Current situation is bad!

[Skullfudge]

Lets hope the country picks up soon although I reckon it will be worse for the first 6 months after the election.

Currently awful & cant get worse. We have been losing 3.5K+ every week since Dec 12th 09 and it needs to turn around soon.
Our competitors are going down the pan virtually weekly as I have them hooked up to a Credit Safe facility we subscribe to and it's getting worse.

Problem being you need to look after good men and keep paying them. Have no choice because when jobs are generated you need your men to do them and if you lay your guys off you wont be able to carry out the jobs without them.

I am suffering too mate, we are feeling the pinch a bit due to cuts in spending from marketing departments everywhere. And what they do want printed they want for virtually nothing at the moment.

Print companies are going tits up on a very regular basis, which is incredibly sad to see.

I have seriously considered packing it all in recently and taking a chance on something different. But like Clive I have a good team of people here and if things improve I know they will do all the right things for me and my company.

All of this is just another reason that people should not waste their votes. UKIP, The Green Party, BNP and all other bit part players really are a complete waste of time. People should make their choice, based on policy and not TV Appeal (Nick Clegg Factor) and vote for a proper change.

Worzel can be found at the Conservative HQ for the next 2 days

[Anger]

i havnt payed myself since Christmas

Originally Posted by Anger

i havnt payed myself since Christmas

I can remember those moments well and have considered it myself recently.

I hope things get straight for you soon mate.

[Chunk]

I'm a self-employed builder

Lucky for me i have a great customer who keeps buying properties & getting me in to refurb them

Without her, i wouldn't have any work

[Skullfudge]

MrX, well it's a catch 22 really. I have released many over the past 7 yrs as they did not meet our standards, so the ones I have a really good. I can do my bit in the office & present everything properly but then you need to depend on your guys and then it works out ok.


Worz: I never realized you owned the company Steve, but yep it's bad at mo.
Your game has the additional problem of people like me who rarely need your services as I have created everything I need myself on the pc.
A good customer of ours was a printing company who fell on bad times (St Ives Display) of Crayford.
We currently have a database of 172 clients that use us & we are still dead, & that is not a good sign.

Anger: what's your line of work mate ?


Chunky: good job you have that woman as a client !!

[C. J.]

Its not good but seems to be getting better for me ( should i have said that !)

[Lucky]

Know exactly where you guys are coming from. I didnt pay myself throughout 2008 and begining of 2009 due to the state of the housing market. I had to make to massive cutbacks, which fortunately made 2009 easier but doing 6 days a week wasnt much fun (hence struggling with meets). Like worzel, I considered what else I could do, but i've been doing this since leaving school and its what I know.

The positive is that we have now had about a year of sustaained growth and a fairly stable market, and usually we are the first to see an improvemnet (as we are also the first to see things going tits up) so hopefully things for you guys will start to improve too. Although what is around the corner, who knows.

Chris, it's always good to hear of someone doing well. You know what it's like though mate, I remember not that long ago you were saying it was slow. Maybe you are the "indicator" for the economy. Lets hope so.

Clive, yeh for my sins, I set the company up in 2002. It has been really good up until about 6 months ago when the arse just started falling out of the market big time. There have been some massive casualties in the print game, as you say St Ives being one of them, but even with the end of so many companies, there doesn't seem to be more work out there or even the same amount to be honest.

Again, so many people do what they need in house these days or do everything through websites. It's an industry on its heels for sure.

[C. J.]

Would not say going well but it enuff and getting better week by week .

My trade is picking up to! First there's no work so cant pay there bills. The worry of that turn's people bad in many way's drink,drugs then attempted suicide's. Our work over the last 3years is now 95% alcohol or drug related. Before the 3years it was 50%. It's proper mad out there now & it is time for a change. I hope it's going to be for the better.

[Greig]

Bit worrying that everyone seems to be in the
same boat, I am going through the motions
of breaking up a partnership at the mo
due to the economic state, also haven't
paid myself for over 6 months!
It can't get any worse!!

[darryl.k]

Thought I'd chip in,

I work for a Training Provider who sets up and manages Apprenticeships in Engineering across Sussex, Surrey and London. Listerning to the radio this morning with the elections and parties saying their going to push apprenticeships and manufacturing in England is a load of rubbish. What they don't tell you is they have cut a lot of funding and will only fund up to a 19 year old, hence if you are 19 and over you are unlikely to get an apprenticeship in engineering as some one has to fund it and thats £k's! Its legal age discrimination. So we are funded by the goverment and we are finding it hard!

Thanks for reading,

Darryl.k

Hopefully things will change with a new government.

It's sad that apprentices are so few and far between these days.

[Anger]

i run a double glazing company in South London Clive

Its started to really pick up now but i will be paying back most of it and wont be paying myself for still a bit to come

[simonairheadz]

im down to 6 holidays a year now!lol
nah i guess im lucky,everyone needs to keep up apperences and our hairdressing salon hasnt been affected.allthough most are complaining about a loss in trade,just maybe they didnt do enough in the good times and got complacent.
mind you we do put in more hours than before to suit clients working later,but we seam to fill all the apps.
chin up guys we could see changes for the better soon.
MAKE YOUR VOTES COUNT

[belliott]

i got stuffed before flash gordon admitted a recession, i'm an electrician and was working for a company doing loads of new build flats in london. we were just going to move onto another site converting a factory into some flats and the banks pulled out of the loan that the building company had organised leaving me without a job. have struggled since due to being young and having to compete against loads of more experienced people and can't find anything. i've started looking to do other things to get some money in but can't find anything else either, leaves me feeling crap most days.

[Skullfudge]

Originally Posted by belliott

i got stuffed before flash gordon admitted a recession, i'm an electrician and was working for a company doing loads of new build flats in london. we were just going to move onto another site converting a factory into some flats and the banks pulled out of the loan that the building company had organised leaving me without a job. have struggled since due to being young and having to compete against loads of more experienced people and can't find anything. i've started looking to do other things to get some money in but can't find anything else either, leaves me feeling crap most days.

You fully trained up Belliott? and what area do you live?

[sparkycab]

Hi I'm feeling the crunch too being a taxi driver our work has slowed right up people looking after what money thay have I will keep praying for it to get better my mattress needs filling back up lol and I wish the diesel would go down that's killing me considering BP made a f**king massive profit

[belliott]

Originally Posted by Skullfudge

You fully trained up Belliott? and what area do you live?

fully trained apart from i haven't done the 17th edition yet and i live in milford near guildford.