On Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:51:12 +0100, dennis@home wrote:

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...

I used to use JB many many years ago for spares - first for my old Bentley
and then my P6 Rover. They had a quite superb storeman who seemed to know
every part number by heart. Don't find that sort of thing much these days.

Didn't an airliner lose a window because the fitter knew the part number off
by heart?
The bolts even looked the same but were a few thou too small IIRC.
I prefer storemen that check.

Even checking won't always work. A mate worked on the throttle of a
Lightning, it crashed in to th Gulf (pilot OK). He and his sergeant were on
a charge automatically.
The part was correct, the 2 locking nuts had been checked, the threaded rod
had a taper on it - too small to be obvious but enough for the nuts to
slacken.
Loctite was used thereafter.
--
Peter.
The head of a pin will hold more angels if
it's been flattened with an angel-grinder.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Huge wrote:
On 2009-06-10, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

A mate has a Turbo R which he has serviced at Jack Barclays as it
isn't used much. At 70,000 miles (approx) a hydraulic service is due.
6000 quid to you, sir. ;-)

Serves him right for going to Jack Barclays.

snip

I used to use JB many many years ago for spares - first for my old Bentley
and then my P6 Rover. They had a quite superb storeman who seemed to know
every part number by heart.

That would be Ricky Cooper - an amazing chap who unfortunately passed
away in November 2006. They must have had someone like him at Crewe, or
they'd never have built any cars - there are so many errors in the Parts
Books.

Don't find that sort of thing much these days.

True

--
Kevin Poole
****Use current date to reply (e.g. )****

Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "The Medway Handyman"
saying something like:

Maybe location is the key. I think he is in Liverpool which doesn't
really seem to have recovered from the 80s recession and is probably
suffering from this one rather more than the (relatively) wealthy
south east.

...With higher property prices, higher council tax, food prices etc.

There are plenty of poor areas in the south east.

But still plenty of money around. Population density will ensure there
are enough customers to keep you going.

Agreed, some of the local population are very dense :-)

Medway Towns population is 249,488 in 192.03 km²

Liverpool population 435,500 in 111.84 km2

According to Wikipedia anyway.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

In article ,
Kevin Poole wrote:
I used to use JB many many years ago for spares - first for my old Bentley
and then my P6 Rover. They had a quite superb storeman who seemed to know
every part number by heart.

That would be Ricky Cooper - an amazing chap who unfortunately passed
away in November 2006. They must have had someone like him at Crewe, or
they'd never have built any cars - there are so many errors in the Parts
Books.

Great ;-) Sadly I can't remember his name - even if I ever knew it. You're
talking about JB on York Road? This was some 40 years ago. But he was a
font of all knowledge in helping me maintain that old Bentley - and giving
advice about how to keep costs reasonable. I'm sure the bosses wouldn't
have liked that. I needed new brakes - drums on the S1 - and RR only
supplied new shoes. At a price which made you wince. He suggested going to
a Ferodo depot in Shepherds bush and buying the linings only and riveting
them to the old shoes myself. Doing the job for 1/10th of the cost of new
shoes.

Don't find that sort of thing much these days.

True

Strange how you remember some things when sometimes your own name is a
problem. ;-)

--
*Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Dave Plowman (News)"
saying something like:

He is responsible for his own tax affairs, etc.

Might be fun proving that to the IR if they decided to investigate. ;-)

The pure in heart have no fear of the taxman.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Dave Plowman (News)"
saying something like:

maintain that old Bentley - and giving
advice about how to keep costs reasonable. I'm sure the bosses wouldn't
have liked that. I needed new brakes - drums on the S1 - and RR only
supplied new shoes. At a price which made you wince. He suggested going to
a Ferodo depot in Shepherds bush and buying the linings only and riveting
them to the old shoes myself. Doing the job for 1/10th of the cost of new
shoes.

Then you find out other things - like RR used shoes and pads fitted to a
much more common pleb car or van and thus a fraction of the price. Just
an example - RR would charge an arm and two legs for a slushbox for the
Shadow - a GM400 box fitted to millions of yanktanks and costing peanuts
to overhaul with parts bought from the States.

Effing nerve of the *******s.

In article ,
Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
maintain that old Bentley - and giving advice about how to keep costs
reasonable. I'm sure the bosses wouldn't have liked that. I needed new
brakes - drums on the S1 - and RR only supplied new shoes. At a price
which made you wince. He suggested going to a Ferodo depot in Shepherds
bush and buying the linings only and riveting them to the old shoes
myself. Doing the job for 1/10th of the cost of new shoes.

Then you find out other things - like RR used shoes and pads fitted to a
much more common pleb car or van and thus a fraction of the price.

The linings were a unique part number, IIRC. And the shoes used an
interesting friction self adjusting mechanism - so again I'd think unique.

Just an example - RR would charge an arm and two legs for a slushbox for
the Shadow - a GM400 box fitted to millions of yanktanks and costing
peanuts to overhaul with parts bought from the States.

Dunno. Mine had a 4 speed GM Hydramatic - but with a mechanical servo
added for the brakes so again unique. Many of the internal parts could
well have been common to other cars, though. But despite a vast mileage it
still worked just fine so I never found out.

But at least everything seem to be designed to be overhauled if needed.
Unlike so many things on modern cars.

Effing nerve of the *******s.

Well, most makers charge what the market will stand. ;-)

--
*Snowmen fall from Heaven unassembled*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Grimly Curmudgeon" wrote in message
...
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Dave Plowman (News)"
saying something like:

maintain that old Bentley - and giving
advice about how to keep costs reasonable. I'm sure the bosses wouldn't
have liked that. I needed new brakes - drums on the S1 - and RR only
supplied new shoes. At a price which made you wince. He suggested going to
a Ferodo depot in Shepherds bush and buying the linings only and riveting
them to the old shoes myself. Doing the job for 1/10th of the cost of new
shoes.

Then you find out other things - like RR used shoes and pads fitted to a
much more common pleb car or van and thus a fraction of the price. Just
an example - RR would charge an arm and two legs for a slushbox for the
Shadow - a GM400 box fitted to millions of yanktanks and costing peanuts
to overhaul with parts bought from the States.

No different to other car manufacturers then.. you find the same item with
different part numbers to fit different cars at different prices in most
main dealers.
You just need someone that knows to tell you which to buy. ;-)

Effing nerve of the *******s.

The pure in heart have no fear of the taxman.

They do if their books are dirty!

But it'd not just be HMRC who might have problems with the "NOT
partners, subbies, or any other thing
but associates." Whose name would be on the unified bill (and so get
the repeat business and word-of-mouth recommendations)? To whom does
the customer go if there is a problem with the work? If the customer's
house burns down whose insurance policy covers the defence? And so on.

What I think you are proposing is sometimes called a 'joint venture'.
And it is often presented as an association which stops short of a
partnership. Many turn out to be partnerships if examined (eg when
creditors come looking for money) [1]. The exceptions are usually where
the people involved are already carrying on separate businesses and
agree to work together on a particular project but don't agree to share
profits/losses.

The fundamental problem is that two people in business together and
sharing profits are treated in law as a partnership whether or not they
want to be partners - as many a pair of (former) mates-working-together
have discovered. But at least in Dave's case there wouldn't be capital
assets to be argued over if it all ended in tears.

___
[1] HMRC think so too. Their guidance on VAT registration includes:
"If you and another person intend to work together on a business or
project as a joint venture, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) may consider
this as a partnership. This would be a new and separate person for VAT
registration purposes. The joint venture may have to register for VAT if
its turnover is above the relevant threshold."




--
R

On Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:22:44 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "The Medway Handyman"
saying something like:

Maybe location is the key. I think he is in Liverpool which doesn't
really seem to have recovered from the 80s recession and is probably
suffering from this one rather more than the (relatively) wealthy
south east.

...With higher property prices, higher council tax, food prices etc.

There are plenty of poor areas in the south east.

But still plenty of money around. Population density will ensure there
are enough customers to keep you going.

Agreed, some of the local population are very dense :-)

Medway Towns population is 249,488 in 192.03 km²

Liverpool population 435,500 in 111.84 km2

According to Wikipedia anyway.

It also depends on your competition. If there are enough people
willing to undercut your prices you may find it difficult to find
work. This could be happening in liverpool.

--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

On Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:06:02 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Andy Burns wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:

I'm not sure that as a sole trader/self employed you aren't VAT
exempt at whatever level you trade at..its only when you seek the
shelter offered by a limited company... I think.

Nope, either as an individual, partnership, company or club, you have
to register when you exceed, or expect to exceed £67K

Which is a dis incentive to expand. I have a semi retired mate, very
competant DIYer, great with people, looking for 3 or 4 days work a week. I
could easily increase the advertising & find enough work for both of us, but
I'd hit the VAT threshold.

Then I'd either have to reduce prices to absorb the VAT, or charge 15% more
& lose business.

Isn't there a way around this if customers pay him the work he does?

--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

In article , Mark i@dontget
lotsofspamanymore.net scribeth thus
On Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:22:44 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "The Medway Handyman"
saying something like:

Maybe location is the key. I think he is in Liverpool which doesn't
really seem to have recovered from the 80s recession and is probably
suffering from this one rather more than the (relatively) wealthy
south east.

...With higher property prices, higher council tax, food prices etc.

There are plenty of poor areas in the south east.

But still plenty of money around. Population density will ensure there
are enough customers to keep you going.

Agreed, some of the local population are very dense :-)

Medway Towns population is 249,488 in 192.03 km²

Liverpool population 435,500 in 111.84 km2

According to Wikipedia anyway.

It also depends on your competition. If there are enough people
willing to undercut your prices you may find it difficult to find
work. This could be happening in liverpool.


What!, work and Liverpool?, no way wack;!..
--
Tony Sayer

Mark wrote:
On Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:22:44 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when
the drugs began to take hold. I remember "The Medway Handyman"
saying something like:

Maybe location is the key. I think he is in Liverpool which
doesn't really seem to have recovered from the 80s recession and
is probably suffering from this one rather more than the
(relatively) wealthy south east.

...With higher property prices, higher council tax, food prices
etc.

There are plenty of poor areas in the south east.

But still plenty of money around. Population density will ensure
there are enough customers to keep you going.

Agreed, some of the local population are very dense :-)

Medway Towns population is 249,488 in 192.03 km²

Liverpool population 435,500 in 111.84 km2

According to Wikipedia anyway.

It also depends on your competition. If there are enough people
willing to undercut your prices you may find it difficult to find
work. This could be happening in liverpool.

Yerbut people who work cheap can only undercut you until their diary is
full, then they are unable to do so. Its a classic small business mistake.
Busy fools.

Apart from which, markets consist of segments, some of whom would rather pay
a higher price for what they consider to be a better service.

I had this conversation recently with the manager of a local community
centre, owned by a housing association. They wanted a cheaper rate, but
they also needed references (I'm Trading Standards Accredited), a CRB check
(I already have one), £1M Public Liability (I have £2M).

They wanted someone with the correct access equipment, the necessary warning
signs, they liked the idea of uniformed staff, a proper booking system,
itemised invoices etc.

I explained that I could provide exactly what they wanted except the lower
rate, because doing it right costs money. I got the work.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

On Sat, 13 Jun 2009 08:42:28 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Mark wrote:
On Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:22:44 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when
the drugs began to take hold. I remember "The Medway Handyman"
saying something like:

Maybe location is the key. I think he is in Liverpool which
doesn't really seem to have recovered from the 80s recession and
is probably suffering from this one rather more than the
(relatively) wealthy south east.

...With higher property prices, higher council tax, food prices
etc.

There are plenty of poor areas in the south east.

But still plenty of money around. Population density will ensure
there are enough customers to keep you going.

Agreed, some of the local population are very dense :-)

Medway Towns population is 249,488 in 192.03 km²

Liverpool population 435,500 in 111.84 km2

According to Wikipedia anyway.

It also depends on your competition. If there are enough people
willing to undercut your prices you may find it difficult to find
work. This could be happening in liverpool.

Yerbut people who work cheap can only undercut you until their diary is
full, then they are unable to do so. Its a classic small business mistake.
Busy fools.

Apart from which, markets consist of segments, some of whom would rather pay
a higher price for what they consider to be a better service.

Indeed. However, many people just want cheap. I looked into doing
some self-employed work in my local area and there were so many others
doing the same at rock bottom prices I decided not to do so. YMMV, of
course.

I had this conversation recently with the manager of a local community
centre, owned by a housing association. They wanted a cheaper rate, but
they also needed references (I'm Trading Standards Accredited), a CRB check
(I already have one), £1M Public Liability (I have £2M).

They wanted someone with the correct access equipment, the necessary warning
signs, they liked the idea of uniformed staff, a proper booking system,
itemised invoices etc.

I explained that I could provide exactly what they wanted except the lower
rate, because doing it right costs money. I got the work.

Good. I would imagine a community centre would be more interested in
doing things right than Mrs Smith of Acacia Crescent though.

If enough people did not want things cheap then the market would not
be flooded in cheap chinese crap products IMHO.

--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

Mark wrote:
On Sat, 13 Jun 2009 08:42:28 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Mark wrote:
On Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:22:44 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when
the drugs began to take hold. I remember "The Medway Handyman"
saying something like:

Maybe location is the key. I think he is in Liverpool which
doesn't really seem to have recovered from the 80s recession and
is probably suffering from this one rather more than the
(relatively) wealthy south east.

...With higher property prices, higher council tax, food prices
etc.

There are plenty of poor areas in the south east.

But still plenty of money around. Population density will ensure
there are enough customers to keep you going.

Agreed, some of the local population are very dense :-)

Medway Towns population is 249,488 in 192.03 km²

Liverpool population 435,500 in 111.84 km2

According to Wikipedia anyway.

It also depends on your competition. If there are enough people
willing to undercut your prices you may find it difficult to find
work. This could be happening in liverpool.

Yerbut people who work cheap can only undercut you until their diary
is full, then they are unable to do so. Its a classic small
business mistake. Busy fools.

Apart from which, markets consist of segments, some of whom would
rather pay a higher price for what they consider to be a better
service.

Indeed. However, many people just want cheap. I looked into doing
some self-employed work in my local area and there were so many others
doing the same at rock bottom prices I decided not to do so. YMMV, of
course.

Agreed the larger proprotion proprortion of the market may want cheap, but a
proportion will pay. As long as the cachement area is large enough &
contains enough of those people it will work.

There is a big difference between supplying a product & supplying a service,
especially if you are a one man band. Being cheap sells more product with
little increase in overhead or staff. However, once you are booked for the
week you can't take on any more work no matter how cheap you are.

I had this conversation recently with the manager of a local
community centre, owned by a housing association. They wanted a
cheaper rate, but they also needed references (I'm Trading Standards
Accredited), a CRB check (I already have one), £1M Public Liability
(I have £2M).

They wanted someone with the correct access equipment, the necessary
warning signs, they liked the idea of uniformed staff, a proper
booking system, itemised invoices etc.

I explained that I could provide exactly what they wanted except the
lower rate, because doing it right costs money. I got the work.

Good. I would imagine a community centre would be more interested in
doing things right than Mrs Smith of Acacia Crescent though.

If enough people did not want things cheap then the market would not
be flooded in cheap chinese crap products IMHO.

As I say, markets are divided into segments. Thats why we have BMW and
Hyundi, Waitrose & Netto, Armani & Matalan.

If Mrs Smith is elderly she is highly likely to want someone uniformed &
Trading Standards accredited who she can trust.



--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

On Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:28:14 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

If Mrs Smith is elderly she is highly likely to want someone uniformed &
Trading Standards accredited who she can trust.

I've never had anyone ask me about a uniform. I'm not sure how it would be
a deciding factor, except in the case of a few companies who either make
an advertising point of it or are known for it.

As I'm not Trading Standards accredited I don't know how much of a factor
that is. Do you get business directly through some TS register, and if
so do you get much work that way? And do you get a better class of customer
(or at least, a less-worse class!)? (I have a slight suspicion that the
sort of people who rely on such directories are more likely to be
unreasonably picky and troublesome to work for.)

Or do you just use your TS-accreditation in your advertising? And if so do
you get any sense from customers how much of a factor it is in their
decision to choose you? And again, are they the sort of customers you want?!

--
John Stumbles -- http://yaph.co.uk

YAPH wrote:
On Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:28:14 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

If Mrs Smith is elderly she is highly likely to want someone
uniformed & Trading Standards accredited who she can trust.

I've never had anyone ask me about a uniform. I'm not sure how it
would be a deciding factor, except in the case of a few companies who
either make
an advertising point of it or are known for it.

Its a brand image thing really. People don't ask about uniforms, it
wouldn't really occur to them. But they are impressed by them and like them
a lot. "I could see you were a professional from the way you are dressed"
is a common comment. Why do Gritish Bas et al insist their staff are
uniformed?

Bearing in mind that embroidered corporate clothing is wholly & exclusively
for business use, is 100% tax deductible and actually cheaper than being
non uniformed.

Older people & lone females like it a lot & often comment on it. They are
reassured that you are who you say you are. Commercial clients like it as
well, better than a strange scruffy oik wandering around their premises.


As I'm not Trading Standards accredited I don't know how much of a
factor that is. Do you get business directly through some TS
register, and if
so do you get much work that way?


Medway Council TS operate a 'Fair Trader' scheme and list you on their Fair
Trader website
http://www.medway.gov.uk/index/commu...airtrading.htm
lists the benefits and
http://www.medway.gov.uk/index/busin....htm?initial=H
shows what happens if the client clicks through.

I get a lot of business via the councils website. Council employees make it
their first port of call and the elderly use it a lot. Costs £100 a year,
well worth it, very cheap advertising.


And do you get a better class of
customer (or at least, a less-worse class!)? (I have a slight
suspicion that the sort of people who rely on such directories are
more likely to be unreasonably picky and troublesome to work for.)

The clients I get from the FT site tend to be less price conscious & willing
to pay what I ask. Not noticed any especially picky trend, they mainly want
someone they can trust. Everyone has seen Rogue Traders. Trust is the
thing.

Or do you just use your TS-accreditation in your advertising? And if
so do you get any sense from customers how much of a factor it is in
their decision to choose you? And again, are they the sort of
customers you want?!


I use the FT logo on everything; van, web site, flyers, adverts etc. It
certainly makes a big difference " I chose you because you are a Fair
Trader" is a common comment.

So its a twofold benefit, it attracts the sort of client I want and it
reinforces the sale if the client has found me elsewhere.

Reading Council don't seem to offer such a scheme, maybe you should suggest
it.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

On Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:35:50 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

YAPH wrote:
On Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:28:14 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

If Mrs Smith is elderly she is highly likely to want someone
uniformed & Trading Standards accredited who she can trust.

I've never had anyone ask me about a uniform. I'm not sure how it
would be a deciding factor, except in the case of a few companies who
either make
an advertising point of it or are known for it.

Its a brand image thing really. People don't ask about uniforms, it
wouldn't really occur to them. But they are impressed by them and like them
a lot. "I could see you were a professional from the way you are dressed"
is a common comment. Why do Gritish Bas et al insist their staff are
uniformed?

Bearing in mind that embroidered corporate clothing is wholly & exclusively
for business use, is 100% tax deductible and actually cheaper than being
non uniformed.

Older people & lone females like it a lot & often comment on it. They are
reassured that you are who you say you are. Commercial clients like it as
well, better than a strange scruffy oik wandering around their premises.

Agreed. When a yoof in scruffy clothes turned up to pick my car up
for its MOT I was very reluctant to part with it.

As I'm not Trading Standards accredited I don't know how much of a
factor that is. Do you get business directly through some TS
register, and if
so do you get much work that way?


Medway Council TS operate a 'Fair Trader' scheme and list you on their Fair
Trader website
http://www.medway.gov.uk/index/commu...airtrading.htm
lists the benefits and
http://www.medway.gov.uk/index/busin....htm?initial=H
shows what happens if the client clicks through.

I get a lot of business via the councils website. Council employees make it
their first port of call and the elderly use it a lot. Costs £100 a year,
well worth it, very cheap advertising.

How does the council ensure that all participants are actually OK? If
rogue traders join it could devalue the scheme completely. It
specifically states on the web site that they don't check.

--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

I get a lot of business via the councils website. Council employees make it
their first port of call and the elderly use it a lot. Costs £100 a year,
well worth it, very cheap advertising.

How does the council ensure that all participants are actually OK? If
rogue traders join it could devalue the scheme completely. It
specifically states on the web site that they don't check.


I presume that the councils own works dept is approved by some other
trade body;?...
--
Tony Sayer

On Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:29:26 +0100, Mark wrote:

How does the council ensure that all participants are actually OK? If
rogue traders join it could devalue the scheme completely. It
specifically states on the web site that they don't check.

Presumably they'd get thrown out of the Guild of Rogue Traders if they
were caught registering for a FT scheme ;-)



--
John Stumbles -- http://yaph.co.uk

What do you mean, talking about it isn't oral sex?

On Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:35:50 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

Its a brand image thing really. People don't ask about uniforms, it
wouldn't really occur to them. But they are impressed by them and like them
a lot. "I could see you were a professional from the way you are dressed"
is a common comment. Why do Gritish Bas et al insist their staff are
uniformed?

Bearing in mind that embroidered corporate clothing is wholly & exclusively
for business use, is 100% tax deductible and actually cheaper than being
non uniformed.

Older people & lone females like it a lot & often comment on it. They are
reassured that you are who you say you are. Commercial clients like it as
well, better than a strange scruffy oik wandering around their premises.

OK you've sold me on it (you're in the wrong business Dave! :-)). Where do
you get yours made?


--
John Stumbles -- http://yaph.co.uk

What is a simile like?

Mark wrote:
On Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:35:50 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

YAPH wrote:
On Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:28:14 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

If Mrs Smith is elderly she is highly likely to want someone
uniformed & Trading Standards accredited who she can trust.

I've never had anyone ask me about a uniform. I'm not sure how it
would be a deciding factor, except in the case of a few companies
who either make
an advertising point of it or are known for it.

Its a brand image thing really. People don't ask about uniforms, it
wouldn't really occur to them. But they are impressed by them and
like them a lot. "I could see you were a professional from the way
you are dressed" is a common comment. Why do Gritish Bas et al
insist their staff are uniformed?

Bearing in mind that embroidered corporate clothing is wholly &
exclusively for business use, is 100% tax deductible and actually
cheaper than being non uniformed.

Older people & lone females like it a lot & often comment on it.
They are reassured that you are who you say you are. Commercial
clients like it as well, better than a strange scruffy oik wandering
around their premises.

Agreed. When a yoof in scruffy clothes turned up to pick my car up
for its MOT I was very reluctant to part with it.

As I'm not Trading Standards accredited I don't know how much of a
factor that is. Do you get business directly through some TS
register, and if
so do you get much work that way?


Medway Council TS operate a 'Fair Trader' scheme and list you on
their Fair Trader website
http://www.medway.gov.uk/index/commu...airtrading.htm
lists the benefits and
http://www.medway.gov.uk/index/busin....htm?initial=H
shows what happens if the client clicks through.

I get a lot of business via the councils website. Council employees
make it their first port of call and the elderly use it a lot.
Costs £100 a year, well worth it, very cheap advertising.

How does the council ensure that all participants are actually OK? If
rogue traders join it could devalue the scheme completely. It
specifically states on the web site that they don't check.

They don't check the standard of your work, its more like an ISO quality
control thing. They insist on £2M PLI, a CRB check, that you have a written
complaints proceedure, that you have a system for quotes & estimates, that
you keep proper records etc. They do visit once a year for an audit & will
get involved in disputes.

I wouldn't like to lose the status, so I would be inclined to sort any
problems out properly.

They don't automatically come down on the side of the customer, if its an
unrealistic complaint they will tell them so.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

YAPH wrote:
On Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:35:50 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

Its a brand image thing really. People don't ask about uniforms, it
wouldn't really occur to them. But they are impressed by them and
like them a lot. "I could see you were a professional from the way
you are dressed" is a common comment. Why do Gritish Bas et al
insist their staff are uniformed?

Bearing in mind that embroidered corporate clothing is wholly &
exclusively for business use, is 100% tax deductible and actually
cheaper than being non uniformed.

Older people & lone females like it a lot & often comment on it.
They are reassured that you are who you say you are. Commercial
clients like it as well, better than a strange scruffy oik wandering
around their premises.

OK you've sold me on it (you're in the wrong business Dave! :-)).

I was in sales for 30 years :-)

Where do you get yours made?

Local company called Bell Workwear, but there are loads of small firms
around, bound to be one in Reading.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

On Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:56:05 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

They don't check the standard of your work, its more like an ISO quality
control thing. They insist on £2M PLI, a CRB check

I thought you could only get CRB checked to work in a specific place, like
a particular school?


--
John Stumbles -- http://yaph.co.uk

"YAPH" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:56:05 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

They don't check the standard of your work, its more like an ISO quality
control thing. They insist on £2M PLI, a CRB check

I thought you could only get CRB checked to work in a specific place, like
a particular school?

You get a CRB check for each role/location you perform for each organisation
with a different CRB coordination scheme (like a school). For example, I
have to have one for being on a PTA and another for helping with Scouts. If
I moved to a different school/PTA I would probably need another (as each
school does its own rather than the local authority) but the Scout one would
do for all Scout groups. If it's a professional organisation they will
coordinate the CRB checking and it will cover for entry to homes and
business premises to do tradesperson work while a member of their
organisation. I think.


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

YAPH wrote:
On Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:56:05 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

They don't check the standard of your work, its more like an ISO
quality control thing. They insist on £2M PLI, a CRB check

I thought you could only get CRB checked to work in a specific place,
like a particular school?

So did I, but apparently things have changed.

Trading Standards told me to go to
http://www.disclosurescotland.co.uk/index.htm which apparently carries out
the same checks but is cheaper - and as far as they are concerned completely
acceptable. Around £26 IIRC.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

The Medway Handyman wrote:
YAPH wrote:
On Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:56:05 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

They don't check the standard of your work, its more like an ISO
quality control thing. They insist on £2M PLI, a CRB check

I thought you could only get CRB checked to work in a specific place,
like a particular school?

So did I, but apparently things have changed.

Trading Standards told me to go to
http://www.disclosurescotland.co.uk/index.htm which apparently
carries out the same checks but is cheaper - and as far as they are
concerned completely acceptable. Around £26 IIRC.

Should have added thats for a 'basic' disclosure which is all TS require.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

On Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:30:33 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

Trading Standards told me to go to
http://www.disclosurescotland.co.uk/index.htm which apparently carries out
the same checks but is cheaper - and as far as they are concerned completely
acceptable. Around £26 IIRC.

I thought most of your work was south of the border? Or am I mistaken
about where the Medway is? :-)


--
John Stumbles -- http://yaph.co.uk

DEATH TO FANATICS!

The Medway Handyman wrote:

http://www.disclosurescotland.co.uk/index.htm which apparently carries out
the same checks but is cheaper - and as far as they are concerned completely
acceptable. Around £26 IIRC.

Interesting - any idea how much the English equivalent costs? I have
one, but since I'm a volunteer I don't pay.

Pete

YAPH wrote:
On Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:30:33 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

Trading Standards told me to go to
http://www.disclosurescotland.co.uk/index.htm which apparently
carries out the same checks but is cheaper - and as far as they are
concerned completely acceptable. Around £26 IIRC.

I thought most of your work was south of the border? Or am I mistaken
about where the Medway is? :-)

Yes indeed, south of Hadrians Wall. Medway is 30 miles SE of London, sort
of diagonally opposite Reading :-)

TS told me to use Discloseure Scotland cos its cheaper. Dunno by how much
though.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

On Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:49:20 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

TS told me to use Discloseure Scotland cos its cheaper. Dunno by how
much though.

Maybe you could get Chinese ones off eBay cheaper still ;-)



--
John Stumbles -- http://yaph.co.uk

I used to be indecisive but now I'm not so sure