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Topic: State of the economy, Good or poor?

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lutonlagerlout

Chief tea boy

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Posted: 12 Mar. 2015,02:29

a very poignant piece there bobbi,
I dont know about you but I work to live, rather than live to work
no towbar on a hearse
LLL

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"what,you want paying today??"

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lutonlagerlout

Chief tea boy

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Posted: 28 Feb. 2018,11:13

nearly 3 years on from my last post here and I feel the winds of change in the economy again
inquiries have dropped dramatically since around november
architects are returning calls
good few lads I know have no work
We have around 6-7 weeks booked then a few tenders out

dont want to be a doom and gloom merchant,but feel things might be on the turn again
or it could just be the shite winter weather? :;):

whats it like in your part of the country ?
cheers LLL

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"what,you want paying today??"

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seanandruby

sean

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Posted: 28 Feb. 2018,17:51

Seems ok down sarf so far, money picked up at last. Turned round this morning ans thought
F#!* it till Monday too cold and icy :;):

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sean

exoticpete

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Posted: 28 Feb. 2018,21:20

Leads still coming in but do feel the winds of change are overdue, let's face we are due another 'correction' scary thing is this time no one has any money to prop it all up, and we cannot print anymore money.

70s here we come excellent..... disco,punk,funk 4 day week power cuts, crazy paving and spam fritters not sure how the feckless are going to deal with actually working though once the welfare tap is switched off

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I wish i worked outside...

lutonlagerlout

Chief tea boy

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Posted: 28 Feb. 2018,21:41

a lot of big crowds seem to be feeling the pinch,prezzo, jamie oliver,maplins it goes on
costs are rising but wages are not and that is when people get discretionary with spending
gone through 3 "corrections" now and after the 1989 one swore i would never be skint again,or forced to work for peanuts ( as I was then at times)
lets hope it doesnt come but as soon as house prices start dropping,it will come
my wife lets houses for an agency and has had hardly any inquiries this year,a lot of east europeans are going home
we shall see,fingers crossed
LLL

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"what,you want paying today??"

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Tony McC

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Posted: 01 Mar. 2018,12:10

No one knows what's going to happen with Brexit, least of all the clueless government, and so no-one wants to risk spending their capital.

Party politics aside, the key role of *any* govt is to provide security for the population, but with there being no stated position from govt on what we can expect from Brexit, we have no security. Big businesses won't invest; small enterprises won't raise wages becuse they don't know what the labour market will be like; homeowners won't splash out on home improvements because they may well need that few quid in the 'rainy day' account if, as some predict, the cost of living is going to spiral uncontrollably upwards.

All we get is "brexit means brexit" and "it's all Europe's fault". The nation voted to jump blindly off a cliff, into the great unknown, driven by the insatiable bigotry of the right-wing press and politicians and their red bus ful of lies, compounded by the cosy presumptions and lazy blind faith of the pro-EU lot.

We, at the very least, ought to have been told just what the alternative to the EU would entail, but no one, whether they were leavers or remainers, tory, labour, lib dem or ukipper, bothered with the detail, so we end up with 12 months to go and we still don't know what's in store for us. The nation voted for what it *didn't* want, but not for what it *did* want.

The one thing all businesses require is certainty. We need to know interest rates won't sudenly shoot up, or there'll be no access to foreign workers to do the shitty jobs none of the Brits seem keen on, or we'll be facing unregulated imports from the US at prices we can't even compete with.

So, until we get told just what is going to happen - and no two cabinet members seems to be able to agree just what that is - we all play safe with our dosh, and we're in for a rocky 12 months.

It doesn't really matter whether you're a leaver or a remainer. It's the uncertainty that is the killer. Once we know just how much shit we are in, we can all begin to plan accordingly.

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lemoncurd1702

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Posted: 02 Mar. 2018,02:11

There's a lot with the EU that is not great. But I would be rather in than out.
Roll on another recession

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Cheers
Lemoncurd

Tony McC

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Posted: 04 Mar. 2018,11:35

There's hell of a lot wrong with the EU, but you can't change it if you're not in it, and now we face the prospect of having to largely abide by its rules and regulation yet have buggerall say in drafting those rules and regulations, all so we can fulfill the neo-liberal dream of unfettered capitalism.

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dig dug dan

The Crusher Man

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Posted: 05 Mar. 2018,16:01

Quote (Tony McC @ 04 Mar. 2018,11:35)

i hate discussing this subject, but why do we have to stick to rules from them if we are not in it? who says so??

anyway, back on subject, been slow to pick up, but things are happening here. I added a fourth crusher to the fleet, and its proved worthwhile. loads of building work going on left right and centre

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Dan the Crusher Man
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Tony McC

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Posted: 06 Mar. 2018,10:49

If you want to trade with the EU, and somewhere around half of Britain's trade is with them, then you have to meet their requirements, or they'll get whatever it is from someone else.

When you're inside the tent, you get a say on just what those requirements might be. When you're outside, it's a simply matter of comply or bugger off!

Still, good to hear things are busy enough for you. It's been sluggish on the consultancy/design side of the trade for a few months, but as of last week, it has, as bloody usual with the onset of Spring (allegedly), gone doo-sodding-lally!

It's always feast or famine in this game - it's rarely, if ever, just the right amount of work!

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lutonlagerlout

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Posted: 07 Mar. 2018,01:25

the EU thing is a bit odd,and this probably isnt the right place but my auld fella said that they voted to join the common market,not the EU!
As usual this has been manipulated by politicians for their own ends.
it worries me greatly that we are not and have not been self sufficient in food for over 100 years

why french milk,danish pork ,new zealand lamb and canadian wheat is cheaper than ours, makes me wonder about globalisation's benefits?

As said the sun has shown its face and got a few calls,usual craic ;-)
LLL

Edited by lutonlagerlout on 07 Mar. 2018,01:26

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bobbi o

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Posted: 03 Dec. 2018,17:51

saw this today in construction news. what a shambles.

Kier's net debt at the end of October 2018 was £624m. The board said that rights issue was needed because the risks associated with operating with such big debts had increased since the collapse of Carillion. It said that the government would not give work to firms that look like they might go bust; banks have gone shy on the construction industry; and it can no longer get away with shafting its suppliers.

lutonlagerlout

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Posted: 05 Dec. 2018,23:40

I worked for Kier in the 80s ( as a subbie) not sure how the big crowds can get like this?
guess a lot of it is down to low margins on big contracts
LLL

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"what,you want paying today??"

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Tony McC

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Posted: 16 Dec. 2018,14:20

Look at what they pay to the vultures at board level!

These are not really construction firms, they are BIG businesses, all about maximising what the shareholders and board can squeeze out of the company, and bollocks to everyone else. It's highly unlikely that anyone at board level has ever held a saw, a trowel, a pipe wrench, and definitely NOT a maul! They have no empathy or real understanding of construction: they are finance people, bean counters, fecking parasites every last one of them!

The board borrows against the alleged "strength" of the company so that they can splash out on multi-million quid pay deals for themselves and dole out super-attractive dividends for the shareholders. And the banks are complicit in this because, all too often, it is they that are the bleeding shareholders. Lending money so they can grab it back as a dividend, and then get it back again as loan repayment plus make a profit via the interest charge. This is 21st century capitalism at its most incestuous.

Meanwhile, who is it that gets screwed when the company hits the infamous "cash flow problems"? The small, independent, defenceless subbie...as it always was and always will be unless the construction trade in general, and the massive outsourcing companies in particular, are completely re-organised with effective legislation covering their responsibilities to suppliers and subbies rather than board members and shareholders.

/end rant

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rab1

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Posted: 17 Dec. 2018,22:41

If you think Keir are doing badly look at Interserve.

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Dave_L

Surfacing & Civils Contractor

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Posted: 25 Dec. 2018,10:34

Luton - so how did 2018 pan out for you?? Reading your first post on this page, it all read doom and gloom - but I bet you had a half-decent year come the end? I certainly did, best year to date, with the first quarter of 2019 full, I have hope for at least another good year ahead - but like many, I am very uncertain about what Brexit has in store for us.......

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lutonlagerlout

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Posted: 25 Dec. 2018,13:36

it was a strange year mate, last year was busy busy busy with good jobs
this year was busy till march then went very quiet,still working every day and pricing but no jam
then on october the first 4 jobs I had priced in the spring /summer all accepted within one week
so booked up on extensions till next july August
A big problem for us right now is that good lads are being siphoned off by the big firms paying fantastic money,I know brickies that are on £1100 a week day work,and that is 8-4:30 with an hour lunch, it makes it hard to get good blokes on small domestic stuff
just want to keep focusing on quality work and see where it takes us
cheers LLL

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"what,you want paying today??"

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lutonlagerlout

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Posted: 17 Nov. 2019,18:17

well nearly a year on the the 4 jobs complete, and I feel it in my waters a correction is coming
decent enquiries have dropped off and a lot of men getting short of work round these parts,the election has got the middle classes worried about what a new government might bring
also the brexit shambles just keeps rolling on.
thinking of downscaling as the bigger jobs just seem to eat time
you are on call 24/7
whats it like in your neck of the woods?
LLL :;):

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"what,you want paying today??"

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dig dug dan

The Crusher Man

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Posted: 17 Nov. 2019,19:39

Had two big landscape jobs this year, and lots of smaller jobs, its failing off now. I had the rare job of walking from my house to the train station on Monday and was astonished at the amount of building work and extensions going on in hemel.
Clearly there is work about, I think there is a saturation of people doing it who really shouldnt be
On an amusing side, I priced up a big patio and drive job about a year ago, and didn't get it. I later learned who the contractor was who got the job (Tony you know of them), and it transpires they made a complete mess of it, so now I have been asked to going and look to rectify it, and price up some
other work!

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Dan the Crusher Man
01442 212315
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"a satisfied customer? we should have them stuffed!"

lutonlagerlout

Chief tea boy

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Posted: 19 Nov. 2019,03:13

Hi Dan
spoke to a medium sized developer I know at the gym tonight,also an estate agent,the developer reckons his phone is buzzing with lads looking for work,and the estate agent says his is as dead as a doornail
a combo of the election/christmas/ and brexit is working its magic
we shall see!
on a roof tomorrow,cant wait

LLL

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"what,you want paying today??"

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221 replies since 11 Nov. 2005,23:25

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