Pricing

[lame plumber]

well my bit of the SW is bloody awful, so much so that some parts of the town dont pay stamp duty on house sale upto £150k. So I have to fight an uphill battle to reach Pompey levels to start with

 

[Ray Stafford]

well my bit of the SW is bloody awful, so much so that some parts of the town dont pay stamp duty on house sale upto £150k. So I have to fight an uphill battle to reach Pompey levels to start with

Even in Pompey Jon, as you know there is a big difference between landport and Southsea, or buckland and milton. I could literally throw a stone from my house - north and I would hit grotty council flats, south and I might break the window of a £million pound mansion.

 

[lame plumber]

same here, we just have Damien and a few others to live off, plus all those coming down fm London, but the bulk of folk are Jo average struggling to survive in harsh times.

 

[julesverne]

Simple answer to that is the cust thinks if it has water coming out of the tap and gets hot then why pay extra. Aldi and lidl plumbers rule roost down here you try charge 1800 for boiler change and you be undercut left right center.

Notorious low paid area

offer finance

 

[cr0ft]

£250 a day?? You're outgoings must be huge if you have to earn that to make a "decent" living.

I dont do any private work, I only do contracting. I can earn anything from £160 to £240 per day doing this, but I'd say I average out at about £190 a day.

This is gives me roughly £45k a year turnover and that's having 4 weeks off a year.

My outgoings are minimal, probably about £3k per year, so my taxable income is about £42k a year.

Id say I live quite comfortably really, I have cash in the bank, an expensive house and a really good van

To have to earn £250 a day +vat to make a decent living is a lot man

If you have a really good van the depreciation on it alone will be a lot more than £3k per year..

 

[cr0ft]

£15k a year to run a plumb business you need to reign that in big time ,

You need to asses your outgoings

Like most i want to earn good solid money however i have had many a time where i have earnt £500 a week . Thats still 26k a year ( if working every week) , however even with four weeks off its still 24 k. I dont earn 24k tho but more however outgoings of £15k is some going

I wont be relying on the govt for a pension other means.

£15k a year is pretty standard for a domestic plumbing/electrical business that employs staff and has 2 vans, to be honest it's quite realistic once you factor everything in properly. £8k depreciation on 2x vans each year, £800 insurance for the 2 vans, £600 for Checkatrade, £600 or so to provide clothing and PPE for 3 employees each year, £600 ish for employers and public liability, £600 a year just to trade as a sparky. We are already up to £11,200 before we look at Van servicing & MOTS, diesel etc. I don't think in my context £15k of running costs a year is silly tbh.

To any of you who think £250 a day is unobtainable, from the map that Ray linked to on the Guardian website (on this thread) I live in one of the poorest areas in the UK according to that. Like he said, it's about choosing your target market and focussing your advertising and business on that.

I regularly get estate agents etc phoning me up, in general I don't work for them. Likewise the emergency insurance companies that call you on 8pm on a Saturday night. They keep calling and keep baulking at my weekend rates.. It doesn't bother me because each customer I get is paying me £10k ish for a luxury bathroom. I would have to do 5 budget bathrooms to earn the same profit I do on one luxury bathroom.

There are stacks of good plumbers/gas fitters on here. To my mind, anyone who takes the time to come on here and network should be charging top money as it shows they are professional. Many of our competition aren't so let them charge the cheap prices.

 

[brum]

£60 for hour one, £35 for each hour after that. VAT on top. Get the odd job I lose due to pricing (mostly small one hour jobs which I'm not too bothered about anyway) but if they don't like my pricing there are plenty more in the queue who do.

And you thought 14.00 per hour as a wage was too steep?..brum

 

[Nostrum]

Even in Pompey Jon, as you know there is a big difference between landport and Southsea, or buckland and milton. I could literally throw a stone from my house - north and I would hit grotty council flats, south and I might break the window of a £million pound mansion.

Ah you employed a great architect then, all the windows on the south for maximum solar gain.

 

[cr0ft]

And you thought 14.00 per hour as a wage was too steep?..brum

With my employers hat on, yes I do, certainly round my way. That figure may be affordable for larger companies but certainly not for smaller businesses. With 30% on top that is over £145 a day, assuming the guy never takes a day of sick. Add on roughly £50 per day in terms of running costs now. There is no way I am going to be out doing quotes into the late hours to earn £45 per day I am afraid. My rule is that the business needs to earn 2.5x what the employee does each day which makes £14 per hour unaffordable for my business model.

I do think that the wage argument is probably one for another thread though otherwise this is going to go off topic pretty quickly!

I didn't know it as I am new to the job centre plus website but we got 10 applications in the first day for plumbers. A lot of them were guys with 30 years + experience. There were some really good applications in there to be honest. We were advertising at £20,500 to £25,400 I think it was. £10-£12 per hour I believe. It seems that is the sweet spot around Lincoln. Now I am sure things are different in other counties but not here it seems.

 

[hammers4spanner]

Guardian report on pay by region.

Plymouth and Portsmouth are much the same. The best I could find for 2013 was that average full time salary in Portsmouth beat Plymouth by just £600 per year. Bristol has us both beat.

The problem with these reports is that the few represent the majority meaning a barrister cranks up ten labourers average.

 

[brum]

With my employers hat on, yes I do, certainly round my way. That figure may be affordable for larger companies but certainly not for smaller businesses. With 30% on top that is over £145 a day, assuming the guy never takes a day of sick. Add on roughly £50 per day in terms of running costs now. There is no way I am going to be out doing quotes into the late hours to earn £45 per day I am afraid. My rule is that the business needs to earn 2.5x what the employee does each day which makes £14 per hour unaffordable for my business model.

I do think that the wage argument is probably one for another thread though otherwise this is going to go off topic pretty quickly!

I didn't know it as I am new to the job centre plus website but we got 10 applications in the first day for plumbers. A lot of them were guys with 30 years + experience. There were some really good applications in there to be honest. We were advertising at £20,500 to £25,400 I think it was. £10-£12 per hour I believe. It seems that is the sweet spot around Lincoln. Now I am sure things are different in other counties but not here it seems.

Hi croft was not looking for a row nor neither trying to be cheeky but thought employee wage is cica 50% of day rate,If not it certainly used to be when I employed guys my reply was meant in good faith ..brum

 

[PlumbersMate]

Even in Pompey Jon, as you know there is a big difference between landport and Southsea, or buckland and milton. I could literally throw a stone from my house - north and I would hit grotty council flats, south and I might break the window of a £million pound mansion.

you mean your conservatory?

 

[Ray Stafford]

The problem with these reports is that the few represent the majority meaning a barrister cranks up ten labourers average.

Sorry Jim , but the figures are for
median, not mean. Specifically designed to avoid the problem you describe.

 

[cr0ft]

Hi croft was not looking for a row nor neither trying to be cheeky but thought employee wage is cica 50% of day rate,If not it certainly used to be when I employed guys my reply was meant in good faith ..brum

No offense taken! I often come across as appearing abrupt on here, it's not mean't - I'm just ex-military and call a spade a spade

 

[Ray Stafford]

No offense taken! I often come across as appearing abrupt on here, it's not mean't - I'm just ex-military and call a spade a spade

i believe that the correct term is an "earth inverting horticultural implement"?

 

[lame plumber]

I had a man/men to operate any spades required if I happened to pop ashore when I was in the RN, made light work of any digging required. Nowadays, I use a ground worker, costs more damn it!!!!

 

[Nostrum]

I'm in Plymouth and certainly not the cheapest but we get work. The last full pack we did was nearly twice what some are advertising in the local paper, 6 rads, boiler in a 2 bed mid terrace. ( average house not posh)

I usually ask at some point why they chose us, most of the time it is down to the way we approached the quote and have been told:

On time for appointment and polite
Took time to talk through the job (usually about an hour)
Detailed and clear quote with schedule of works.
Explained why I recommended the products
Insanely good looking

O.K so I made the last one up but people will pay more than you think, you just have to find the right clientele and show them a reason for paying a bit more.

You don't take your car into a main dealer and expect back street garage prices and like wise you wouldn't pay the back street garage main dealer prices. It's up to you to decide if your a back street garage or a main dealer, both get enough work to stay in business.

British Gas are usually busy (even in Plymouth) they ain't cheap!

 

[tomplumb83]

Some interesting posts.
Im forever being told I'm too expensive yet often hear of others charging more and doing very well
I try to stick to a rule of charging £35ph. I don't charge vat and think that's cheap.
My local garage charges me nearly £60 inc vat and they don't have to travel to get to me - I take my van to them!

 

[Paulplumb]

Some interesting posts.
Im forever being told I'm too expensive yet often hear of others charging more and doing very well
I try to stick to a rule of charging £35ph. I don't charge vat and think that's cheap.
My local garage charges me nearly £60 inc vat and they don't have to travel to get to me - I take my van to them!

Good point about the mechanics. Robbing bar stewards

 

[theanalyst]

45 per hour plumbing 60 for gas no reduction for subsequent hours no day rate as such. but price jobs to make as much as possible.

£50 per hour for gas work during the day, no reductions unless it's an install and I do a job price which often works out a bit less... £40 for water plumbing during the day.
Minimum one hours labour, plus travel time if its a way out.

It works, people pay it and they get a good quality job.

Pay peanuts, get monkeys. Never a truer phrase spoken!

edit// I charge a callout of £50 for weekdays 6pm-12pm, £60 after that, and gas and plumbing rates rise by £10 an hour.
Weekends, callout also goes up to £60 daytime and £70 after 6pm.
Minimum 1 hour labour for everything.

I make clear to people my rates pre callout and refer them to my website which has all prices down to the penny. I make people aware of the charges before I go out to them...they always are happy that some poor sod will come at midnight ona saturday...

I get quite a large amount of callouts, and as many will know they are often a PITA. So you earn the money at those times of night very often!

In fact I often swear Im going to stop doing them after particularly bad ones (like Landlord property with scummy tennants in ****sville, with a burst lead pipe buried in the wall, 2 am, and the tennants demanding they have the water back on before I go.. lol) .. but I'm a tight wad so I keep doing them when I can't duck them

 

[tomplumb83]

Where abouts are you theanalyst - North, south, middle?

 

[Spiritof'76]

All this crazy talk of £200 a day...... I know decorators and general handymen that are charging this per day !
Not putting decorators down as it's a skilled job but they're not being raped for thousands on qualifications every 5 years and GSR every year plus their liability insurance must be lower when the worst you can do is spill paint down the stairs rather than blowing the place up with a gas explosion !!
All that said,sometimes £200 or less is all I can achieve in a day

 

[Paulplumb]

All this crazy talk of £200 a day...... I know decorators and general handymen that are charging this per day !
Not putting decorators down as it's a skilled job but they're not being raped for thousands on qualifications every 5 years and GSR every year plus their liability insurance must be lower when the worst you can do is spill paint down the stairs rather than blowing the place up with a gas explosion !!
All that said,sometimes £200 or less is all I can achieve in a day

You know what they say though. If you can pi55 you can paint :smile5:

 

[kay-jay]

You know what they say though. If you can pi55 you can paint :smile5:

You can even paint with a colostomy bag[emoji38]

 

[Irish]

You can even paint with a colostomy bag[emoji38]

Yeah but who wants brown walls?? It's not the 70s man!