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Posted in Electrical Work on Jun 02
A Special Announcement on Behalf of Our Partner…
Carl Bennett is not a man to give up easily. Others might have been tempted to curl up in a corner after being invalided out of their jobs following a brain tumour. Not Carl though. Because the SO19 Met Police Specialist Firearms Unit breeds  them tough.
Realising that requalifying oneself with new skills is tough for everybody too, Carl decided to take advantage of burgeoning UK demand for more technicians in the electrical and renewable energy fields. His mission to establish training facilities for these skills in the Crawley, Sussex area has met with great success and there are already two training centres in operation. Here students can obtain recognition and accreditation from City & Guilds, NICEIC and BPEC, and take a key step towards MCS accreditation too.
Now Carl, inspired by the example set by Falklands war hero Simon Weston OBE, has decided to offer one bursary per course to armed forces personnel invalided out of service or who left service voluntarily due to injury or illness.
This is the least that I can do, says Mark. These are our Forgotten Heroes. Anybody is welcome to apply. I wish I could help everybody who qualifies, but our firm is just too small.
 The first bursary will be awarded personally by Simon Weston OBE on 17 June 2011 as a gesture of his personal support. This will take place at an open day where industry leaders such as Nissan with their 100% electric car will be in support, and opportunities will be there to inspect the training centres’ impressive facilities too.
June 17th, 2011 is the TradeSkills4U Open Day. Why not sign up for this landmark event and express your support for this worthy cause right now.
All are most welcome to come and support Carl Bennett’s efforts and see what this incredible man has achieved despite his personal setback. If you are ex-armed service personnel please rest assured of an especially warm welcome when you arrive. Please do remember to introduce yourself though.
To find out more about these special opportunities call 01293-529777 or 0800-856-4448 Mondays to Fridays during business hours. Or visit http://www.tradeskills4u.co.uk/. This information is provided free of charge as Mr-Skill’s small contribution to this exciting project.
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Posted in Bricklaying, Carpentry & Joinery, Cleaning Services, Disposals & Waste Removal, Electrical Work, Gardening & Landscaping, General Building, Handyman Services, Kitchen Fitting, Locksmith, Moving Homes & Hauliers, Other Craftsman Services, Painting & Decorating, Planning & Consulting, Plastering & Drywall, Plumbing, Heating & Gas, Roofing, Gutters & Drainage, Tiling & Flooring, Window & Door Fitting on Oct 16
 The insurance company Aviva recently conducted a survey amongst their clients which dispelled the myth that “White Van Man” was no more than an urban thug.
Tradesmen in London are the smartest, sexiest and most successful drivers on the road their research showed, with over 70% having an interest in politics and current affairs.
Smart Tradesmen in London
Over half of the white van drivers surveyed said that they regularly read books, compared to one-in-ten sports car owners.
Sexy Tradesmen in London
Most of the white van drivers questioned responded that they like to keep themselves in shape and pursued some form of outdoor leisure activity.
Successful Tradesmen in London
Half of all van drivers were the boss of their own business, as compared to 83% of sports car drivers who work for someone else.
Nigel Bartram, motoring expert at Aviva, who carried out the survey, said: “It’s great to prove what we already knew – van drivers are switched on and enterprising! Gone are the days of the traditional white van man stereotype. What our research shows is that van drivers are entrepreneurial and responsible. This is why we have tailored direct motor insurance to cater for the 21st century van driver.”
With half of van drivers opting to fix household appliances when they break rather than ask for help, they are also the handiest to have at home. After a hard day’s work, a tradesman in London is more likely to catch a news bulletin or documentary than anything else on the box and, out of all drivers questioned, is the least likely to watch reality TV.
Sofeminine.co.uk added a female perspective to the results of the survey with the comment that “A white van driver may not be so likely to have a degree, but he has a big package” – So much for stereotypes!
For a deeper look into the psyche of a white van driver tradesman in London, visit the Social Issue Research Centre web site, who produced a quite eye-opening and humorous insight into this social phenomenon, and concluded that in order to change their image, tradesmen in London should paint their vans a different colour!
Tags: Find a Tradesman in London, insurance, Research, Social Issues, Survey, Tradesmen´s Directory, transit van, Van Driver
Posted in Bricklaying, Carpentry & Joinery, Cleaning Services, Disposals & Waste Removal, Electrical Work, Gardening & Landscaping, General Building, Handyman Services, Kitchen Fitting, Locksmith, Moving Homes & Hauliers, Other Craftsman Services, Painting & Decorating, Planning & Consulting, Plastering & Drywall, Plumbing, Heating & Gas, Roofing, Gutters & Drainage, Tiling & Flooring, Window & Door Fitting | Comments Off
Posted in Bricklaying, Carpentry & Joinery, Cleaning Services, Disposals & Waste Removal, Electrical Work, Gardening & Landscaping, General Building, Handyman Services, Kitchen Fitting, Locksmith, Moving Homes & Hauliers, News, Other Craftsman Services, Painting & Decorating, Planning & Consulting, Plastering & Drywall, Plumbing, Heating & Gas, Roofing, Gutters & Drainage, Tiling & Flooring, Window & Door Fitting on Oct 16
 The cost of DIY bodge-ups according to the Clydesdale Bank Research from the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks has revealed that bodged DIY jobs in the home cost homeowners £235 million to put right last year.
The recent survey was conducted amongst two thousand of the banks´ customers and showed that over a quarter had experienced a DIY disaster within the past twelve months.
With one in ten respondents having to pay up to £500 to get their mistakes fixed, a spokesman for the Clydesdale Bank commented that while DIY may be a great way to save money, it is important to have the correct tools and right set of skills to avoid a job around the home becoming a very expensive exercise.
The bank estimates that nearly 5 million people across the country ended up paying for DIY mistakes after they attempted to do DIY jobs such as decorating, plumbing or gardening. Instead of wishing you had never started a job that is ultimately going to cost you a lot of money, why not consult Mr Skill´s Tradesmen’s Directory and benefit from the financial advantages of using a London tradesman.
Tags: decorating, DIY, Find a Tradesman in London, fix, Home Improvements, Home Maintenance, Mr Skill, Plumbing, tools, Tradesmen´s Directory
Posted in Bricklaying, Carpentry & Joinery, Cleaning Services, Disposals & Waste Removal, Electrical Work, Gardening & Landscaping, General Building, Handyman Services, Kitchen Fitting, Locksmith, Moving Homes & Hauliers, News, Other Craftsman Services, Painting & Decorating, Planning & Consulting, Plastering & Drywall, Plumbing, Heating & Gas, Roofing, Gutters & Drainage, Tiling & Flooring, Window & Door Fitting | Comments Off
 The Chief Executive of Travis Perkins – the parent company for Wickes – has commented that the spending cuts announced by the government could actually be a good thing for the DIY retail section. Speaking after announcing a group growth of 7%, Geoff Cooper said that at a time home owners are feeling uncertain about the impact the spending cuts will have on them, home owners will be looking to improve the appeal and value of their home through DIY projects and by using local tradesmen for more home improvements.
Wickes currently has 190 stores throughout the UK – with 34 located in the London area – and Mr Cooper put the company´s growth to their range of products being competitively priced to attract business from London tradesmen amongst others.
His optimistic comments were backed up by the latest “Money Mood Survey” from Legal & General which found that 60% of those questioned were actively saving for the future during the last month. One of the biggest categories that people were saving for was home improvements, with the survey showing that the fear of job losses and difficult economic times are forcing people to reconsider how they spend their money.
If you are one of the many people re-assessing how to make the most of your home, we suggest that you use our “Post-a-Job” facility to get tradesman quotes on the jobs you would like to give priority to, or contact a local tradesman in London through our Tradesmen´s Directory.
Tags: DIY, Find a Tradesman in London, Handyman Services, Home Maintenance, save money, spending cuts, tradesmen quotes, Tradesmen´s Directory, travis perkins, wickes
Posted in Electrical Work, General Building, Handyman Services, Kitchen Fitting | Comments Off
 Whether you are a builder, a carpenter or a decorator, this show is for you!
With more than 300 exhibitors, The National Home Improvement Show is the UK’s largest event for tradesmen in London and people looking to add space and value to their home. It offers the best in home improvement, design and space-saving advice from Real Homes experts, including TV personalities Julia Kendell (presenter of DIY SOS on BBC1 and 60-Minute Makeover), Matt James (Channel Four’s The City Gardener) and Michael Holmes (Editor-in-Chief of Real Homes magazine and presenter of Five’s “I Own Britain’s Best Home”).
The exhibition starts this Friday (1st October) and runs until Sunday. Tickets are £8.00 in advance or £12.00 on the door and further details about the event can be found on www.improveyourhomeshow.co.uk
Tags: bathroom, builder, Decorating & Interior Design, exhibition, Find a Builder in London, find a carpenter in London, find a decorator, find a handyman in London, Home Improvements, interior decoration, Painting, tradesman
Posted in Carpentry & Joinery, Electrical Work, General Building, Kitchen Fitting, Painting & Decorating | Comments Off
 Depending on which source of history you choose to quote from, the phrase “Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics” is either attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, Mark Twain or Leonard H Courtney (later president of the Royal Statistical Society), but as far as builders in London are concerned, there seems to be no accurate guide to what contractors get paid these days.
A report by Hays Construction which is quoted on the builder.co.uk web site, states that average pay in London has decreased by 8% with almost one in five companies reducing the pay of their staff, whereas Construction News Insight produced their own report showing a 0.4% pay increase amongst London builders.
Writing in Construction News, former Bank of England monetary policy committee member David Blanchflower said: “The official UK construction employment data remain a puzzle. It may well be that many of the construction jobs were held by workers from Eastern Europe who have now returned home. Many of these workers were not covered in the official counts and if so then the decline in employment may well be understated.”
In contrast to Mr Blanchflower´s words, the Office of National Statistics reported that for the year ended 31st March 2010, 234.000 jobs were lost in the construction industry. Maybe the Eastern Europeans could not make head or tail of the figures either!
Tags: builder, conditions, Construction, contractor, Find a Builder in London, London, pay, statistics
Posted in Bricklaying, Carpentry & Joinery, Electrical Work, General Building, Handyman Services, Painting & Decorating, Plastering & Drywall, Roofing, Gutters & Drainage | Comments Off
Posted in Bricklaying, Carpentry & Joinery, Electrical Work, General Building, Handyman Services, Plastering & Drywall, Plumbing, Heating & Gas, Roofing, Gutters & Drainage, Tiling & Flooring, Window & Door Fitting on Sep 15
 According to research conducted by Saga Personal Finance, more than a third of UK homeowners over 50 say that their homes are in need of repair, and an alarming one in seven state that they cannot afford to fix their problems.
London appears to be the worst hit area, with 42% of respondents from the capital saying that their houses needing some sort of repair, with the most common complaints being inadequate roofing, blocked gutters, and failed central heating systems – jobs that the elderly are unable to do themselves and need a handyman in London to perform.
The findings disclose that as many as one in five women over 50 living on their own are forced to let their homes deteriorate as they cannot afford to make the necessary repairs, whilst over half have to reluctantly dig into savings, as their pensions are inadequate to cover the cost of home maintenance.
Although Saga Personal Finance suggest that the way forward for these London homeowners is to take out equity release on their homes, we would suggest that anybody requiring a home roofing repair or central heating service done before the winter sets in should use the “Post-a-Job” facility at the top of the page to attract quotes from tradesmen in London and get the best deal to prevent your London home from falling apart.
Tags: Central Heating, find a Heating Engineer in London, Find a Roofer in London, find a tradesmen, Guttering, Guttering & Drainage, Heating Engineers, Home Maintenance, home repairs, Roofing, tradesmen london, tradesmen quotes
Posted in Bricklaying, Carpentry & Joinery, Electrical Work, General Building, Handyman Services, Plastering & Drywall, Plumbing, Heating & Gas, Roofing, Gutters & Drainage, Tiling & Flooring, Window & Door Fitting | Comments Off
There is a little confusion amongst homeowners and DIY enthusiasts about what can and can´t be done in terms of electrical work in the home. Although it is always best to refer to a qualified electrician in London, there are a number of jobs you can still do by yourself without having to seek approval from your Local Authority Building Control.
 Change white electrical switches, sockets etc. and replace with decorative finishes- Replace or repair a socket, light or cable in any room Add extra spurs, sockets or lights to an existing circuit (except in a kitchen, bathroom, or outdoors)
- Fit or replace an electric shower, cooker, garage doors or gates (unless a new circuit is needed)
- Install CE marked prefabricated modular kitchen lighting systems to an existing connection unit or socket outlet
- Install security lighting or air-conditioning to the outside wall of the house provided that there are no exposed outdoor connections (unless a new circuit is needed)
Instances where you do need to get Building Control approval include:-
- Adding new circuits to your existing installation
- Any work (other than repairs or replacements) in a room where there is water (e.g. kitchen, bathroom, etc.)
- Any work (other than repairs or replacements) outdoors (e.g. installing garden lighting or sockets, etc.)
- Replacing a consumer unit
- Installing new central heating control wiring
- Installing a socket outlet on an external wall
It is strongly recommended that any electrical work you carry out yourself is checked by a registered electrician in London to ensure your safety and also that it complies with Part P of the Building Regulations.
It is also advisable that you familiarise yourself with the cable colour changes that were introduced in 2006 – particularly if working on an older property which may still have the original wiring. You can > Click Here < to download the IET guide to the new cable colours or consult with one of the local electricians in London featured in our Tradesmen´s Directory.
Tags: bathroom, Building Control, building regulations, Building Regulations Part P, cable, cable colours, Central Heating, Electrical Work, Electricians in London, Find an Electrician in London, lighting, plug, Plumbing, socket
Posted in Electrical Work, Handyman Services | Comments Off
Posted in Electrical Work on Aug 18
 Grass Roots, a company helping the government meet its Carbon Emissions Reduction Target, is offering those over 70 and people receiving certain benefits (such as Council tax benefit, Housing benefit, Income support, and Income JSA – a full list appears on the web site below) a free LIME energy saving plug worth £19.99.
The plug helps you save energy by automatically switching off the electricity to your connected equipment. You can either use it for one piece of equipment such as your TV or PC or for multiple ones connected through an extension cable. You can also switch plugs on or off from a distance with a remote control.
Apply for a plug on www.energysavingplug.co.uk before 31 Dec 2010, entering the code ‘GREEN’ on the sign up form, and the plug will be sent within 28 days. Make sure you enter your postcode and details correctly to avoid confusion. Though it’s only one per household, you also get a voucher to get another one half price (£9.99) for younger members of your family.
If you would like further information about how to reduce the energy consumption in your home and save money, speak with one of the local electricians listed in our Tradesmen’s Directory or read our blog about “Saving Money through Home Improvement“
Tags: Carbon Emissions, electricity, energy efficiency, energy saving, extension lead, remote control, save environment, save money
Posted in Electrical Work | Comments Off
Posted in Electrical Work on Aug 10
 The VPhase Watt Watcher is a new electrical device which can be installed in the home to reduce incoming voltage levels and effectively reduce electricity bills. Electricians in London will be interested to learn that tests run in conjunction with British Gas and Scottish and Southern Energy have seen savings of up to £80.00 per year on typical domestic fuel bills and, as part of a major marketing push later this year, the company are offering qualified electricians in London free half-day training workshops in various locations around the country.
The workshops will demonstrate how the VPhase Watt Watcher works by stabilising the incoming voltage, and how it can be fitted by a qualified electrician within the hour. The company will also provide marketing material for participants to take away with them for promoting the product to their own client base.
Venues are still to be confirmed, but for electricians in South London dates are confirmed for Sevenoaks in Kent on 8th and 9th September, electricians in East London can travel to the seminar in Essex on 27th or 28th October, and electricians in North London will have to wait until the 17th and 18th November and travel to Oxford.
Pre-registration is recommended and further details about the product and training seminars can be found on the company web site – Vphase.co.uk
Tags: electrical circuit, Electrical Work, Electricians in London, electricity, energy efficiency, environment, Fuel Bills, fuel saving, save money, VPhase Watt Watcher
Posted in Electrical Work | Comments Off
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