Slump -- what slump

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binch

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Have just called in at Lowestoft. The place is booming. The harbour and Yacht club full of cloggies. Yacht service people never been so busy.
One broker has sold his entire book to a European broker. and the Swedes, Danes and Flemings are buying.
Commercially they are building new accommodation units and large winches for oil and gas research. Shortage of skillled men.
It was hard to believe, but it is true.
 
One man's pain, another man's gain.

Outlaws live in France (Auvergne) - these past years Brits have bought nearly every property available for silly money (pricing the locals out of the market).
Recession, strong €uro and no more Ryanair to Clermont, ... lots of Brits are now selling for a fraction of what they paid only a few years ago.
 
weak pound, makes uk selling prices a bargain for europe. Still hasent helped the likes of Fairline who are having a real tough time.
 
If there is a shortage of skilled men the Government will no doubt use that as an excuse to import more foreign workers rather than upgrade our own men that are on the dole.
Sure loads of Brits fled abroad like rats deserting a sinking ship.We have long been known as the prostitute of Europe (according to a friend of mine who is an accountant trained in Germany) & the trend is just continuing.
 
We find similar, skilled trades very hard to come by, of any decent quality.

Seems as new boat sales have crashed, people are spending there money on fettling what they have, or moving in the second hand market which I understand is doing not too badly.

Still, good to see people busy. (Just wish I wasn't funding some of it!!)
 
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We find similar, skilled trades very hard to come by, of any decent quality.

Seems as new boat sales have crashed, people are spending there money on fettling what they have, or moving in the second hand market which I understand is doing not too badly.

Still, good to see people busy. (Just wish I wasn't funding some of it!!)

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I have been unemployed for ages & as an ex British Aerospace apprentice I am very resentful of this notion that there is a lack of skilled people.If you are a brilliant skilled craftsman you still get paid peanuts comparatively speaking & it is a dull dead end job.Employers want something for nothing & for ages now they have got it.
As for the price of boats,I am not surprised that the second hand boat market is flourishing.There are some brilliant bargains to be had if you have got a few bob & are good with your hands.It amazes me that people can afford the prices of the fancy new boats that I see everywhere & it just highlights the gap between the rich & the poor.Bring on the revolution!
 
brilliant skilled craftsman - dull dead end job?
How does that work?

Sounds like you don't like your trade at all.

As an ex British Rail Engineering apprentice, I never expected to earn megabucks, and so it proved. However, repairing bent and rusty coal wagons was still a source of pride for me, as a job well done.

Sounds like the only revolution required is your own. I suggest you sign up to retraining for another job in a different sector. It may then come as a surprise to learn that probably that job will be dull too.
 
What I don't underfstand is that for years boats have cheaper on the Continent but as a general rule, boat equipment is much cheaper in the UK.

John.
 
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brilliant skilled craftsman - dull dead end job?
How does that work?

Sounds like you don't like your trade at all.

As an ex British Rail Engineering apprentice, I never expected to earn megabucks, and so it proved. However, repairing bent and rusty coal wagons was still a source of pride for me, as a job well done.

Sounds like the only revolution required is your own. I suggest you sign up to retraining for another job in a different sector. It may then come as a surprise to learn that probably that job will be dull too.

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I have made some of the most complex parts you will find in fighter aircraft.Done research & development work for IBM & knocked up odd parts for Vosper Thornycrofts but after a while one bit of metal looks like another as you never get to work on the finished product,might as well be a washing machine!
As for retraining,you have obviously never had any real experience of Government training schemes.They are all talk & very little action!(Government training schemes are a very sore point with me because I trusted them before & it was that that brought an end to my career in Engineering).I will not go into the details here but believe me you do not want to believe all you read.
 
Believe me, I would rather make the bits than work on the finished product.
I was an A&C Engineer on helicopters, very glamorous, except you didn't actually make anything. So we received beautifully crafted parts, lovingly made by a craftsman, and nailed them to the aircraft in windy sub-zero conditions, so it could fire up and feck off.

My route to the next level was actually the HNC in Engineering, which moved me to doing some very boring stuff in the backroom, so I was not in on the production of parts or the end result.
I ended up doing Project Management, but now doing dull but worthy Project Controller job until I retire, with any luck.

Keep on keeping on is my motto. I work to pay for my sailing and retirement, nothing more.
 
Some industries are suffering, like manufacturing/building and indeed ours (hardware slung on the end of IT systems) but WE are bucking the trend - my sales are way up on last year.

BUT, and for me it is a big BUT, what I do now is nowhere near as exciting or well paid as jobs I had when I was fired up and young, and here's the BUT, I am interested, motivated and very happy being a cog in a wheel, that allows me to sail and put food on the table/roof over head etc.

I have virtually no 'glory' in what I do, lots of disappointments but with a good attitude (and a great wife and family) I seem to keep happy.

So if making 'widgets' doesn't satisfy you, it feels like one needs to look carefully at what you DO want to do really. Therein lies happiness I hope.
 
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Believe me, I would rather make the bits than work on the finished product.
I was an A&C Engineer on helicopters, very glamorous, except you didn't actually make anything. So we received beautifully crafted parts, lovingly made by a craftsman, and nailed them to the aircraft in windy sub-zero conditions, so it could fire up and feck off.

My route to the next level was actually the HNC in Engineering, which moved me to doing some very boring stuff in the backroom, so I was not in on the production of parts or the end result.
I ended up doing Project Management, but now doing dull but worthy Project Controller job until I retire, with any luck.

Keep on keeping on is my motto. I work to pay for my sailing and retirement, nothing more.

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I can only say that I hope your plans work out well for you.
 
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Some industries are suffering, like manufacturing/building and indeed ours (hardware slung on the end of IT systems) but WE are bucking the trend - my sales are way up on last year.

BUT, and for me it is a big BUT, what I do now is nowhere near as exciting or well paid as jobs I had when I was fired up and young, and here's the BUT, I am interested, motivated and very happy being a cog in a wheel, that allows me to sail and put food on the table/roof over head etc.

I have virtually no 'glory' in what I do, lots of disappointments but with a good attitude (and a great wife and family) I seem to keep happy.

So if making 'widgets' doesn't satisfy you, it feels like one needs to look carefully at what you DO want to do really. Therein lies happiness I hope.

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Thanks for your advice but above all else I am one of the last people to underestimate the value of a good wife.I have found that out for myself by very very hard practical experience.
 
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We find similar, skilled trades very hard to come by, of any decent quality.

Seems as new boat sales have crashed, people are spending there money on fettling what they have, or moving in the second hand market which I understand is doing not too badly.

Still, good to see people busy. (Just wish I wasn't funding some of it!!)

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I think you can blame the lack of decent apprenticeships, there are practically none to be had in the manual skills sector.

Those that are available are for two or three years, instead of the five that was the norm when I did mine. Another case of zero to hero no doubt? A lad doing a three year apprenticeship in say joinery, at three years is really only half trained, and for a lot of that three years will have just been used as cheap labour by most employers.

Then there is a lack of encouragement in schools, there used to be metal work and woodwork classes, now it's all IT, it's true that in a few schools this still exists, but not many, I have had kids come to work with me that didn't even know how to hold or use a hammer!! These kids were expecting to be called tradesmen in three years time???

In my opinion, if we want to have skilled craftsmen in the future, we had better start encouraging kids in school to think of it as something worthwhile doing. Skills in IT wont help any of them to make a set of windows, or doors, or build a boat.
 
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[ QUOTE ]
We find similar, skilled trades very hard to come by, of any decent quality.

Seems as new boat sales have crashed, people are spending there money on fettling what they have, or moving in the second hand market which I understand is doing not too badly.

Still, good to see people busy. (Just wish I wasn't funding some of it!!)

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you can blame the lack of decent apprenticeships, there are practically none to be had in the manual skills sector.

Those that are available are for two or three years, instead of the five that was the norm when I did mine. Another case of zero to hero no doubt? A lad doing a three year apprenticeship in say joinery, at three years is really only half trained, and for a lot of that three years will have just been used as cheap labour by most employers.

Then there is a lack of encouragement in schools, there used to be metal work and woodwork classes, now it's all IT, it's true that in a few schools this still exists, but not many, I have had kids come to work with me that didn't even know how to hold or use a hammer!! These kids were expecting to be called tradesmen in three years time???

In my opinion, if we want to have skilled craftsmen in the future, we had better start encouraging kids in school to think of it as something worthwhile doing. Skills in IT wont help any of them to make a set of windows, or doors, or build a boat.

[/ QUOTE ]

If I had my time again I would'nt touch an apprenticeship or become "a skilled craftsman" for all the tea in China,why should anyone? A skilled craftsman gets £10/"12 an hour for a 40 hour week.A Dentist gets "£70/100,000 a year for a thirty hour week" (a job I unearthed in the Jobcentre the other week).
 
As an IT bod I find myself strangely compelled to agree entirely with you!

I will add that I also, still blame the parents a little..... don't kids help their dads with DIY anymore?....... I spent yesterday evening knocking apart a wooden pallet, and removing the nails so that it could be burnt over the weekend..... my 10yr old lad had a whale of a time with a hammer!!!!! (and learnt a little along the way)
 
"A skilled craftsman gets £10/"12 an hour for a 40 hour week."

Where I live they don't get that much! just over £8 an hour for a skilled joiner! /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Because jobs are in short supply employers don't give a toss! I did hear from one employer that they set the wages amongst themselves so they wouldn't have to compete for tradesmen.
 
"As an IT bod I find myself strangely compelled to agree entirely with you!"

S'alright, go and have a lie down! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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