[Moderator David@stives]

Just had all my Woolies put on hold,

Same thing with Somerfields.

I knew i shouldnt have gone anywhere near the big chains.

Be careful out there and make sure they dont owe you too much.

Dave

[chris@c.m.s]

There is a story in the paper today about woolies being in trouble 

[Moderator David@stives]

www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hqefgkdCQY-By--SDCfKItnugRxw

I should be alright, i am 4th down the food chain, so my guy has to pay me and in turn his guy has to pay him

We have Woolies employing the facility firm who in turn sub to the cleaning firm who subs to my agent, i was even subbing them out to someone else at one stage.

That is the furthest i have been down any chain

[chris@c.m.s]

I'm surprised its still worthwhile after everyone's had their cut. 
It all sounds to much hassle to me I'll stick to domestic I think.

[Alex Gardiner]

This is why I will never take on any of the big 'chains' with the large cleaning contractors subbing out work. Over the years these are the ones that have given WC'ers I know the most hassle and financial difficulty.

[baldeagle]

I'm domestic only, but this morning I've been approached to clean the windows of a 2 storey office on the local Business Park.

I said I will go down and price it tomorrow - after all, it's only once per month, same as my domestics.

I just hope that they haven't dumped their regular cleaner, in order to see what other, lower, prices they can get - if they have, then I shall be extremely annoyed, because I don't poach other peoples work!

Baldeagle

[chris@c.m.s]

That's not poaching they have approached you, I wouldn't approach customers I know have a cleaner but if I'm asked to quote then I will.
My round is domestic apart from one shop, I will take on commercial but not if its sub contract, or needs risk assessments ect.       

[johns window kleen]

Good on yer Bald Eagle. If only everyone else applied this rule when conducting business.  

[baldeagle]

Thanks for that!

I canvassed and put flyers out when I started, plus a card in the newsagents window.

I took the view that if people needed a cleaner, or already had one, but not happy, then they would contact me, and I didn't feel that I was treading on someone's toes that way.

My business is part-time, three day's a week, I clean windows for a whole lot of reasons, mostly 'cos I enjoy it, and money is low on my list of priorities, but I don't, and won't,  "undercut" anyone, in fact, I might be dearer than some other local cleaners, for some jobs.

I'm a widower, and all three daughters have "flown the nest", and I didn't start window cleaning until I was 59, as part of a Handyman business.

Just do the window cleaning now.

Nowadays, I only go where I'm invited, nearly always by recommendation, [but still got the card in the window, so some come via that], plus I help another local cleaner with a few "awkward ones" when he's busy, or his mate is on holiday.

If I price one up, as last Friday afternoon, and the lady said that there wasn't a cleaner down the street, [they are not the easiest houses to do], then I stick a few flyers through.

I'm not a believer in "My patch, your patch", but that way, I'm  feel that I'm not "Queering somebody's pitch".

"There's a lot of windows out there", he said ruefully, "Most of which are not owned by my customers"

Baldeagle

[Pole 2 Pole]

Takin my hat off to ya mate. Just don't bite ya nose to spite ya face. Time's are gonna get tough out there 

[gordonswindows]

I would

I will quote for any work going.

I dont see on your websites "please only read this if you dont have a window cleaner"

get real, competition is good for everybody

what you mean is you all want to protect your pricing, you will not price hard to win job from another.

What you are really saying is " i dont do it to you so dont you do it to me".

I don't see Tesco saying shop with us as long as you dont already buy from someone else

c'mon get real stand up and tell the truth stop being hypocrites

If what you all say was true their would still be local shops and not superstores ie where is your loyalty to the wee butcher?

with w/c as with most ways of life competition breeds success, improvement and progression otherwise we would all still be cleaning windows with an old cloth and a wooden trolley

why did the pole system come about?  safety? aye right it came about because it allows the job to be done quicker better and cheaper.

how many of you have said to a client " oh we use the latest method blah blah" to win the contract?

next you will want to divide your local town into equal shares for you all to have your own patch

be honest, you are in it for the money and those who say they are not >>>>do they charge or donate the money to charity

[trike]

i do three woolworths done last week,booked alli n for b4 xmas,no problems,paid up to date

[Sir Squeaky]

Woolworths was sold for £1, so I reckon you should be charging no more than 10p per clean now.

[dai]

Gordonswindows, your being far to honest, and your dead right.
I have been out competed a lot lately, mostly to window cleaners that are perfectly happy to earn £10 an hour. Even if they don't last they do a hell of a lot of damage."My daughter only pays a fiver and she has 14 windows". How often do we hear tales like that.

As for wooliies and other big retail chains, do the government really believe that knocking a bit off the VAT is going to trigger a spending boom? Get real, most people haven't been spending the money they have saved, they have been spending what they could borrow, and now it's payback time.

[Tosh]

As for wooliies and other big retail chains, do the government really believe that knocking a bit off the VAT is going to trigger a spending boom?

It could help with car sales; maybe?  2.5% on a brand new car is a fair discount.

I heard on the radio recently that the local Honda factory in Bristol is going to shut down for two months early next year.  All the staff will be paid their minimum wage (no overtime and stuff obviously), but that's got to be worrying for them.

One of my customers told me he lost his job last month; he's in his fifties; the whole unit shut down with everyone losing their jobs (I'm not sure what or where).  So he spent three-days working from 7.00 am till 2.00 pm at our local Weathspoons in the kitchen for £5.35 per hour until he could stand it no more and 'walked'.

I've had a small hotel 'hanging in the balance' since early this year when the owners went bankcrupt and a management company, appointed by the courts, took over; they've kept me on, but I don't know for how long.

I think there's going to be some tough times ahead for some of our customers.

[davids3511]

Good on yer Bald Eagle. If only everyone else applied this rule when conducting business.  

Country would be a mess if everone did this. There would be no competition, only one supermarket per town, one petrol station and so on and on.....

[Mick (UHPS)]

As for wooliies and other big retail chains, do the government really believe that knocking a bit off the VAT is going to trigger a spending boom?

It could help with car sales; maybe?  2.5% on a brand new car is a fair discount.

I heard on the radio recently that the local Honda factory in Bristol is going to shut down for two months early next year.  All the staff will be paid their minimum wage (no overtime and stuff obviously), but that's got to be worrying for them.

One of my customers told me he lost his job last month; he's in his fifties; the whole unit shut down with everyone losing their jobs (I'm not sure what or where).  So he spent three-days working from 7.00 am till 2.00 pm at our local Weathspoons in the kitchen for £5.35 per hour until he could stand it no more and 'walked'.

I've had a small hotel 'hanging in the balance' since early this year when the owners went bankcrupt and a management company, appointed by the courts, took over; they've kept me on, but I don't know for how long.

I think there's going to be some tough times ahead for some of our customers.

Toyota in Derby could go a similar way. A large chunk of their employees were factored through Blue arrow agency, they were all finished about a month ago. Toyota have also suspended the night shift and have even got employees doing community work in and around Derby on full pay.
It doesn't stop there though, all the suppliers will suffer too. Toyota had been ramping up production this year trying to get the top position from Honda and Nissan and its backfired on them now and all the extra workforce and supply chains.

And this is only the begining. I'll bet there are a few buckets and ladders being purchased soon.

[dmlservices]

was in my local sommerfields the other day ,

the checkout girl, told me they are being taken over  by waitrose ,

so thats prob. why they have put things on hold.


daz

[trike]

woolworths shares on suspended over plans to resue buisness,bbc worldwide is potential buyer of its stake in 2 entertain

[Elginn]

They have been put into Liquidation today along with MFI