As the announcements keep coming and our plans keep having to change, I thought it best to provide you with new information now, rather than waiting until after the Christmas break.  England Local Restrictions Support Grant With parts of England going into Tier 4, the Government have revised the Local Restrictions Support Grant.  What is the Objective? To support businesses, based in Tier 2, Tier 3 and Tier 4 areas, forced to close as a result of a Government decision. What is the level of support? Premises with a rateable value of £15,000 or less may be eligible for a cash grant of £667 for every 14 day period of lockdown. Premises with a rateable value of over £15,000 and less than £51,000 may be eligible for a cash grant of £1,000 for every 14 day period of lockdown. Premises with a rateable value of over £51,000 or above, may be eligible for a cash grant of £1,500 for every 14 day period of lockdown. Each business can obtain a grant for each non-domestic property in the re...

I often get asked the question, “when should I employ someone in my plumbing and heating business?” Frankly, it’s not easy to answer, but hopefully what I’m about to explain in this blog will give you something to work from. "there is no point employing someone if it’s not going to be profitable." First of all, see your business in £100,000 income blocks per year. Broken down monthly £100,000 is £8300 per month. Whenever you’ve got £8300 of recurring labour, month on month, work on your order books, quotes accepted, services booked in, renovation started etc, that would be the time to then seek and employ a new engineer. The reason why I’m saying £100,000 is because there is no point employing someone if it’s not going to be profitable. Let’s say an engineer is payed £30-50,000 per annum. So straight away that’s 50% of that £100,000 gone in wages. You also need to supply that engineer with a van, a CRM system, tools, equipment, t-shirts, insurance, telephone, and all ot...

I hope you are all looking forward to Christmas and the well earned break that I know many of you need. I put my Christmas tree up way too early and it’s looking very sorry for itself. We may be huddling around a needleless tree skeleton on Christmas day! There have been a few Government announcements today which you may or may not be aware of: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Extension (CJRS) It was due to come to an end on 31st March 2021. It has now been extended to the end of April 2021. The Government will continue to meet 80% of the ‘deemed’ salary for the furlough period. Budget Day The UK Budget day will now be on Wednesday, 3rd March 2021. Further Covid-19 support measures will be released then. As a reminder Scotland’s Budget will be announced on Thursday, 28th January 2021. No date has yet been made for the Welsh Budget. Government Backed Loan Schemes Extension Access to the Bounce Back Loans, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans Schemes was due to come to an end on ...

I think all plumbing and heating businesses should have a marketing strategy. A marketing strategy is everything you need to do in order to get a customer to get in touch. To email you, give you a call, book in a visit. That’s what marketing is. Getting your name out there so potential customers to get in touch. Once a potential customer has got in touch with you, we then move onto the sales side of the business. Everything form that point up to the acceptance of a quote is the sales. For this blog, we’re just going to concentrate on a marketing strategy. Everything you do as a business to get a potential customer to make and enquiry. Firstly, in regards to a strategy we need to start off with, who is your ideal client? An ideal client is defined as the following: ‘Someone who finds the perfect solution to their problems or needs in the services or products that your company provides. The ideal client is loyal to your company, frequently uses or buys your products or services and is li...

What do I mean by that? I find there are three types of plumbing and heating businesses in the UK. Either a premium, high end plumbing and heating business, a standard, mid-range plumbing and heating business or a cheap ‘stack em high, sell em cheap’ plumbing and heating business. All of them are completely different. "From a marketing perspective you need to pick a path and stick to it" Let’s look at the high-end plumbing and heating business first: This tends to be boutique businesses who looks after luxurious properties up and down the country. They are set up to service this type of clientele, i.e. their vans are clean and brand new, their workwear is clean and tidy, they have high- end call centre and office staff who are always available to answer any demanding questions from the kind of customers they attract. Now these premium businesses do charge more than the mid-range and budget businesses, but this doesn’t mean they make more profit. I find that by being a high-en...