Cornwall - business opportunities

[Centralheatking]

We always holiday in Cornwall - might like to semi retire to North Cornwall
soon ish. When I ask various people I come accross there they say there is a shortage of Plumbers /Ch Eng in North Cornwall.

Anybody got some ist hand experience ?

centralheatking

 

[justlead1]

Hi. There are hot spots where individual high quality houses are still being commissioned. Several very good established plumbing and heating firms in the area. The eco market is also buoyant. Breaking into this would not be easy but possible. How ever is you just wont a bit of labour only? with a bit of legwork you could get lucky. I have some nice digs when you are down this way to check it out. Good Luck

 

[oldplumber]

everybody says you can never find a plumber in the sw however when you work in this area all you see is plumbers vans and they are on the increase. remember the best place to work is where people live ie cities and distances between jobs are small. Work in North Devon/cornwall and travelling time is a factor and there arent that many people down his way, and they dont earn as much as those in the se. the grass is always greener on the other side, until you hop over to the other side!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[hotshot]

Hi Centralheatking,

I agree, Cornwall is a lovely place and I to would love to retire there as well! Just a thought if you are looking to try and find work, what you could do is when you are next in Cornwall a "small marketing exercise" to try and gauge what the demand for plumbers is in the area you are thinking about semi retiring to.

Just a few thoughts of the top of my head. Try a very direct approach...knock a few doors of local people, introduce yourself and explain that you are thinking of moving into the area and setting up a plumbing business and would they be interested in using your services and just see what reaction you get from the locals.

Another suggestion is put your business card in some local newsagents and see if you get any calls from potential customers.

You could also run a mini leaflet campaign in the area you are hoping to move into. (£37.00 for 5,000 leaflets available from cheapprinthouse.co.uk)

Maybe telephone a few builders and see if they need a plumber. Again they will give you an idea of the demand for plumbers in the area.

Maybe run a few adverts on Google Adwords for Cornwall and see how many clicks and telephone calls you get from that.

Once you have done some or all the above methods, at least you will have an idea of demand for your services, and it will give you a better idea if there is enough work available. As you probably know once you start talking to people it can throw up all sorts of opportunities. For example, you may find that as there are so many retired people in the area, they would really love a plumber that provides a regular servicing contract as they need their heating to be reliable and they want peace of mind. For the cost of about £100.00 I think you could very quickly find out if it is feasible to set up in Cornwall.

Hope the above is of some help

Simon

 

[Blackcatgas]

My mrs mates fella is a plumber, when she was pregnant she moved to be with her parents in cornwall, she foud a job in a primary school, he had to drive to exmoth (sp?) everyday for work as there was nothing for him out in the sticks.

 

[oldplumber]

2 or more setsof grand parants/relatives in the local graveyard is the only real way of being accepted by the locals in corwall, lol