how do you think the work stuation is?

[Diamond Pool Finishers]

going to pan out for the tiling ind ,in to winter/ christmas ,after report's of a great surge in building?? are the planed cut's going to affect us???

[kilty55]

hiya dave,things were looking good here,,since the election though i feel people are once again holding onto there money to wait and see what happens. house prices are still dropping here and not much selling so thats not a good sign i suppose well have to ride it out and wait till they have cut all the jobs they said they would and see how we recover from there. not sure how to gage the xmas run up tbh

[Phil Hobson]

Lets hope things pick up for everyone, I'm busy at the moment, but the phone is not ringing as much as usual

[Diamond Pool Finishers]

yes i have noticed a few builder's comming in to the pool industie of late and they dont know what they are talking about ,and it show's, but i can't blame them for trying everyone need's work!!!

[Scott]

My phone hardly rings at the moment. I had one call last week and one this morning. For me with full bathroom refits they are usually 2 weeks work so i dont need the phone to be ringing all day long.

The people who give out my name/number are really down on their sales compared to the last year and indeed the year before.

However with all that in mind, the summer is always a slow one for me which suits me as my partner is in education so has the 6 weeks off.

[Dave]

It's the Holiday period... phones go slow this time of year.. give it about 3 or 4 weeks then xmas rush.

[doug boardley]

I'm finding it hard to guage in my current situation, the phone certainly isn't ringing as much as 2 years ago, but I've got plenty to do and when I start back full time in september I've enough to carry me through till end of october.

[timeless john]

Fine and dandy.

[andy allen]

It's the Holiday period... phones go slow this time of year.. give it about 3 or 4 weeks then xmas rush.

hope your right dave im dead at the moment been ticking over nicely since the begining of march but the phones just not ringing

rang a few mates yesterday and there the same, the tile shops are the same to.

hope its not like this till xmas

[garythetiler]

very busy here at the moment and plenty coming up

[TT Tiling]

its the same down here , at the mo i have to much on as nom , but then know lots down here with no work , i still have the reg builders doing high end houseing and they seam to be selling ,funny anything down here under the £400.000 is not moveing but the houses above are selling as fast as they build them , at the mo im lucky to have 6 big big places to do as well as the nom small kitchen bathroom jobs ,heres hoping it picks up for everyone and the work i have will last till after xmas ,hope 2011 will bring better things to everyone

[hillhead]

Steady here too luckily.phone not as busy but i had 14 jobs in book lately and thats down to 5 now but 2 of that is full houses.Builders still trying to push prices down.Keep the heads up guys and girls.Hopefully things will pick up for all.

[SandyFloor]

I had a blitz of inquiries about three months ago and was booked up 10 weeks ahead. It's not been as hectic since and I'm down to 3 weeks. On saying that I've had a lot of inquiries the last week and am doing quotes this weekend. I have noticed people are definitely pricing around more.

[Mike]

work was slow a month ago but now i'm really busy. usual thing, all or nothing. not enough days in the week at the moment

[borgie]

thinkg are picking up for me too. didn't do much for the first half of the year. but the 2nd half looks better!

[Yorkshire Tiling Services]

In any trade..
It is not "what you know", but "who you know"
Plenty of work out there. Getting your foot in the door with companies is the key.
Take your large shopping centers for example, maybe a hundred stores in each,plus the walkways and toilets.loads of tiling. Each store will usually have a main contractor who then subbies out the work to tilers,joiners,sparkies,cleaners etc. They will get the work nationwide.
Have worked on a few jobs for a company,such as Westfield in London and the new Rock Shopping Centre in Bury, you see the same faces at each store.
It can be a very closed shop,people ( tilers ) guard this work with their life.

You will also need your CSCS card, before you even think about trying.

[doug boardley]

In any trade..
It is not "what you know", but "who you know"
Plenty of work out there. Getting your foot in the door with companies is the key.
Take your large shopping centers for example, maybe a hundred stores in each,plus the walkways and toilets.loads of tiling. Each store will usually have a main contractor who then subbies out the work to tilers,joiners,sparkies,cleaners etc. They will get the work nationwide.
Have worked on a few jobs for a company,such as Westfield in London and the new Rock Shopping Centre in Bury, you see the same faces at each store.
It can be a very closed shop,people ( tilers ) guard this work with their life.

You will also need your CSCS card, before you even think about trying.

yep, the new shopping centre in Kendal, guess how many local tilers are one the site? None whatsoever altho' when plans were submitted, they said that where possible local trades would be employed.

[Yorkshire Tiling Services]

The reason for this is simple & actually quite sound.
A nationwide chain with shops,stores all over the UK,needs one reliable point of contact to facilitate their store refurbs & builds. Usually the design & build is replicated throughout the UK.
Thus they need ONE point of contact who can aid them to replicate their brand image in each store throughout the UK.
It would not be realistic for XXXXX LTD to ring around and find tilers,plasterers,joiners,electricians,painters, cleaners,screeders,shopfitters etc in every town and city in which they opened or re-vamped a store.

Case in point..
A couple of years ago I drove from Halifax to Kilmarnock to fix 3 metres of tiles to a shop front,there and back in the day !! This job was for a company who looked after the shop's re-fits etc.
Was paid well.

Companies would rather do this as they have less hassle although it will cost them more money.

[david campbell]

unpredictable!
it was really starting to pick up before the election but since then it has started to slide quite quickly,still ticking over but just!

[Onlinetiler]

i've been lucky enough to have a steady flow of work with bookings 4 weeks ahead most of the time. I get quite a few referrals from local shops and they've been commenting on how unstable the retail sector has been in past few months and that of course reflects how often the phone rings.

What I've noticed as the best method of getting big jobs booked in advance is to have something in your diary you cant change - in my case the birth of my first little'un in Mid Sept. I now have 3 really good jobs who all want doing at exactly that time.

[Dan]

What I've noticed as the best method of getting big jobs booked in advance is to have something in your diary you cant change - in my case the birth of my first little'un in Mid Sept. I now have 3 really good jobs who all want doing at exactly that time.

So typical!

So a tip there perhaps is to say to all your potential customers "but I can't do it for the next 4 months" and they'll say "well I need it doing in the next 4 months", then just book them in?!

[haydock]

Im always busy the trick is realistic prices for realistic work, rather have work all-year at a good days money, than 6mths work at silly prices...

[SandyFloor]

What I've noticed as the best method of getting big jobs booked in advance is to have something in your diary you cant change - in my case the birth of my first little'un in Mid Sept. I now have 3 really good jobs who all want doing at exactly that time.

It's funny that, as soon as you book your holiday.........................

[andy-p]

Ive been good all year and very busy just now and looking good for the rest , next january will be interesting when the 20% vat kicks in tho...

[woodie]

struggling down here, have been for a while now, thinking about knocking it on the head

[trevortine]

Im snowed under! Have been most of the year, the job list at the moment stands at 18 bathrooms, (a mix of tiling only and bout ten of them full stripout and redo) 4 kitchens and my never ending list of steps! Im lucky enough to have a high earning client list who are recession proof, with my own work and my brothers project in his new place i aint gettin much rest for a while. Not only that one of the kitchen companies i work for has just got a new showroom so that has to be done top to bottom and the owners want their own house doing asap too. Not enough hours in the day at the moment!

[doug boardley]

Im snowed under! Have been most of the year, the job list at the moment stands at 18 bathrooms, (a mix of tiling only and bout ten of them full stripout and redo) 4 kitchens and my never ending list of steps! Im lucky enough to have a high earning client list who are recession proof, with my own work and my brothers project in his new place i aint gettin much rest for a while. Not only that one of the kitchen companies i work for has just got a new showroom so that has to be done top to bottom and the owners want their own house doing asap too. Not enough hours in the day at the moment!

nice one Dougie

[trevortine]

nice one Dougie

Cheers doug, stressed out to the max though!!!!

[doug boardley]

Cheers doug, stressed out to the max though!!!!

cider helps (been reading your FB posts)

[trevortine]

cider helps (been reading your FB posts)

Overdone it on sat, was at a wedding, too much cider, too much vodka, even got a tellin off from my mother!! Wasnt a pretty sight!!!!