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The Vital Role of Tradesmen

There is often a lot of talk in the media about how the traditional ‘trades’ are in decline – but tradesmen are still hugely vital to our society and economy. After all, imagine where we’d be without electricians: you need a qualified electrician to carry out the vast majority of electrical work, meaning that we’d all be left in the dark without them. And that’s just one example of why the tradesman industry is still so vital today, no matter how much things have changed elsewhere.

Tradesmen are able to handle a wide variety of jobs, including planned maintenance work and refurbishment, as well as emergency jobs that need taking care of straight away. Both of these aspects of their work are vital – everything needs a bit of TLC or an upgrade every now and then, and you can never predict when you might need emergency assistance with something such as a hole in the roof.

These are skilled jobs: people who work in the tradesman industry typically have to spend years training or working as an apprentice in order to get the qualifications they need. On top of that, they have to comply with all the relevant building legislation and regulations, which can be a big job in itself. All of this is to ensure that the work they carry out is of the highest standards and will last their clients for as long as possible.

If this sounds like something of an ode to tradesmen and women… well, it is. Sometimes it’s worth taking a step back and thinking about the vital work they do and the skills they need in order to be able to do it. Hopefully the next time you need assistance at home or work from a tradesman for whatever reason, they’ll prove just why we still need this vital industry – and why we always will.

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What Roles do Tradesmen Typically Carry Out?

Tradesmen are responsible for carrying out a wide range of jobs that help our lives to run smoothly on a regular basis. In this article, we take a look at some of the most common roles carried out by tradesmen to give you a better idea of the sort of thing they get up to on a day to day basis.

Fixing pipes
Pipes run well most of the time, but they have the capacity to freeze, burst, degenerate with age and wear and tear… Any one of these things could cause a problem that needs to be taken care of properly, and dealing with issues such as burst pipes is the bread and butter work of many tradespeople.

Dealing with boilers
Boilers are another essential feature of many of our lives, but most of us have very little (if any) idea of exactly how our boiler works – and we’d be clueless if something ever went wrong with them. It’s just as well, then, that there are tradesmen out there who know exactly what they’re doing and how to deal with all sorts of boiler problems.

Unblocking drains
This is another job that needs to be done from time to time, but it can often be unpleasant and drains aren’t always easy to reach. This is why so many people hire professional tradesmen to take care of it for them.

Replacing windows
Replacing windows takes a certain amount of skill and many people wouldn’t even know where to start. Hiring a tradesman to do it ensures that the job will be done well and that your new window will be of the highest quality.

Fixing the roof
Finally, a problem with the roof has the potential to bring the whole house down – literally in some cases. This is why expert tradesman support is so much appreciated when we need a hole fixing or some tiles replacing on our roofs.

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New Ways to Find Tradesmen

As long as we have buildings (and we assume we always will), we are going to need tradesmen. From roofing specialists to tradesmen who are skilled at replacing windows, carpenters, plumbers, carpet fitters and electricians, there is a wide range of trades that are absolutely vital to our society.

This means that we all need the services of a tradesman from time to time, either because we have an emergency that needs fixing or because we have some routine maintenance or improvements we’d like made. Either way, it is important to choose the right tradesman for the job.

In the past, the phone directory was the main source of information when it came to finding someone to hire. Now, smartphone apps are taking on that mantel, providing directories of local tradesmen that you can search and choose from. A good example of this is the Tradesman Tracker App, which uses GPS technology to work out where you are and suggests local tradesmen based on your location. You can also enter your postcode to find tradespeople for a different area.

This helps to streamline the process of choosing the right person to carry out the work in question. It also eliminates the need for a bulky phone book, which is always welcome! Every tradesperson who signs up to the app also has to sign up to the relevant Code of Practice, which helps to ensure good service – quality of work can never be guaranteed, but it can’t be guaranteed if you search through the phone book, either.

One of the benefits of searching for tradesmen this is way is that they are all in one place, in a single app rather than spread out across the phone book under headings as diverse as ‘interior designers’ and ‘glaziers’. If you’ve got a smartphone and are in need of a tradesman, an app such as the Tradesman Tracker App could be worth a go.

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How do you find your tradesman?

When you need to find a tradesman to carry out a job, how do you go about choosing? Once upon a time, our first port of call would have been the phone book; we would have searched the Yellow Pages for local tradesmen and rung around until we found the one we wanted.

Alternatively, word of mouth was – and still is – a popular option for finding a good tradesman. After all, it can be much more reassuring to choose a tradesperson who comes recommended to you from someone who has already tried and tested the services they offer. Many tradesmen get much of their business simply because their reputation spreads by word of mouth.

However, the internet and the growth of technology have changed how we search for our services. It has been reported that less than half of people now use the phone book to search for services, even though it would once have been our main source of information. The fact is that online search engines have made it much easier to find exactly what we’re looking for.

It’s not just search engines that have changed things, though. Smartphone apps such as the Tradesman Tracker App have made it easier to find a good tradesman in your local area than ever before. For example, this app allows you to find all sorts of tradesmen from electricians and plumbers to carpet fitters, carpenters and more.

One of the benefits of apps such as the Tradesman Tracker App is that you can use it wherever you are – as long as you’ve got your phone with you, you should be able to find exactly what you need. This can be particularly useful for landlords and others who spend a lot of their time out on site and have a high level of need for skilled tradespeople. It looks like this could be a method of finding tradesmen that’s here to stay.

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Young people shying away from skilled trades

Northern Ireland, this week, released shocking data on youth unemployment. According to the figures published by The Prince’s Trust youth unemployment in NI costs up to £4.5m a week. Citing research by the London School of Economics, the new figures also established that when lost productivity is included, each job seeker costs up to £16,000 a year.

As per the research, long-term unemployment among 16 to 24 year olds had increased “more than seven-fold since before the recession” and the number of people in the same age group on Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) for 12 months or more, recently reached a 12-year high.

Northern Ireland is not the only country faced with this problem. Youth employment is growing into a global menace with frightening implications.  According to the ILO Global Employment Trends for Youth 2010 Report, global youth unemployment has reached its highest level on record — 81 million. Whats more, It threatens to continue to rise.

According to a recent talent shortage survey conducted by Manpower, skilled trades are the hardest positions to fill globally. Young people are increasingly shying away from skilled trades work but the stakeholders who rely on skilled labor need to emphasize the appeal of the work.

An August 2010 Manpower paper titled ‘Strategic Migration-A Short-term Solution to the Skilled Trades Shortage’ argued that one solution to this skills mismatch was to promote positive attitudes toward skilled trades work among the young as viable career options to pursuing university degrees.

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/88831/20101205/jobs-youth-unemployment-research-north-ireland-global-economy-recovery-manpower-skills-education.htm

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Young Plumbers on the BBC – the real apprentices

The Real Junior Apprentice

Four of Britain’s best young plumbers go head to head for the title of BBC Young Plumber of the Year.As they get down and dirty unblocking drains and toilets, showing off their pipe skills and getting creative with mind blowing fountains, who will come out on top and take the title?

One of the judges is Charlie Mullins, founder of the multi-million pound empire Pimlico Plumbing.   Mullins has compared his young tradesmen charges with their white collar counterparts on Lord Alan Sugar’s Apprentice show which he has called “a pantomime of a bunch of jumped-up sales execs running around London trying to impress a Lord”.

Expert plumber Chris Young is another judge who will put the finalists through their paces, as well as making the tough decisions on who stays and who goes, and ultimately deciding on the winner.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wdpdr

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Riba attacks minister over greener home standards

Riba

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has expressed serious concern at  Housing Minister Grant Schapp’s decision to scrap new house building standards.

The Government has abandoned plans to introduce a new set of building standards that were proposed for many of the homes built with Government funding or on public sector land – saving developers an extra £8,000 for every home.

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Third of Scots ‘living in fuel poverty’

Fuel Poverty

A third of Scots households are unable to keep their homes warm, according to Scottish government figures.

In 2009, about 770,000 homes were said to be in fuel poverty, spending over 10% of income on heating, compared with 618,000 in 2008 and 293,000 in 2002.

Scottish Housing Minister Alex Neil said on his website design “rising energy costs were to blame.”

Shelter Scotland said government targets to wipe out the problem “as far as is reasonably practicable” in the next six years would be missed.

A household is considered to be in fuel poverty if it would be required to spend more than 10% of its income to adequately heat its home, and in extreme fuel poverty if it would have to spend more than 20%.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11840614

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Polish Plumbers returning in numbers?

The Daily Mail

claims that Polish workers are racing back to Britain to take advantage of the jobs market as the economy climbs out of recession.

“The number of Poles and other Eastern Europeans working in this country has reached a record as more than 100,000 have arrived this year” according to the UK daily.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1330713/Polish-plumbers-return-Number-East-Europe-migrant-workers-hits-new-high.html#ixzz16IHAzzx5

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Aston Martin for Ultimate Tradesman

Irwin Tools’ Ultimate Tradesman contest has been won by a joiner from Halifax.

Self-employed Daniel Shepherd drove away in an Aston Martin sports car – worth around £96,000 – after beating 4,000 hopefuls to the title.

http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/Joiner-wins-96000-Aston-Martin.6618408.jp

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