Do you rates go up as much as they should each year..

[skyhuck]

10 minutes ago, benedmonds said:

Not in the last 10 years.. Unless you live in the SE.  We all think houses have gone up loads, but another handy calculator shows that after taking into account inflation 50% have not. Mine hasn't... 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41582755

GOOD!!!

[Mesterh]

5 hours ago, skyhuck said:

You had BEER!!!.

 

I recall shopping with my Mrs, we had £25 per week for our weekly shop, at Xmas we had £50!!! we were like kids in a sweet shop, I got a 4pack of Quicksave own brand bitter, I was like a pig in s**t 

Thank God times have changed, at least it wasn't a 4 pack of skol.

 

It's good that we always want more, it spurs the human race on, otherwise we would still be living in mud huts eating grunge.

 

My wages have allways gone up year on year, although not as much as I would like!

 

 

[eggsarascal]

4 hours ago, benedmonds said:

Not in the last 10 years.. Unless you live in the SE.  We all think houses have gone up loads, but another handy calculator shows that after taking into account inflation 50% have not. Mine hasn't... 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41582755

Go and buy a house in the SE then!.... you seem to do nothing but moan about how hard things are, and seem to want to screw the working man the best you can.

 

I'm sorry Ben but it don't wash with me.

[chuck norris]

The industry is in a tough place. If we raise prices, we face the growing threat of mechanization, but if rates stay the same arb becomes a far less appealing job (even worse then it is now). It is a tough spot and I can't see the situation getting any better, anytime soon.

Edited October 20, 2017 by chuck norris
grammar

[benedmonds]

6 hours ago, eggsarascal said:

Go and buy a house in the SE then!.... you seem to do nothing but moan about how hard things are, and seem to want to screw the working man the best you can.

 

I'm sorry Ben but it don't wash with me.

Why would I want to buy a house in the SE? I grew up in London and moved away the first opportunity I got.  

 

I am not moaning. merely pointing out that many of us have not raised our prices as much as we should have and that the truths often stated like house prices always going up are not as true as we all thought when you actually look at it.

 

Maybe the oft stated truth that it is new startups that keep the prices down is actually wrong, maybe it is old timers who's prices haven't kept track on inflation is keeping them down. 

[Mick Dempsey]

I very much doubt that.

[Marula]

I was charging £150 a day in 2010, that's still the going rate, so clearly something's wrong.
Let's also break down the "entitled" nonsense shall we. People don't live to work, they work to live, as an employed arborist you live a fairly frugal life in todays Britain. You are definitely not getting a mortgage without help, not unless you've been saving that 30% down payment since you were 5. A mortgage is 4 x your salary, well around me that doesn't even get you a can of fart spray let alone a two bedroom terraced house.
Or there's the option of renting, well rent is around £650 to £900 depending on whether you require a house or a flat.
If you are under 28 your car insurance will be around £400 to £650 depending on whether you drive a hatchback or a pickup.
Fuel for the month is obviously dependent but can be in the hundreds if you traveling to and from work.
Then there's your council tax, water, lecky and gas. Council tax alone is rarely under 90 quid a month nowadays.
Food isn't cheap unless you eat total rubbish and finally there's your gear which can run into the thousands new, obviously once bought and with a bit of care it shouldn't cost more than a few hundred a year to maintain but still it's a few hundred added to the other few hundred you NEED just to exist.

Now that all the essentials are out the way we can add tax, not an essential and in no way an option.

My point is people say they can't find good staff or keep them once they've got them, well that's because you can't take care of a family on an arborists salary, it's good money while you're young but the moment the missus wants to settle down you either need to start your own gig or change careers.

[Mike Hill]

33 minutes ago, benedmonds said:

Why would I want to buy a house in the SE? I grew up in London and moved away the first opportunity I got.  

 

I am not moaning. merely pointing out that many of us have not raised our prices as much as we should have and that the truths often stated like house prices always going up are not as true as we all thought when you actually look at it.

 

Maybe the oft stated truth that it is new startups that keep the prices down is actually wrong, maybe it is old timers who's prices haven't kept track on inflation is keeping them down. 

True we all should keep an eye on what everyone else is charging.After all new Plumbers or Sparkies charge the going rate,new Tree Surgeons don't seem to be that smart.

 

New start ups do drive the price down,there is simply more competition for the same amount of work.How many time have you heard "we'll start out cheap and then bump our prices up"

or "I didn't make any money on that three day takedown,i did it for experiance and company exposure"

[Andyd1606]

I also run a sawmill with a business partner who is a timber framer. Every year we have the same conversation, he tells me he is putting his rates up and asks if I am. Every year I give the same answer if I put my rates up I wouldn't win jobs! The problem with this business is that we are seen by the public as glorified gardeners and no one has any idea we have so many qualifications. I try to charge the correct rate on jobs and am often told I'm too expensive but that's what it costs me to do a job.
There are too many cheap unqualified people masquerading as tree surgeons to ever be able to charge a fair rate on works.
Another friend of mine is an electrician. He and the other other electricians in the area talk and keep their prices similar to each other so they keep the prices high rather than racing to the bottom as the arb world does.

[oldwoodcutter]

Young friend of mine runs a 3 van pest control firm, he meets up usually weekly with the owners of the other pest control firms in his area. They swap customers, and generally sort the job out.
All maintain a good standard of living and their respective firms grow ever more prosperous.
Most tree company bosses in this area find it difficult to even acknowledge anyone they meet on the road, let alone meet up and talk rates.