lot of tradesmen who are now not doing much onsite stuff and are competing for the stuff we do.Its a tough old market place out there and were trading very heavily on our track record and the high end stuff weve done.Our demographics changed too,i used to see dozens of thirty something prospectives with an extra kid on the way but now were seeing more retired clients with disposable income.Im having a meeting today and were going over all our last years quotes and nailing as much of them as possible,BUT weve said that were not working for nothing and the danger is that builders will drive down there prices so much that there contingency budget will be wiped out and when something unexpected happens ,which it always does!! the job will run into the red. Difficult times BUT not impossible. RH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Holliday Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 I'm in the heating & plumbing sector. I suppose I'm lucky enough to be in the vein of work where I don't really get involved in installs. I noticed about 12 years ago that you either had to be committed to just doing installs or breakdowns/servicing etc. Having had a gutfull of installs and seeing how it was going to go (ie the market being flooded with newly qualified schmoes charging a pitence) I decided to commit to breakdowns and servicing. I still get a lot of calls coming in for quotes for a repalcement boiler. In fact, the last one one I did actually bother to quote for was for an old customer. My price was £800 more than then next bloke and for a job that would take one guy 2 days he was making barely £300 on it, labour & materials. I much prefer to be the knight in shining armour who turns up and sorts out problems caused by someone who doesn't have the experience or that no other mother can solve. As one of the other guys said, plumbers seem to be 2 a penny but those who are any good are harder to find. And I'd imagine that's the same with any trade. I also do pool systems which compliments the heating season perfectly. Although I've seen a drop in throughput of general enquiries I'm still keeping my head above water without having to think about cutting my prices, but I have a very keen eye on that at the mo. One thing I have noticed is on the up is the number of ******* who try and shaft you, I mean not paying for the work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 Funnily enough I've just been talking to one of the mailroom managers at a large London legal company who are a customer of ours and they are getting concerned, for a very old company this year has seen the first redundancies ever and its not getting better at the moment. Building wise I've a local guy working on my house who has been on it for 6 months so far and the difference as a customer is that he actually values the work and isn't trying to do it as well as other jobs. Prices from suppliers seem to have come down as they compete for business, I know my guy has work to go onto when he's done but much of that comes from work my neighbours have seen him doing and have asked him to quote when he is done. Its been too easy for too long and funded by the easy credit people have had access to its been easy to extend mortgages to pay for work but with all the alarm people are just not doing it and saving for a change. I'm not quite sure where we're headed with it all but I have a feeling despite green shoots of recovery that it may not be that simple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossy835 Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 phoned the farm in the usa the other night, and ma said there are a lot of homes up for sale, getting bad there, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IAN88 Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 My phone has,nt stopped i,ve up the adverts 50mile radius charging more in some cases because i,ve got more response,but aload more dreams thinking your going todo it for cost they can **** off as well . and the bigger the house the worse they are KIPPERS AND CURTAINS as my nan said Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC45 Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 I'm a Damp Proofer/plasterer/drainage specialist in Northants, I have since paid everone off and trying to do it on my own. I have now had to sign on. I dunno if I will have to retrain or stack shelves at Tesco? Might even get a job at sixfields, working at McDonalds. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC45 Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 Would you say the quotes/estimates for job have dropped over the last 12 months? Calls down 80% here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammie*dodger Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 Does that mean I might be able to get a decent quote to fit a log burner in my house? Anyone on here do them in East Anglia? JD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anni Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 Not much work out there at the moment :blink: . I know alot of good builders who are strugling You only have to look at the building sites that have been shut down Just before this recession we got stung by some ******.******.*******.***** Who didnt pay up I asked in the plumbers merchants the other day how they were doing they said it was dead.. Uncertain times ahead I rekon...Good luck pigeonpal builders . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERMIN CONTROL Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 Been in the building trade 15 years , Most of our clientel is housing trusts /associations carry out planned/ reactive maintenance and refurb work, the refurb work has all been cancelled with immediate effect , planned maintenance has been cut right back and we are just carrying out emergency repair work , this time last year there were 8 of us working full time , now there are only 4 of us Dont know what the future brings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC45 Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 Don't know about the other guys but I would rather get out of the game than cut the job so much that I have to pay myself minimum wage. My advice to those that want a cheap job, do it yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammie*dodger Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 I think if you can keep going at it a bit longer the rewards may be there at the end. The firms that survive this recession should be well placed to cash in when it lifts. JD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikee Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 i,m a BCO in norfolk and work seems quite busy now after a very quiet winter, loads of extension, loft and garage conversions, very few 1 off houses or small sites by private developers, quite a lot of school extensions and even a couple of new schools, since the middle of jan most of the large volume house builders, persimmon, wimpy and the like have all opened up new sites and are building at quite a rate, most site agents reckon they are selling between 3 and 5 units each month but have to offer extras to get a sale and at reduced prices which private developers and the public cant afford to match but it all seems encouraging at the moment mikee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IAN88 Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 YES MATE TO TRUE. :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IAN88 Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 Don't know about the other guys but I would rather get out of the game than cut the job so much that I have to pay myself minimum wage. My advice to those that want a cheap job, do it yourself.TOO TRUE MATE, :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wookie Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 Jammie, I know a good chap that can do you a log burner... He's quoted us for one and we're going to probably have it done at the end of summer. PM me and I'll get his details over to you. He's local too (well, the Fens). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammie*dodger Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 Jammie, I know a good chap that can do you a log burner... He's quoted us for one and we're going to probably have it done at the end of summer. PM me and I'll get his details over to you. He's local too (well, the Fens). Will do. Cheers, JD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malkiserow Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 I am aware of some chippies in Bham area still charging £25 per hour and busy, is this normal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IAN88 Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 I am aware of some chippies in Bham area still charging £25 per hour and busy, is this normal?yes mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amateur Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 If any of you guys want to earn some extra cash - anywhere in the country - just pm me. My business is expanding and I always need more people in my team. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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