QUALIFIED SPARK ON £10:50ph In WEST WALES!!!!

[Jay 1987]

Hello everybody

So I met a guy last night who has just recently completed his nvq3. Fast forward we started speaking about the type of work he likes, whether it be domestic, commercial etc and why?
We then moved onto the more interesting topic of wages !!!! To My surprise he revealed that he had done work last week, for a whopping £10;50 last week! My face dropped!!!

Is this normal ?

I mean he is in West Wales near Newcastle Emlyn and I know there are nothing but farms and fields out there! But i never expected the price he stated, those wages hurt my pockets and it never went into my bank account!

Surely this isn’t normal !

I mean, I get when your training the price of wages fluctuates however I thought once qualified there is a jib industry standard for electrical pay rates! Which is no where near £10:50?


Someone shed some light .....

 

[cliffed]

No that’s criminal,get that @ Tesco,loading shelves.
Saying that after 6 years waiting,I’ve had a pay rise of 50p,you can’t buy a pkt of crisps for that.
Not happy.

 

[suffolkspark]

Presume he's on the cards with a company and not running his own ?

 

[bailes1992]

We pay our labourers more than that!

 

[Nigel]

That is the problem with JIB rates. With the exception of London they are the same nationally.

£10.50 cards in West Wales seems about right for someone freshly qualified.

 

[Simonslimline]

That is the problem with JIB rates. With the exception of London they are the same nationally.

£10.50 cards in West Wales seems about right for someone freshly qualified.

Jib for country rate install spark is just above 15 quid an hour. More inside the M25(London rate)

10.50 for a qualified spark is an insult. I would not work for that ever.

 

[Toneyz]

Was he on the books or S/E?

 

[telectrix]

on the books? his company's employment policy must be the Beano Annual.

 

[Nigel]

Jib for country rate install spark is just above 15 quid an hour. More inside the M25(London rate)

10.50 for a qualified spark is an insult. I would not work for that ever.

I know exactly how much it is an hour. I stand by my statement. £15 an hour for someone in the trade 20 years is poor when compared to someone freshly qualified.

 

[Simonslimline]

I know exactly how much it is an hour. I stand by my statement. £15 an hour for someone in the trade 20 years is poor when compared to someone freshly qualified.

Jib rates are crap. Getting time and a half after 37.5 hours eases it slightly. Better off being a Subby.

 

[rapparee]

He's only out of his time

Is he any good, what is he worth?

Some guys are top gun at third year of their apprenticeship, some could take seven years before they're any good.

 

[simpson93]

Qualifications are one thing, Being able to do the job well is another. At the end of the day if you know what the normal rates are you wouldn’t accept £10.50 if you have all of the above.

 

[rapparee]

Qualifications are one thing, Being able to do the job well is another. At the end of the day if you know what the normal rates are you wouldn’t accept £10.50 if you have all of the above.

Then again, what sort of place is West Wales, personally I have no idea.

I've seen boys in Derry get paid minimum wage if they were working in Newry they would be getting £35,000+, if in Dublin €50,000+

 

[123]

Then again, what sort of place is West Wales, personally I have no idea.

I've seen boys in Derry get paid minimum wage if they were working in Newry they would be getting £35,000+, if in Dublin €50,000+

There is a self employed spark round here that charges a tenner an hour(runs his own "business"). Also another that if slack will go in at similar rates

I was in and around a tenner an hour, on the cards, nearly 20 years ago as an apprentice

 

[Jay 1987]

Presume he's on the cards with a company and not running his own ?

I’m sure it was agency work!

 

[Jay 1987]

He's only out of his time

Is he any good, what is he worth?

Some guys are top gun at third year of their apprenticeship, some could take seven years before they're any good.

Not sure how good he is!

 

[Jay 1987]

He's only out of his time

Is he any good, what is he worth?

Some guys are top gun at third year of their apprenticeship, some could take seven years before they're any good.

Not sure how good he is!

Was he on the books or S/E?

He said it was a few days work so I believe it’s agency work! Or possible S/E

 

[GMES]

I'm not going to get into whether 10.50 is good or bad bit surely if he's on the books it's not just 10.50 is it, the Guy employing him as other costs:
Company van + all associated costs
Holiday pay
Sick pay
Nest pension
Workwear
Tools
Tester + yearly calibration
Ipaf course if required
Employers liability
To name just a few.
It is never just about the hourly rate, sometimes the lad receiving that 10.50 forgets what else his boss as had to pay on top of that to keep him in a job.

 

[TJ Anderson]

He's only out of his time

Is he any good, what is he worth?

Some guys are top gun at third year of their apprenticeship, some could take seven years before they're any good.

Exactly.....what is he worth

And some are never any good no matter how long they are doing it. Some of the sparks where I work aren't even worth £10.50 an hour, and I'm not joking!!

 

[Risteard]

Then again, what sort of place is West Wales, personally I have no idea.

I've seen boys in Derry get paid minimum wage if they were working in Newry they would be getting £35,000+, if in Dublin €50,000+

Derry has always been minimum wage country as well as an unemployment blackspot.

 

[Zdb]

I wouldn't even do an emergency light test for £10.50 an hour

 

[Brian Taylor]

Hi all new to this site but in the subject of hourly rate..I get about £12.00 per hour out i which I pay for my van and fuel and other costs.....last year i took home about £7500.00 so 12.50 didn't seem too bad

 

[123]

Hi all new to this site but in the subject of hourly rate..I get about £12.00 per hour out i which I pay for my van and fuel and other costs.....last year i took home about £7500.00 so 12.50 didn't seem too bad

What are you'r other costs cause £12 an hour for 37.5 hours a week is just shy of £23.5k a year.

 

[Sintra]

Hi all new to this site but in the subject of hourly rate..I get about £12.00 per hour out i which I pay for my van and fuel and other costs.....last year i took home about £7500.00 so 12.50 didn't seem too bad

Mate that’s less than £150 a week take home. How the hell do you manage on that?

 

[simpson93]

Hi all new to this site but in the subject of hourly rate..I get about £12.00 per hour out i which I pay for my van and fuel and other costs.....last year i took home about £7500.00 so 12.50 didn't seem too bad

Where abouts is tht?

 

[Squid]

Hi all new to this site but in the subject of hourly rate..I get about £12.00 per hour out i which I pay for my van and fuel and other costs.....last year i took home about £7500.00 so 12.50 didn't seem too bad

So about £625 pcm is that right?

 

[Brian Taylor]

Well I guess so. I think many people exaggerate about what they earn in reality wages within the contracting industry are very poor compared to others

 

[Brian Taylor]

As a matter of interest i have just added up my income and outgoings for he year 2017/2018...my income for the year amounts to £11800....I think this is in keeping with others in the area

 

[suffolkspark]

Is that your net profit? Im confused...

 

[Jay 1987]

Is it me or are these figures ridiculously small!

Are people posting figures after ....

1, taking a holiday
2, buying a new car
3, doing an extension on the house
4, buying a new pet for the kids

Is £11,800 what’s left over, Where’s the rest of the money ?

 

[simpson93]

I think someone’s trying to fool hmrc

 

[Squid]

As a matter of interest i have just added up my income and outgoings for he year 2017/2018...my income for the year amounts to £11800....I think this is in keeping with others in the area

So a bag of sand a month (£1000) ffs how can you live of that per month.....

 

[Squid]

Well I guess so. I think many people exaggerate about what they earn in reality wages within the contracting industry are very poor compared to others

Depends on what contracting you do, IT contracting paid a lot more.

 

[Brian Taylor]

Hi in answer to your question that is my income after paying for all my outgoings..eg.van,accountant,wholesalers b , fuel..and all the other bits that we are obliged to cough up for...it's what I live on

 

[Brian Taylor]

In response to the question of what I do ..I suppose I would be classified as a basic jobbing electrician..just normal ordinary work

 

[Brian Taylor]

Would love to hear how others manage to make more money....what sort of work are you engaged in?

 

[Squid]

Would love to hear how others manage to make more money....what sort of work are you engaged in?

Was a spark many years ago, moved in to data cabling many many years ago setting up dealing rooms in the City then in to IT, was an IT contractor until I had enough after a ---- contract which made me think about other options, anything from £175 to £300 per day 9 to 5 0r 9 to 6 Ltd co not many overheads and I stuck to the hours.

 

[simpson93]

Would love to hear how others manage to make more money....what sort of work are you engaged in?

Myself I do a mixture of work, a lot of jobbing like yourself mixed with everything else eventually the small jobs lead to the big jobs.

Still very interested in what area you live in Brian.


On a side note I was talking to a sparks on holiday from Scotland saying he was getting £100 a day. His standards or living seemed better then mine down in London.

 

[Squid]

Myself I do a mixture of work, a lot of jobbing like yourself mixed with everything else eventually the small jobs lead to the big jobs.

Still very interested in what area you live in Brian.


On a side note I was talking to a sparks on holiday from Scotland saying he was getting £100 a day. His standards or living seemed better then mine down in London.

You are making assumptions maybe he lives in a council house part funded by not living there but his "cough" ex wife and kids do.

 

[simpson93]

You are making assumptions maybe he lives in a council house part funded by not living there but his "cough" ex wife and kids do.

No children involved however we had talked about property and his flat was 70k to buy, three times less then anything in london.

 

[Squid]

No children involved however we had talked about property and his flat was 70k to buy, three times less then anything in london.

If I paid you would you want to live in Scotland?

If you work in London SE you need to either up your rates up, work harder or specialise and find top end clients.

 

[simpson93]

If I paid you would you want to live in Scotland?

If you work in London SE you need to either up your rates up, work harder or specialise and find top end clients.

Its not about how much you make at the end of the day. It's about quality of life.

 

[123]

@Brian Taylor are you self employed and working for yourself?

 

[Squid]

Its not about how much you make at the end of the day. It's about quality of life.

The more you make the better the quality, mark my words.

Whats your quality of life like in Barnet?

 

[Brian Taylor]

Thanks for your replies i work in the South East but not in London..I am self employed and have been in the industry for about 40 years...I've never been involved in anything other than jobbing works..but interested in his to get into a better paid area of the trade

 

[simpson93]

The more you make the better the quality, mark my words.

Whats your quality of life like in Barnet?

Most of my work is around Chelsea, Balham, Fulham,Kensington as well as some local work.

Building the business up for 4 years I now have a steady flow of work although it’s not been the smoothest journey.

I charge £90 for anything up to two hours £40 for every hour thereafter but generally prefer to do jobs on price.

Quality of life is so so. Abit sick of London In general tbh.

 

[Brian Taylor]

Wow..do you get much work at those rates?

 

[simpson93]

Wow..do you get much work at those rates?

Two week backlog most of the time. Those rates are on the low side for London.

 

[Brian Taylor]

That's quite an eye opener for me..at the moment and at what I am able to charge i get about 50 to 60 percent of the work i price for...can't understand the vast difference in rates for the two areas...is there anyone else out there who has the same problem?

 

[123]

@Brian Taylor the rates of pay in Northern Ireland are a heck of a lot lower than what they would be just outside of the M25. But if I quoted works at £12 an hour for a spark I'd get 100% of jobs I quoted. 8 years ago the rate of pay for subbies here was as low as £11.50 -£12 an hour. I'm struggling to work out how you can run a electrical business charging just £12 an hour...