Trade Only Plumbing & Heating Supplies

STATE OF TRADE SURVEY 2010

How do you know if you are charging enough for your work? How much does your competitor charge? How has the recession affected him? The Williams & Co State of Trade annual survey, also published in HPM trade magazine, aims to find out and let you know. Please fill in the questionnaire below and and click submit, and we will enter you into our prize draw. We have five 8gb 5th Generation iPod Nano mp3 players to give away!

01. What sort of work do you undertake?
Plumbing Work Only
Gas Work Only
Plumbing & Gas
Multi-trade, including either plumbing or gas

02. How many people do you employ on tools (excluding admin or support staff)?
1 man band
2 people
3 - 5 people
6 - 10 people
11 - 25 people
26+

03. Annual turnover of your business:
£0 - £100,000
£101,000 - £200,000
£201,000 - £500,000
£501,000 - £1m
£1m +

04. How much did your basic labour rate change in the last 12 months?
Rose by more than 25%
Rose by between 10% & 25%
Rose by less than 10%
No change
Fell by less than 10%
Fell by between 10% & 25%
Fell by more than 25%

05. How much do you expect your basic labour rate to change in the next 12 months?
Rise by more than 25%
Rise by between 10% & 25%
Rise by less than 10%
Remain the same
Fall by less than 10%
Fall by between 10% & 25%
Fall by more than 25%

06. Do you think your rates are:
Expensive compared to         competitors?
Average compared to         competitors?
Cheap compared to         competitors?

07. Looking back over the last 12 months, would you say that business has been:
Very good - plenty of work         and good margins?
Good - enough work and         acceptable margins?
Patchy - some good periods         and some less good?
Poor - not enough work and         prices under pressure?
Very poor - hardly worth         getting out of bed?!

08. How do you expect the next 12 months´ business to be, compared with the last 12 months?
The next 12 months are likely to         be much better than the last year The next 12 months are likely to         a bit better than last year
The next 12 months are likely to          be much the same as last year
The next 12 months are likely to         be a bit worse than last year
The next 12 months are likely to         be much worse than last year

09. In the last few months, have you had to reduce a price in order to secure work?
Yes, frequently
Yes, but rarely
No

10. Do you have work booked in for the next:
1 - 2 weeks?
2 - 4 weeks?
4 - 8 weeks?
8 - 12 weeks?
3 months +?

11. What is your call-out/minimum labour charge?
Up to £30
£30 - £40
£40 - £50
More than £50
No call out charge

12. Does this call out charge cover the first period of labour?
No
Yes, 15 mins
Yes, 30 mins
Yes, 1 hr
Yes, 1 hr+

13. How much do you charge for:

A standard gas boiler service?
£

A landlord´s gas safety cert?
£

Gas work?
£ /hr

General plumbing work?
£ /hr

14. Which of the following factors of the recession have affected your business?

	No effect	Small effect	Large effect
Reduction in the volume of work
Reduction in the price achievable for jobs
Difficulty in getting customers to pay
Difficulty in getting credit from suppliers
Difficulty in getting overdraft/loan from bank
Other - please specify:

15. Do you expect to still be in the industry in 5 years?
No, I will have retired
No, I expect to change careers
Unsure
Yes, I will probably remain in the industry
Yes, I am certain that I will remain in the industry

Your Details

If you wish to remain anonymous please just fill in your Post Code so that we can analyse the data by area. Thanks.

Your Name:
Company Name:
Address:
POST CODE:
Email Address:

WIN!WIN!WIN!WIN!WIN!

FREE iPod Nano (5th Gen) for FIVE lucky respondents!

WIN!WIN!WIN!WIN!WIN!