He's gone off the deep end lately ... His table thumping seems to be falling on deaf ears in "government"
I don’t think they’ll be able to ignore him once they sort out if it’s dumb or dumber who’s the next PM.
that’s sad. I can see the high streets getting emptier as small businesses can’t afford energy costs. We will soon have no pubs and only multinational businesses to buy from
Undoubtedly the first of many. I would hate to be in a business that sells things that people want rather than need. I have a friend who has a very successful plumbing business. Pretty much 50/50 between bathroom installs and heating work. I spoke to him last week and he said on the bathroom side he has nothing in the diary. That is literally unheard of for his business. I think people will look at 6-8k for a nice bathroom and decide to keep what they’ve got for another couple of years. Same as all the little craft/jewellery shops you see in Brighton etc. Do people actually need that lovely necklace or ring or fridge magnet? Will any of them survive a couple of years of this Will declining footfall and increased energy costs.
This is why I never have had the inclination to scale up and become more than a one man band general builder - a downturn in trade and you are well on the way to losing it all. Ahh but it’s a limited company you say - so fold it and start again - all fine until you remember you have a directors guarantee and your house as security for something in the business and you are stuffed…divorce follows usually.
Plus the thing that people often forget when they fold up a Ltd company is that they’ll probably owe suppliers and subbies money. So when they start up again they find they can’t get people to work with them again or even if they are very lucky and the merchants will supply them again, it will most likely be on much worse terms. I was unfortunate enough to work for a builder and alarm bells should have rung when every other tradesman was travelling from about thirty miles away. I admit the penny didn’t drop until it was too late that he’d exhausted all the local guys. Obviously he bounced me for the money and I had to take him to court to get paid. I was lucky, I got all my money. He wound up again shortly after and I don’t think anyone else got paid. I think this might start happening a lot more. Particularly on builds where people are doing it in stages and with the dramatic cost increases on materials they simply run out of money before the job finishes. Then they get desperate at the thought of a half finished extension so they get more work done knowing the funds aren’t immediately available and hoping they can string the builder along for a few months for his money. It’s a pretty dirty trick on behalf of the client but I’ve known it happen in the past.
I'm in this scenario at the moment - luckily I have one or two builders around me that I can trust. Unluckily those are the ones that have order books filled for 18 months... Now, I need to try to order a couple pallets of bricks before the bank holiday starts...
Last month we finished the joinery work on 16 houses. Monthly invoice monthly paid. Last September was the last time I got paid on time. June invoice still not been paid, July invoice due next week. They are waiting for the mortgage payments to come from the banks to pay us. Told us hopefully tmoro and the next invoice paid on time, we shall wait and see. Paid when paid was supposed to be illegal years ago
I think that’s such a crappy this to do to someone. You’ve done your bit, on time and to a good standard. They agreed to pay you at a certain point. If you just didn’t bother turning up one day they’d soon be on the phone complaining that the houses are falling behind because of you. But somehow when it comes to payments they don’t seem it to work the same for you. I had a business that gave me a fair amount of work, but they are terrible payers. Not once either, but time and time again, yet still managed to buy brand new Transit Customs whilst owning me invoices for nearly a year. They always paid in the end but it was a fight, I had to put them on stop and not attend their breakdowns, then they’d pay me as it was inconvenient for them to have moaning tenants. This year I took the decision not to work for them again, to be honest I was kinda cutting my nose off as it was a few grand every year, but I just didn’t want the aggro anymore. Do work, get paid. That’s all I want really. They seemed genuinely surprised and it will bite them on the backside cos they are going to be paying out a lot more than I was charging and no one else is gonna put up with their nonsense. But I see tough times ahead for all of us.
I got a shock the other night. Mrs RB was out and so I decided on a fish supper for one on the way home. Bog standard fish n chips cost me £11.30. Won’t be doing that again. I could have called into my local Brewers Fare type pub round the corner and has waiter service and a pint for that amount. Mum/dad and two kids with a couple of cans of fizzy would be knocking on fifty quid. That’s mental.
They assume I will be doing the second phase I don't get companies. They struggle to get trades then take an age to pay, then wonder why you stopped working for them.
Here at Pickles Towers we usually share a large cod and chips between us. That works out to be £12.05 so six quid each.
Getting back into the subject of cost of fuel. I’ve been away for a few days but picked up on a “ proposal “ by Scottish Power that…… If the government provided underwritten loans to them of mega £££££ then they would freeze the cost of gas and electricity for the next 2 ? Years the cost of the loans could be paid back by US over the next 20 years !! Perhaps they are trying to put some strange ideas in to our governments “ vacant “ minds. I may have misunderstood , but how about…..You ( Scottish Power ) freeze the cost of gas and electricity for 2 years, and rather than us ( the govt ) giving you a loan to cover this cost, we won’t impose a windfall tax on you…..you can then use the savings you have made due to this non- imposed tax to cover the cost of providing affordable energy.
Why doesn't he increase his prices to cover his overheads? Everybody else does and if he's got loyal customers, they'll understand and continue to support him.
