On Sat, 21 Jan 2006 02:16:11 +0000, John Rumm wrote:

Nothing too specialised in the plumbing or electrical range since
there are plenty of specialist dealers in this sort of stuff in most
places.

Not round here there aren't. Nearest "trade" counters are 20+ miles
away... The figures for charges are interesting, I doubt I'd get away
with £40 for the first half hour, might £30 though. Hum...

I would expect identifying good local suppliers would be as much
value as anything else - why tie your money up holding stock when
you can use theirs!

I like that idea but the only "local suppliers" here would be all the
other local tradesmen...

One thing that hasn't been pointed out particulary well is the cost of
transport. Don't just think in terms of the fuel used. My vehicle cost
14p/mile in fuel (diesel, 28mpg) but 38p/mile when you take into
account insurance and maintenace but *not* depreciation. That 38p is
below the average ATM as it's due a service, after that service bill
hits I'd expect the cost to be 45p/mile or higher. So if you drive 20
miles, round trip, to do a job, that costs you £8.00 just for the
transport costs...

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail