Things looking up???

[Johny Walker]

had a couple of good mths ,hope it keeps up,logs have kicked in big time,

[Ian C]

had a couple of good mths ,hope it keeps up,logs have kicked in big time,

 

 

 

Same here, been ok this year for me, but tight times are still here for sure.

[Treewarrior]

Worst year ever for me also until September when things picked up. Now got enough work to keep me going financially until December.

 

If it wasn't for the Firewood side I would be really struggling to make ends meet.

 

However have made two big investments in Feb this year, new truck (not brand new - V reg Mercedes Tipper £4000 and a Brand new Timberwolf on lease with a £4000 deposit to lower the repayments.

Edited October 15, 2012 by Treewarrior
Spelling

[gensetsteve]

Not sure if its relevant as most of my income comes from big commercial companies on generator service contracts. But things slowed down in 2009 and 2010 - 11 was a disaster selling logs actually kept the bills paid worst time in 20 years. sept 2011 onwards best year ever. I would think positive. Work has been left for years and people are now thinking we need it done regardless of how long the recession will last. We may not officially be in recession but we are further back than we were in 2009. Positive people attract more work get stuck in there before the austerity measures kick in around April.

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

i have found an up turn in the commercial side but have yet to see anything happen on the domestic side , mind you i spend most of my time competeing against the firms that dont have the vat to worry about

 

Hi there,

 

Just an 'passing' comment, if I may.

 

As you're already 20% dearer than your competitors, in the domestic arena in particular, would it be worthwhile considering 'ARB Approved' as an industry quality mark (backed up with a formal complaints procedure)? Yep, many customers wouldn't register it, but the more discerning clients, and I believe there are still those out there, just might!

 

Of course there is additional costs involved, upto £600 pa (+VAT but not a problem to you), for a small business and the 'in-direct' cost of putting things in place to achieve the accreditation, but this may also improve your position in the commercial market place too (partic as CHAS (included) & SAFEcontractor are available these days.)

 

Just a thought, 'pm' or call me if you wnat to know more.

 

Thanks for reading..

Paul

[Gareth Dalzell]

Not sure if its relevant as most of my income comes from big commercial companies on generator service contracts. But things slowed down in 2009 and 2010 - 11 was a disaster selling logs actually kept the bills paid worst time in 20 years. sept 2011 onwards best year ever. I would think positive. Work has been left for years and people are now thinking we need it done regardless of how long the recession will last. We may not officially be in recession but we are further back than we were in 2009. Positive people attract more work get stuck in there before the austerity measures kick in around April.

 

[Rob D]

I think it more likely a blip rather than a change in the economic climate.....

 

 

Wish it were otherwise. That said there will always be people that need work doing... sometimes the hard times force other people out of the industry which then creates a bit of relative demand.

 

 

It's tough but you've got to stick at at IMO and keep improving the service you offer.

 

 

 

[Adam Bourne]

Good positive thread dave....

 

 

I feel the same way, my company is small and 75% of my work comes from contract climbing, I do advertise on yell.com and a have public and employers liability insurance for private work.

 

I started to notice a change in August but now I'm struggling to keep up with my private work and I have a lot of recommendations come in just lately, it certainly is the busiest I been in 3 years,

 

Ok! most of my own work is from general public, but I also get recommendations from 3 of my local authority's. which I think is great considering I only use subbys myself.

 

I do hope it carries on like this and is not just a blip, but I'm gonna work hard and enjoy it while it last......

 

 

Adam

[johnnyalpha]

It would be worth people taking a look at what Tecchie Paul is saying. We have been AAAC for five years. We had a poor audit on a commercial site and I thought that I'd bring our AA audit forward to see where we really were. The AA team came in and in a very supportive way showed me where we had slipped and where I was resting on my laurels! They gave us a pass with the need to streamline our systems! So I spent 2 days a week for 3 months doing what they suggested. They came back did a reaudit and we flew through! 6 months later, over £250k worth of additional work, booked till March 2013 and 6 new staff the couple of thousand we spent is small fry!! Many people slag the AA as being too expensive or too stringent but believe me it has changed our whole outlook in the last 12 months!

[john p]

Good positive thread dave....

 

 

I feel the same way, my company is small and 75% of my work comes from contract climbing, I do advertise on yell.com and a have public and employers liability insurance for private work.

 

I started to notice a change in August but now I'm struggling to keep up with my private work and I have a lot of recommendations come in just lately, it certainly is the busiest I been in 3 years,

 

Ok! most of my own work is from general public, but I also get recommendations from 3 of my local authority's. which I think is great considering I only use subbys myself.

 

I do hope it carries on like this and is not just a blip, but I'm gonna work hard and enjoy it while it last......

 

 

Adam

 

im very similar,small fry 'company' and lots of subbie climbing,i have a nice balance of work but my own stuff really picking up with WOM,website (thanks mr Bullman) and google adwords(really good),things better for me than they ever have been.