Chris R

Re the above - I have been a keen amateur plumber for years. I recently retired and did a four week 'intensive' course with PPL in York. I got two City and Guilds qualifications and will go back later this year to finish off the City and Guilds 6129. The course included the LOGIC assesments for unvented water, building regs, legionella and water regs. I am now self employed and the work has started to come in. I know my limitations and will not take on anything that is beyond me.I also know as I get more experienced I will take on bigger jobs. When I go out and do a quote I can predict that the first thing the customer will say is how hard it was to get anyone to come out to quote (the last one tried 15 plumbers - I got two days of work out of that one). I think there is plenty of work out there if you are prepared to provide a good service for a fair price. I also think there are too many in our profession who will only do the easy, big jobs. If you are prepared to take on the stuff that no one else wants to do, you will have no problem. I read somewhere that plumbers are supposed to provide an essential service to the community. It would seem that some colleagues are happy to do so, along as it is easy and pays well. Perhaps we should look in their direction when we consider the reputation of the profession. Like most things in life you have to put in a bit of hard work. I understand the argument about apprentiships, but perhaps some of us more senior people have something to offer - don't write us off