Mark Bolam

Depends Mark. £100/day for a skilled SE guy is a massive piss take. £100/day for an unskilled 18 year old PAYE is a dream come true.

Nightmare. Glad mine has absolutely minimal electrics, not even a built in radio. I’ve heard you tow around a trailer with a Harman Kardon 1000W system with a bass cannon though….

Saw that on your FB John, what a nightmare. Glad you weren’t in it at the time though!

I went into recruitment for a bit after a knee op a few years ago, landscape sector. It was like pulling teeth trying to recruit skilled hard landscapers. Say they were on a grand a week doing their own thing. I’d be trying to talk them into a £40k pa job PAYE with all benefits and a van. They’d be like - ‘But I’m on £52k pa now?’ I’d be like ‘How much have you earned in the last fortnight when it’s pissed down constantly?’ ’Errr, nothing. Couldn’t get on the sites’. I’d be like - ‘Well, this job would pay you whatever the weather, no more finding work, no more buying tools or vehicles, holiday pay, sick pay, pension, yada yada yada. And you get £40k.’ Brief pause - ‘But I’m on £52k at the moment…..’ AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH! Then occasionally I’d have someone convinced it might be the right move and they’d go ‘Is that £40k after tax?’ I’d look around my desk for a couple of sharp pencils so I could end it all. Clutchy makes a very valid point that hourly rates aren’t really a factor in PAYE positions, your contract will be for 37.5hrs/week minimum whether there is any work or not. Still see loads of ads on here asking for full time on an SE basis, which is totally illegal. We all know that, but still seems largely ignored.

I think a change is coming mate. There are simply not enough youngsters willing or able to go into skilled manual trades, so rates will rise. Probably be spot on by the time we retire! To me, an HGV driver, skilled machine operator, or skilled manual tradesman should be worth far more than a computer games designer. As these skills become scarcer the public will have to catch up to the idea. Or their bins won’t be getting emptied.

The difference between PAYE and SE to an employer is phenomenal. Employers NI, holiday, sick, paternity, pension, PPE, vehicles, kit etc. The guy on £130/day on the books will cost a lot more than the SE guy on £200.

It’s definitely not just arb Doug.

It’s pretty easy, you just say you’re not interested in doing it.

Planting a more suitable tree in the first place would have been a much better option, but I get your drift. Any tree is better than none.

I know the bit about earning us money, obviously.

That’s a very tidy result, but it is totally pointless. Post a pic in 2 years time and tell me I’m wrong. Does anyone actually try and educate the customer as to what a reduction will achieve?

They are all correct though Mick! I’m more like you, I left pretty much any kind of reductions in my past, especially pointless ones, but some people thrive on them. Horses for courses.

So tell him it’s too hard, not hard enough, looks good, doesn’t look good and is a waste of time. That will make him think a bit….

How dare you. The only gaps in my reductions are the ones the grinder leaves in the lawn.

Do you honestly think that’s going back too hard?

Or Woodsure….😉

You could advertise at £900 a dumpy bag, it still wouldn’t be malpractice. People can then pay that if they want or go elsewhere.

You can charge whatever you want. Nobody is forced to buy anything.

Completely. Logs should be £50 a load.

Legend is a word too freely used, but we’ve lost one. RIP Shane, thanks for the memories.

That won’t be half as bad as the ‘Two shovels to lean on’ law that has been bought in behind your back.

Serves you right for overcharging people for years.

Can’t tag Tom Bowen for some reason.

@Joe Newton before he gets on the red wine.

What would you go for if you were only allowed one attachment mate? That’s the problem I can see with these machines - too many bloody useful options!