Anyone Want to Know What Its Like Working on a Building Site Nowadays

treliac

tesuhoha wrote: »

If Labour get back in people will still feel defeated. We need a change of government to bring back some hope and get us on track again.

I'm not totally Tory by any means. But I hope Dave will be astute enough to understand any mandate he is given and not be too arrogant to act on it.

Whereas if Labour return and they think they have the country behind them, we are really doomed.

treliac

Stay_tonight_in_a_lie wrote: »

Heavens you're up late?

Mmm - you too. What brought you here at this time of night??

I often pop in for a late look!

matbe

I think you do need to diversify but not into other trades but other areas of plumbing work.

The sites are all pretty much dead but there is a lot of other work out there.

Write to every letting agency offering gas tests,these have to be done yearly on every rented property 2 a day will pay better than 8hrs min wage.
Write to builders offering your services i did this when i set off on my own about 12 years ago (electrician) i wrote to hundreds got enough work to keep me going and expanded the business there is work out there but you have to go out and look for it,it wont come to you.

treliac

Stay_tonight_in_a_lie wrote: »

I could tell you but ...
Simple Minds tomorrow in Machester, Omd supporting. Looking forward, can't sleep lol

Enjoy tomorrow, will be thinking of you.

Joe_Bloggs

One alternative would be for a plumber to be a sole trader or be a business in some way rather then just be employed by some failing building contractor from time to time. I am sure it would require more business skills.

The benefits may include a satisfied client list who could recommend your services and also be in periodic need of maintenance/ occasional emergency assistance.
J_B.

Eric_Pisch

and yet i still cant find a corgi registered plumber who will fit my gas fire for less than £300 cash (2 hours work, £50 parts max)

the building industry is cyclic, it will pick up again

i was a quantity surveyor / network manager in the building industry last recession, i took the opportunity to side step industrys because it is clear there will always be boom and bust times for the industry

C_Mababejive

My view is that humans are inherently selfish.

People will ,in the end,happily stab their fellow man in the back as long as it is for their own advantage.

It is the way in Britian that tradesmen cannot be trusted. They never turn up,they are apt to rip you off,do un-necessary work AND we want them to do it for £20 or £30 quid..cash in hand. It suits us to exploit those whom we think are beneath us just becuase they carry a tool back.

Only those little biro suckers who wear nice clothes or suits to work are quite happy to look down on their boiler suit clad counterparts.

But why this perception..?

Well the popular media portrays tradespeople as some kind of low life with all the usual stereotypes but rarely portrays white collar biro suckers the same way becuase they are obviously more intelligent and above reproach.

Then of course Poles and other types can be exploited and do cheap work and they are such hard workers arent they blah blah balh..condescending b&llsh&t. Its almost like a white version of Uncle Toms Cabin.

Remember this,,pay cheap>get cheap....

As someone further up the list intimated...just becuase it isnt you this time,it might be you the next.

Anyone is vulnerable to the ebb and flow of the employment market from the most well paid investment manager at Goldman Sachs to the man or woman who cleans public toilets. Dont anyone think they are safe. It is very true that ALL workers,no matter who or what they are,must support eachother in this country becuase one day..It could be YOU..

zappahey

tesuhoha wrote: »

We would do the same if a foreign country was paying high wages and offered them to the British in front of their own people because they wanted to undercut them. We would flock over there in our thousands.

We did. Auf Wiedersehen, Pet wasn't totally fictional.

stueyhants

tesuhoha wrote: »

The banks are refusing to lend mortgages and it is the banks who put and who are keeping this country in recession. They went from one extreme to the other. If they started lending sensibly building would eventually start again and it would generate a lot of employment outwards. Its so simple.

One could argue the banks are lending sensibly now. The last 5 years where abnormal, a boom in credit. We are now adjusting back to reality.

Emy1501

The banks are refusing to lend mortgages and it is the banks who put and who are keeping this country in recession. They went from one extreme to the other. If they started lending sensibly building would eventually start again and it would generate a lot of employment outwards. Its so simple.[/QUOTE]

They have never refused to lend Banks lent throught the banking crisis and are lending now. As long as someone has good credit then 90% mortgages are available and always have been. Even 95% mortgages were available up until Sept2008.

The problems of the previous years were banks were not lending sensibly.

You have to blame the government and greedy borrowers for the problems you are seeing. A Mr Vince Cable did point out the problems of our personal debt and inflated house prices back in 2004 of course he was ignored by Mr Brown. Maybe if Mr Brown as chancellor had listened then the pain of now would not be so high for the people you know.

Unfortunately its unlikely to get better in the near future.