State of the economy - Good or poor?

[rms]

Any sign of the Spring rush?

[rms]

We are now seeing signs of more activity.

[Stuarty]

the firm i work for definatley had a very bad spell through the winter there, had no work for a squad for 3 weeks, but we are all go again now

[Tony McC]

Everyone is busy at the moment. There's a lot of enquiries from Scotland, for some reason....I think a lot of the Scots lads moved south to chase the work in London Village and the SE, and now their own country is on the up, there's not enough craftsmen left to cope with the demand.

Or maybe it's the midges!

[Stuarty]

bah midges only get to the weak! I know of a few firms up here that have several all polish squads, maybe employers are just seeing the oppertunity of dirt cheap labour

[Tony McC]

If you think there are plenty of Polish lads in the building game up in Scotland, you should see what it's like in Ireland! I was in the kingdom of Kerry a couple or three weeks ago and a news report was saying how local gangers and contract managers were having to learn Polish to communicate with their workforce. Even the local teenage lads were being taught a few basic phrases as there is plenty of what is referred to as "Polish Totty" working in the hotel trade down there. :p

[brickstermike]

Loads of polish down here in the south too. There buildinig a new hospital 5 minutes from my house which is full of polish employees. They are very quick workers though.

[rms]

Too much cheap foreign labour creates an unsustainable cycle that can only cause a degree of damage to other businesses, albeit temporary yet still uncomfortable.

[rms]

Any news on the state of the economy in your neck of the woods?

[lutonlagerlout]

as stated above the poles are here (bedfordshire) en masse,but already people are becoming disillusioned with them
we try and treat all customers fairly and honstly,and will allways rectify any mistake at our own cost (yes it happens) we are booked till aug 2007, but as i do building works as well, most of my work is 2-3 months per job.
what we are trying to do is concentrate on quality stuff and coucil work,the poles have the budget end of the market sewn up and good luck to them
i suppose if you go back 30 years its similar to when my family moved down from greenock looking for work,just people trying to improve their lot.
although it is odd when every barperson in my local is slovakian
cheers tony

[bkdavies86]

I don't know if i should smile or cry after reading this thred as i've just started up on my own, doing plant and tool hire plus just introducing my own brand of diamond blades.
Personally i think the whole construction industry has slowed down over the past couple of months with plenty of work in the pipe line. I also think prices will shoot up soon because all the semi/skilled labour will be heading up town (central london) to earn serious money with all the larger projects such as cross rail, olympics etc starting.
I'm slap bang in the middle of the South East (Gatwick Airport) and many of the contractors i know have had a better year this year compaired to last and tell me the same with work in the pipe line.
So fingers crossed come 2007 there will be plenty of work for everybody
My backround is Quantity Surveying within New build housing and groundworks, whilst the company is buisness it hasn't started many new projects.
With Eastern Europeans the biggest problem is the resentment it is causing for example in Southampton general groundworkers/labours/builders wages have been slashed in half because of eastern european labour - which means the bosses of the firms are earning more.

[Dave_L]

Slightly worrying this Polish worker thing. - still if they want to do the jobs some of us Brits can't be arsed to do, then fair play to them!

Gotta say, there are some cracking 'birds' from the Eastern Bloc, working at a local veg producer! Makes the drive home from work quite nice, as none have cars , they walk everywhere!

[Dave_L]

I think March is going to be manic for enquiries!

We're doing OK - solidly booked for the next 4 months with a constant stream of enquiries/quotes etc

We'll always get the 'Shouts for help at the 11th hour' so will always try to accomodate them!

[lutonlagerlout]

Gotta say, there are some cracking 'birds' from the Eastern Bloc

agreed dave,but why do all the men look like serial killers??
i took my daughter over the park the other day and all the mums and dads were chatting,relaxing etc.except this 1 eastern european guy who was strutting about staring at people in a terminator sort of way
i asked him if he had 2 apples under his armpits? and he said "vhy?"
"i just wondered why your arms are at 45 degrees to youre body thats all"
the women you can spot at 20 paces by the total abscence of any body fat(except my czech cleaner who weighs 110 kg and is clearly intent on boosting her chances of making the womens shot in 2012,judging by the remanents she leaves in the biscuit tin)
lol
tony

[bobbi o]

have heard only good things about the polish workers.where you get em?