is nobody bothered anymore? (trades people / companies)

Meridian said:
Did the posts have to be replaced? I'm guessing so at the cost. Dropping in new panels counts as a job worth doing 'cos it's quick, so that gets done. But new posts becomes a two or more day job, so no-one wants it. I got panels replaced last year and it took two weeks from posting on Check a Trade.
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At 8k I'd want a fence 2 meters from the original (in that I get 2m of more land for my £8k).
 
mrgubby said:
It took four months to get our fence replaced

Had six companies around for a quote

Three declined on the spot

One quoted within the week

One quoted after three months

One never quoted

It was close to £9k worth of business ...
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For a fence? Wtf just do it yourself!

Hire some labourer outside B and Q and get on with it lol
 
Efour said:
Same when I was at school too.
Nvq btec or vocational training was seen as the absolute worst thing you could do and.literally only the thick kids did it.
Such a stupid attitude to have and it was pushed on me by my teachers
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There's a Scaffolder I know who periodically reflects on the fact that he can barely read or write but makes more money than his bank manager. :p
 
Lopéz said:
I'm in my early 40s, and at the time, the message in school was pretty much that trades were for people who couldn't understand the sign up form for the Army.

I think the education system really got things wrong with its messaging in the 90s. I went to school with a large number of academically competent people who were basically sold the line that you need a degree or you're going to live a life on the dole.
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Funny, i had the opposite. Not from school in particular (Who the hell listens to career advice from school!) But everyone seems to know that Plumbers and Leccy's did bank, but it was physically demanding and i was too lazy and just wanted a desk job
 
BowdonUK said:
Sadly this is a result of our lobsided education system that doesn't value manual labour, or considers it second rate.

When in the EU the gaps were filled. But now we're seeing our full broken system in all its glory.

Too few tradies.
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100% agree, if I have children I would strongly suggest them to pick up a trade especially if they were inclined to do some rubbish degree. I have spoken to a family friend that is an electrician and he said there's a huge shortage of plumbers, electricians and the biggest one he said was roofers.
 
flibbage0 said:
100% agree, if I have children I would strongly suggest them to pick up a trade especially if they were inclined to do some rubbish degree. I have spoken to a family friend that is an electrician and he said there's a huge shortage of plumbers, electricians and the biggest one he said was roofers.
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I'd normally jump on posts like this - as the Uni experience is what gets a lot of folk out of their parents basements and thrusted into society (I have lots of friends who have never left the post code) --- but the costs are just astronomical now. And excuses like "but you'll only pay it back if you earn £xxK" make me feel sad that a youth would constrain their future on such a low earning threshold (welcome to the real world where 30k is peanuts).
 
I am very much not bothered any more.

As mentioned before by others, i do basically everything myself within reason. None of it is that difficult if you are able bodied, and the prices some tradesmen want for simple/basic things are genuinely hilarious.
 
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BowdonUK said:
When in the EU the gaps were filled. But now we're seeing our full broken system in all its glory.
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Indeed. It is why our tax money is going to probably pay a "decorator" £200 a day to put some emulsion (probably badly) on the walls of government/public buildings.
 
flibbage0 said:
100% agree, if I have children I would strongly suggest them to pick up a trade especially if they were inclined to do some rubbish degree. I have spoken to a family friend that is an electrician and he said there's a huge shortage of plumbers, electricians and the biggest one he said was roofers.
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The problem there is that most of these tradesman don't want apprentices, partly due to time, partly due to youngsters being idiots and poor attitudes, and some just aren't good at teaching and this don't want to.

It's very hard to get an apprenticeship in a trade where I am.
 
dLockers said:
I'd normally jump on posts like this - as the Uni experience is what gets a lot of folk out of their parents basements and thrusted into society (I have lots of friends who have never left the post code) --- but the costs are just astronomical now. And excuses like "but you'll only pay it back if you earn £xxK" make me feel sad that a youth would constrain their future on such a low earning threshold (welcome to the real world where 30k is peanuts).
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Uni experience is overrated, if you've had a sheltered life then yes it's useful but it leaves you with £60k student debt (4 year course).

This is a summary of two different routes I could have taken:

Route 1
Do A-levels for two years- Broke
Do University for 4 years- very broke
1 year professional registration year- £18k salary
Total: £18k cumulative income after 6 years

Then you can earn £40-55k (as a pharmacist)
That's 7 years, £60,000 debt, I now pay £210 a month towards student loan and it's not even paying off the interest.

This is the other route:

Route 2
Trade Apprenticeship- 3 years or if you don't want to do a trade then A-levels 2 years you can then go onto an accountancy or computing apprenticeship. Either way you are earning £17k-21k at 18.
Become a qualified tradesperson within 3 years then the world is your oyster, self-employed work or if you go down the accounting/computing apprenticeship you'll probably earn £40-50k soon after qualifying as a chartered accountant.
Total: £60k cumulative income after 3 years, no debt.

The Government loves the 1st route because they can tax you on everything, I know I'm not alone but my monthly deductions as a % of income is quite frankly ridiculous
Secondary schools always push the University option even if you have rubbish A-levels (they tried it with me but I decided to retake the year at college) the reason for this is it looks good on their prospectus.

Apologies if it sounds a bit tin foil hat but they don't want you to learn about taxes, laws and life basics such as how to fix a leaking tap/ how to cook. They just want to churn out students and have a nice shiny prospectus pack that says 99% A*-C at GCSE.
 
flibbage0 said:
Uni experience is overrated, if you've had a sheltered life then yes it's useful but it leaves you with £60k student debt (4 year course).

This is a summary of two different routes I could have taken:

Route 1
Do A-levels for two years- Broke
Do University for 4 years- very broke
1 year professional registration year- £18k salary
Total: £18k cumulative income after 6 years

Then you can earn £40-55k (as a pharmacist)
That's 7 years, £60,000 debt, I now pay £210 a month towards student loan and it's not even paying off the interest.

This is the other route:

Route 2
Trade Apprenticeship- 3 years or if you don't want to do a trade then A-levels 2 years you can then go onto an accountancy or computing apprenticeship. Either way you are earning £17k-21k at 18.
Become a qualified tradesperson within 3 years then the world is your oyster, self-employed work or if you go down the accounting/computing apprenticeship you'll probably earn £40-50k soon after qualifying as a chartered accountant.
Total: £60k cumulative income after 3 years, no debt.

The Government loves the 1st route because they can tax you on everything, I know I'm not alone but my monthly deductions as a % of income is quite frankly ridiculous
Secondary schools always push the University option even if you have rubbish A-levels (they tried it with me but I decided to retake the year at college) the reason for this is it looks good on their prospectus.

Apologies if it sounds a bit tin foil hat but they don't want you to learn about taxes, laws and life basics such as how to fix a leaking tap/ how to cook. They just want to churn out students and have a nice shiny prospectus pack that says 99% A*-C at GCSE.
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I was lucky in that I was under the old system and needed a few more years to grow up. I think I left with £25k which I paid back pretty quickly; but I now have girls and boys in my team on £50k/year with £50k of debt that they will be paying back for like 10x the time it took me due to interest (my scheme was 1.5% IIRC).
 
Jono8 said:
I am very much not bothered any more.

As mentioned before by others, i do basically everything myself within reason. None of it is that difficult if you are able bodied, and the prices some tradesmen want for simple/basic things are genuinely hilarious.
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Where did you pick up the skills? I want to use Youtube but some of the stuff I see on there looks questionable and since they disabled the dislike bar it makes it a bit harder to tell if what they're doing is right.
 
flibbage0 said:
Where did you pick up the skills? I want to use Youtube but some of the stuff I see on there looks questionable and since they disabled the dislike bar it makes it a bit harder to tell if what they're doing is right.
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I trust myself beyond most trades people.

After having a new build house and witnessing the work done, and the standard of work from those they sent to fix things....well.

Not just my experience either, but that of family and friends. On the whole, most of the time the people you get to come in and fix/do things just **** it up, and expect lol money for doing so.
 
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dLockers said:
I was lucky in that I was under the old system and needed a few more years to grow up. I think I left with £25k which I paid back pretty quickly; but I now have girls and boys in my team on £50k/year with £50k of debt that they will be paying back for like 10x the time it took me due to interest (my scheme was 1.5% IIRC).
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Mine is 6.9% lool
 
I wish I had gone for a trade after school. I do appreciate that trades do have to put up with horrible weather/ physical discomfort though.

As with so many others, I was pushed to sixth firm as "trades/apprenticeships are for thickos".

My lad is doing computer science in uni, but I always told him I would be happy if he was a plumber- as long as he was a good one.
 
potatolord said:
I wish I had gone for a trade after school. I do appreciate that trades do have to put up with horrible weather/ physical discomfort though.

As with so many others, I was pushed to sixth firm as "trades/apprenticeships are for thickos".

My lad is doing computer science in uni, but I always told him I would be happy if he was a plumber- as long as he was a good one.
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It is because trades people did used to get paid poorly.

My mum's dad was an accomplished welder but they still lived on a council estate and were fairly poor as he didn't earn much.

Nowadays he'd probably be very wealthy.
 
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