Contract Rates

[Mick Dempsey]

8 hours ago, Mark Wileman said:

You should have been more specific. I thought you were living up to the climbing Arbtalker elitist sterotype that I try to quash at every turn!

Well you can include me out of your crusade!:)

[Mr. Squirrel]

I'm pretty cynical about what some people can pay staff. I've had to really stand my ground to get £160, when the boss told me he pays his other climber £135/day. But he was constantly buying kit, saws, vehicles, bits and pieces. It kinda got to me tbh. 

I know 160 is bang on market average, but after ten years in the industry and a degree in arb, the take home from 160 is hardly worth the effort. So I started my own thing and as said, I pay the guys a bit better, and I earn a bit better.

When I was subbing in Europe I charged €400 flat rate and always had a full diary. Different worlds eh?

[benedmonds]

3 hours ago, Mr. Squirrel said:

I'm pretty cynical about what some people can pay staff. I've had to really stand my ground to get £160, when the boss told me he pays his other climber £135/day. But he was constantly buying kit, saws, vehicles, bits and pieces. It kinda got to me tbh. 

The boss is buying kit necessary for work..? 

If he didn't have saws and vehicles he wouldn't be able to pay anyone anything...? 

[Stuart Picken]

3 hours ago, Mr. Squirrel said:

I'm pretty cynical about what some people can pay staff. I've had to really stand my ground to get £160, when the boss told me he pays his other climber £135/day. But he was constantly buying kit, saws, vehicles, bits and pieces. It kinda got to me tbh. 

I know 160 is bang on market average, but after ten years in the industry and a degree in arb, the take home from 160 is hardly worth the effort. So I started my own thing and as said, I pay the guys a bit better, and I earn a bit better.

When I was subbing in Europe I charged €400 flat rate and always had a full diary. Different worlds eh?

Ok give up the goods. Where Europe? I'm a decent climber and in another few years I'll be a damn good one. Do you get 400 a day in the same places you get cheap land and property, lax planning laws, sausage meat, 200 days of sun and  a 9 month growing season? 

Because you know, that would spell out most of a life plan.

 

I'm in Italy (holiday, not work)at the minute, and there loads of abandoned old houses and chestnut woods, go for pennies perhaps.

Edited June 6, 2019 by Stuart Picken

[Mark Wileman]

6 hours ago, Mick Dempsey said:

Well you can include me out of your crusade!:)

I was in a bad mood yesterday for some reason! Sorry! ?

[Mr. Squirrel]

3 minutes ago, benedmonds said:

The boss is buying kit necessary for work..? 

If he didn't have saws and vehicles he wouldn't be able to pay anyone anything...? 

I understand that quite well. But when they've got one crew, but two tracked chippers, excess of saws etc. Surely you've worked for guys who just have ALL the kit.  My point is that is seems a bit weak saying you can only pay a climber 135/day when you're clearly throwing money at machines etc. A subbies job is to make the boss as much money as possible, but it has to go both ways...

As for Europe, that was a while back. Rates have dropped a bit, I presume as there's more competition nowadays and people are willing to work for less. It's still better than the UK pretty much anywhere in mainland Europe but not as profitable for trips over.

[Mick Dempsey]

1 minute ago, Mr. Squirrel said:

I understand that quite well. But when they've got one crew, but two tracked chippers, excess of saws etc. Surely you've worked for guys who just have ALL the kit.  My point is that is seems a bit weak saying you can only pay a climber 135/day when you're clearly throwing money at machines etc. A subbies job is to make the boss as much money as possible, but it has to go both ways...

As for Europe, that was a while back. Rates have dropped a bit, I presume as there's more competition nowadays and people are willing to work for less. It's still better than the UK pretty much anywhere in mainland Europe but not as profitable for trips over.

I don’t see why the contractor having lots of equipment has any bearing on what he pays the freelance climber.

 

[Mick Dempsey]

1 hour ago, Mark Wileman said:

I was in a bad mood yesterday for some reason! Sorry! ?

No biggy, I figured you just come in from the pub!

[josharb87]

 

1 hour ago, Mick Dempsey said:

I don’t see why the contractor having lots of equipment has any bearing on what he pays the freelance climber.

 

 

Me neither.

 

I too have a decent array of kit and an excess of saws, kit and saws are fun to buy, paying excess money to someone who doesn’t deserve it isn’t fun. 

I resent paying a shit climber £100 a day, yet have no problem paying my regular 2 who not only are decent climbers but good workers an people that don’t piss me off each day the equivalent of 450.

someone will only pay you what you’re worth to them.

 

Europe’s different to the UK, different types of contracts, different tax rates, different turnovers, different expectations.

paying 450+ in parts of Europe is probably like paying 180+in the UK

[Big J]

2 hours ago, Stuart Picken said:

Ok give up the goods. Where Europe? I'm a decent climber and in another few years I'll be a damn good one. Do you get 400 a day in the same places you get cheap land and property, lax planning laws, sausage meat, 200 days of sun and  a 9 month growing season? 

Because you know, that would spell out most of a life plan.

 

I'm in Italy (holiday, not work)at the minute, and there loads of abandoned old houses and chestnut woods, go for pennies perhaps.

My uncle (in his mid fifties now, having recently retrained again as a climber, after doing it for 10 years or so in his 20s and 30s) prunes commercial fruit orchards in south west Germany as a climber. He works 5 hours a day typically, 3 days a week at 50 Euros an hour. It's a good life I think!