Andrew Barrett

Thanks Doug!

Hello all, Apologies if I'm posting where I'm not supposed to be. I've finally given in to a long term injury I've been unable to sort and have decided to sell up and retire from tree work. All the rest of my kit is currently live on eBay: our lovely super customised Isuzu D-Max legal 3.5 ton GVM arb truck, our Jensen a540 customised to work with that truck + various chainsaws, arb trolley, winch, etc. All in excellent condition and being sold WAY before end of normal working life. These are probably the best second hand items of arb equipment that will have been sold in the UK for a long time. You can search for all the items under my username on eBay (barrettltd) or just search for the chipper & truck and click on other items I have for sale. Thanks everyone, Andrew Barrett

Still looking for extra help!! I would particularly like to find another experienced, fast climber / hedge cutter and a reliable hard working ground worker. I have put up an advert for workers a couple of times recently with a very poor response rate. I realise the labour market is very tight as everybody is very busy, but if you are reading this it would be helpful for you to understand this advert really is a bit different. I have realised that when I say: if you are very good, you will be able to earn more with us than probably anywhere else, people don’t seem to know what I mean. Hence this more explicit advert. Our business model is based upon our clients trusting us to do a first rate job every time and never doing or recommending unnecessary work and never hiding anything going wrong; we are as close to totally trustworthy as you will find. I usually give an explicit guarantee for all of our work. I tell clients: if you are not happy when we are finished, don’t pay us. I have been doing that for years and have never had anyone take me up on it. This results in reduced competition for us, as I have never come across another company willing to put their money where their mouth is like we do. As a result, our clients pay us very well for the best service and standards in the area. In turn, this allows me to pay well (and I PREFER to pay our workers well – I don’t like the endemic low pay in the industry). But the model only works if I have very competent, reliable, hard-working people who are willing to work to our standards. Our workers need to be well above average. As a guide I pay my current lead climber / cutter £200+VAT per day – and he is worth it to me. I pay him the same even if we are doing small bits and pieces pruning and trimming work. The rates above are not even the ceiling if you really are first rate - and depending upon the job. I have happily paid up to £250 / day for a climber before and would do so again (e.g. on a large fell or large reduction done extremely quickly and well). We do a lot of smaller pruning work: small trees, shrubs and some (but not a lot as I don’t like it) hedge trimming. We also do some bigger tree work – it just depends what comes through. I particularly value good all rounders who aren’t fussy what we do. I have found it too much hassle trying to organise in advance certain jobs for certain people (with the exception of specialists in big tree removals or reductions). With our associates we can probably provide well paid full time work shared over two or three companies. We are also interested in workers with landscaping experience and who are happy to do landscaping as well as tree work – any type, in any combination. So, if you’re a groundy who likes to do some landscaping and some tree work for variety, please contact us. I was thinking in particular, if you are working full time but prefer the idea of going self employed and earning a bit more and having more flexibility, then please contact me. We've been going 50 years and are known for taking particular care to look after our customers. We're based near Tewkesbury but do most of our work around Cheltenham / Gloucester. You can look us up here: www.barretttreeservice.co.uk www.checkatrade.com/BarrettTreeService Contact me at [email protected] or on 07801 337565. Let me know your experience / tickets, what you're good at, what kit you have (inc. vehicles / trailers) and what you charge. Thanks, Andrew Barrett

I would particularly like to find another experienced, fast climber / hedge cutter and a reliable hard working ground worker. I have put up an advert for workers a couple of times recently with a very poor response rate. I realise the labour market is very tight as everybody is very busy, but if you are reading this it would be helpful for you to understand this advert really is a bit different. I have realised that when I say: if you are very good, you will be able to earn more with us than probably anywhere else, people don’t seem to know what I mean. Hence this more explicit advert. Our business model is based upon our clients trusting us to do a first rate job every time and never doing or recommending unnecessary work and never hiding anything going wrong; we are as close to totally trustworthy as you will find. I usually give an explicit guarantee for all of our work. I tell clients: if you are not happy when we are finished, don’t pay us. I have been doing that for years and have never had anyone take me up on it. This results in reduced competition for us, as I have never come across another company willing to put their money where their mouth is like we do. As a result, our clients pay us very well for the best service and standards in the area. In turn, this allows me to pay well (and I PREFER to pay our workers well – I don’t like the endemic low pay in the industry). But the model only works if I have very competent, reliable, hard-working people who are willing to work to our standards. Our workers need to be well above average. As a guide I pay my current lead climber / cutter £200+VAT per day – and he is worth it to me. I pay him the same even if we are doing small bits and pieces pruning and trimming work. The rates above are not even the ceiling if you really are first rate - and depending upon the job. I have happily paid up to £250 / day for a climber before and would do so again (e.g. on a large fell or large reduction done extremely quickly and well). We do a lot of smaller pruning work: small trees, shrubs and some (but not a lot as I don’t like it) hedge trimming. We also do some bigger tree work – it just depends what comes through. I particularly value good all rounders who aren’t fussy what we do. I have found it too much hassle trying to organise in advance certain jobs for certain people (with the exception of specialists in big tree removals or reductions). With our associates we can probably provide well paid full time work shared over two or three companies. We are also interested in workers with landscaping experience and who are happy to do landscaping as well as tree work – any type, in any combination. So, if you’re a groundy who likes to do some landscaping and some tree work for variety, please contact us. I was thinking in particular, if you are working full time but prefer the idea of going self employed and earning a bit more and having more flexibility, then please contact me. We've been going 50 years and are known for taking particular care to look after our customers. We're based near Tewkesbury but do most of our work around Cheltenham / Gloucester. You can look us up here: www.barretttreeservice.co.uk www.checkatrade.com/BarrettTreeService Contact me at [email protected] or on 07801 337565. Let me know your experience / tickets, what you're good at, what kit you have (inc. vehicles / trailers) and what you charge. Thanks, Andrew Barrett

We're still looking for any of the above: climbers or groundies! Andrew

We are looking for freelance / self-employed tree workers. I would particularly like to find another experienced, fast climber / hedge cutter but also a reliable hard working ground worker. With our associates we can probably provide well paid full time work shared over two or three companies. We are also interested in workers with landscaping experience and who are happy to do landscaping as well as tree work – any type, in any combination. If you are a reliable, above average worker (in whatever way) you will probably be able to earn more with us than with other companies. From previous experience, please don't take that as a sign to approach me asking for the earth. If you are good I will pay you what you are worth - once I get to see what you are like. So, if you’re a groundy who likes to do some landscaping and some tree work for variety, please contact us. I realise everybody is very busy at the moment – and I’m not interested in hiring the leftovers who can’t normally get work. I was thinking in particular, if you are working full time but prefer the idea of going self employed and earning a bit more and having more flexibility, then please contact me. We've been going 50 years and are known for taking particular care to look after our customers. We're based near Tewkesbury but do most of our work around Cheltenham / Gloucester. You can look us up here: www.barretttreeservice.co.uk www.checkatrade.com/BarrettTreeService Contact me at [email protected] or on 07801 337565. Let me know your experience / tickets, what you're good at, what kit you have (inc. vehicles / trailers) and what you charge. Thanks, Andrew Barrett

We are currently looking for freelance/self-employed tree workers to provide additional help at Barrett Tree Service. I would particularly like to find another experienced, fast climber/hedge cutter, but would also be interested to hear from groundies, or anyone else who is competent and happy to go on our reserve list for whenever we require extra guys/holiday cover etc. Our business has been going for nearly 50 years and we are known for making a particular effort to look after our customers. Because of this I'd far rather work with interesting and really competent, hard working and reliable guys who'll be happy to muck in. I'm looking for guys that I can form a long term working relationship with and who'll commit to upholding our high standards, rather than cheap guys who aren't as invested and are likely to move on rapidly. We're based near Tewkesbury, but do most of our work around Cheltenham / Gloucester. Feel free to look us up here: www.barretttreeservice.co.uk www.checkatrade.com/BarrettTreeService If interested contact me at [email protected], or on 07801 337565. Please give me a rundown of your experience/tickets, what you're good at, what kit you have (inc. vehicles / trailers) and what you charge. Thanks, Andrew Barrett

Hello, I’m looking for one or two people to work for us on a regular basis. If you’re a really good, reliable worker, you’re likely to be able to earn more with us than with most (or even any) other local firms. I understand very well how much difference there is in productivity between a very good and an average worker. You will also never have any issues with being paid promptly and all our kit is excellent and well maintained. We pay overtime for late finishes, too. Our clients value our excellent service – and are willing to pay a premium vs. most other contractors. I’m also not someone who needs to be asked for a pay rise. You’d start on average rates with us – and if I think you’re good enough to work for us on a regular basis I will pay you what you are worth. My aim is to be the preferred employer for very good workers: so that we form a mutually beneficial long term working relationship based on well-earned trust. I had an excellent lead climber / cutter who retired a year ago and have (so far!) struggled to replace him with someone as good. In the long run I want to find someone trustworthy to drive the truck and chipper, including picking it up and dropping it off from our lock up near Tewkesbury. I also need a fast, competent climber / cutter to work as foreman. Our bread and butter work is small to medium reductions and fells, conifer topping and a certain amount (not loads) of hedge cutting, etc. The climber and truck driver could be the same person - I’m open to various permutations. Including having two experienced climbers. I’d also be open to two people who are already familiar with working with each other approaching me as a team. Including if you’re both experienced climbers / cutters. I want to move towards not always needing to be there for work to get done on site. At the moment I usually work two or three days a week on site (Tuesdays to Thursdays), so that’s what I’d be looking for initially and you’d be self-employed. I would be willing to be flexible about the days for really good candidates, however. We've been going nearly 50 years and are known for taking particular care to look after our customers. We're based near Tewkesbury but do most of our work around Cheltenham / Gloucester. You can look us up here: www.barretttreeservice.co.uk www.checkatrade.com/BarrettTreeService Contact me at [email protected] or on 07801 337565. Let me know your experience / tickets, what you're good at / like doing (and vice versa), what kit you have (inc. vehicles / trailers) and what you charge. Thanks, Andrew Barrett

Hello, I’m looking for one or two people to work for us on a regular basis. In the long run I want to find someone trustworthy to drive the truck and chipper, including picking it up and dropping it off from our lock up near Tewkesbury. I also need a fast, competent climber / cutter to work as foreman. Our bread and butter work is small to medium reductions and fells, a certain amount of hedge cutting, etc. The climber and truck driver could be the same person - I’m open to various permutations. I want to move towards not always needing to be there for work to get done on site. At the moment I usually work two or three days a week on site (Tuesdays to Thursdays), so that’s what I’d be looking for initially and you’d be self-employed. I'd far rather work with interesting and really competent / hard working / reliable guys who're happy to muck in - that I can form a long term working relationship with - than cheap guys who don't care and are likely to move on rapidly. We've been going nearly 50 years and are known for taking particular care to look after our customers. You'll have to be able to cope with me being very anal about the tidy up / getting things right, for example! We're based near Tewkesbury but do most of our work around Cheltenham / Gloucester. You can look us up here: www.barretttreeservice.co.uk www.checkatrade.com/BarrettTreeService Contact me at [email protected] or on 07801 337565. Let me know your experience / tickets, what you're good at / like doing (and vice versa), what kit you have (inc. vehicles / trailers) and what you charge. Thanks, Andrew Barrett

Still looking for a good person local to me. I've had some replies from decent guys - but they all seem to be miles from me!

Apart from a few likes I've not had any replies to my advert. I did want to cut down on the wrong sort of people replying - but I didn't want to cut it down to none! I have wondered if I set myself a sort of trap - and the type of non-big headed but very competent guy (or lady!) I would like to employ might not reply because they don't reckon they're good enough. If you're the sort of person other people speak highly of or like working with and the advert interests you (and you manage to read it to the end!) - then please put yourself forward.

Hello, I recently had to say goodbye to the young lad who started with me as an inexperienced groundy a few years ago, due to repeated reliability problems. That’s a shame, as I don’t like treating people like they’re disposable. This has given me the opportunity to have a good think about the sort of person I would like to employ long term as a replacement. We’re a somewhat unusual company (I’m an ex-London investment banker and now run the company my uncle founded in 1970, for example!) and we’re looking for an unusual and outstanding worker. Hence I’ve decided to write some detail about what we’re looking for – and why – in the hope of finding the right sort of person. I only want to work with trustworthy, interesting, enthusiastic and really competent / hard working / reliable guys that I can form a long term working relationship with – where we look after and support each other and enjoy working together. For the right person, I think we can offer a better working experience than the considerable majority of other tree contractors. The last three guys we started employing part time all left their previous employers for us when it became clear we offered better pay and working conditions. I’d rather pay someone excellent more than they’re likely to be able to earn elsewhere in return for being flexible around our odd quiet periods (I avoid routine hedge trimming work, for example). We pay promptly and overtime: if we finish late on site I regard it as my fault for not pricing properly. We bill at the top end of the companies in our area and have excellent, regularly replaced kit and only use Aspen fuel. Our clients are almost always keen to have us back despite us not being cheap – because we offer an excellent service and genuinely care about looking after their interests. My last advert looking for a climber alluded to good pay – and as a result I got an application from a self-described 7/10 climber without tickets who wanted £270 cash-in-hand at the end of each working day! To avoid similar issues with chancers I would start you on standard rates and only pay you more if you’re worth it. If I don’t think you’re good enough to be worth more than average rates, I’ve promised myself I won’t settle and will look for someone else anyway. I’ve learned that the best workers are almost always underpaid/undervalued because they make life so much easier / better and the worst workers are almost always overpaid – no matter how little they are paid. I’d rather hire an experienced person, preferably over 25 with a clean driving licence and towing ticket (though that could be sorted later, if necessary) as I would want them to drive the truck at least some of the time. If you have your own truck or trailer and could take away arisings that would be useful. You don’t need to be a climber but I’m not bothered if you do climb. I paid my previous very experienced guy (who retired earlier this year to build a house!) top climber rates whether he climbed, trimmed or just worked on the ground because he was so fast and reliable and good at working out efficient ways of getting things done. He started on much less and never asked for a pay rise – I just paid him what he was worth to me. Even though I already have a new, promising lead climber, I’d still be happy to hire another experienced climber who’s happy working on the ground, too – but who likes the idea of a less stressful, more rewarding life than is usual in our industry. I usually work two or three days a week (Tuesdays to Thursdays) on site, so that’s what I’d be looking for and you’d be self-employed. I don’t really want to be responsible for your training (though you would obviously need to be willing to learn how we like to do things) as when we’re working I like the work to go quickly. If you would need more work than that, if things go well I would be willing to help support you find some of your own work, give pricing / business advice and get you work with other decent firms in the area (we have a little network of people who help each other out). We're based near Tewkesbury but do most of our work around Cheltenham / Gloucester. You can look us up here: www.barretttreeservice.co.uk www.checkatrade.com/BarrettTreeService Contact me at [email protected] or on 07801 337565. Let me know your experience / tickets, what you're good at, what kit you have (inc. vehicles / trailers) and what you charge. Thanks, Andrew

This post was from me - thought I'd logged in but some problem with password and had to reset it.

£1,000

Log splitter still for sale...