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Gavin John Hyde

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Lockdown has been extended and it is possible it will be partially lifted in a few weeks. Jury is out on whether electricians are key workers unless it's emergency work etc but that's another argument.

If you are self employed then you can't avoid working forever. There are bills to pay and lifes to live.

I am rebooking jobs that were cancelled and have lots of car chargers to install from 6th May onwards. Looks like my holiday to South africa in June ain't happening so got 15 days to fill now with the backlog.
Rebooking other jobs that were delayed. Still managed to do quite a few during this period as the premises were otherwise empty. In all I have 3 1/2 weeks worth of work to reschedule. Only one customer cancelled completely due to being made redundant.

I appreciate the need to maintain social distance etc but with the right precautions such as PPE, keeping away from people and good hygiene then a lot of jobs can be done safely.

What are other peoples plans during this period and how will you decide to start back up?

On a positive note, my sister who is a planning officer in Bristol has said they have been inundated with planning applications over last month. They can't keep up.
They are predicting a boom in building related work based on that.
That's a positive sign for construction related trades. Coupled with the backlog of work I think things might bounce back a lot quicker than the doom brigade on the news and papers predict.
So time to get ready I say.
 
As soon as Lockdown is lifted we go back to square one where cases will rocket again IMHO.
Our lives will be different for a very long time whether that's work, socialising this --- of a virus is here to stay until Herd immunity is implemented or a vaccine is found.
 
I'll be back at work as soon as the theatres reopen again, so it could be a while.
I think SOLT(society of London theatre) have suggested it won't be until the end of May at the earliest now.
 
As soon as Lockdown is lifted we go back to square one where cases will rocket again IMHO.
Our lives will be different for a very long time whether that's work, socialising this --- of a virus is here to stay until Herd immunity is implemented or a vaccine is found.
Sweden reckons that herd immunity is a few weeks away for them.

I'm hoping that once the NHS purchasing department (NHS Supply Chain Ltd) get their heads around their job (i.e. buy enough PPE etc.), and assuming we still have large surplus hospital capacity (as we do now)... we can start to lift this lockdown and head towards herd immunity ourselves.

The general public will of course need to accept that there will be some deaths... and the media are making sure that's not going to happen anytime soon.

I'm not sure that wrapping everyone up in cotton wool for a couple of years and waiting for the country to go bankrupt is the right course of action...
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I'll be back at work as soon as the theatres reopen again, so it could be a while.
I think SOLT(society of London theatre) have suggested it won't be until the end of May at the earliest now.
Will that be with everyone spaced 2 metres apart ? How will they earn a living doing that ?
 
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there's no goverment ruling on carrying out work, essential or non-essential, except advice onprecautions. empllyed guys/gals can survive on 80% wages ( which is being already paid)whereas the self-employed may not be able to survive, having overheads to pay and no chance of the 80% till late June.
 
Will that be with everyone spaced 2 metres apart ? How will they earn a living doing that ?

I have no idea how it will work, I can only guess that there will be a gradual release of the lockdown with gatherings being allowed with slowly increasing numbers of people.

We may see small events and theatres (say <500 people) being allowed first with larger things following later.

From my point of view I just need them to re-open the buildings so that I can get in and do my work.
I'm expecting to be spending a bit of time just doing emergency lighting testing for the reoccupation of the buildings which have been empty for a few months.
 
I have no idea how it will work, I can only guess that there will be a gradual release of the lockdown with gatherings being allowed with slowly increasing numbers of people.

We may see small events and theatres (say <500 people) being allowed first with larger things following later.

From my point of view I just need them to re-open the buildings so that I can get in and do my work.
I'm expecting to be spending a bit of time just doing emergency lighting testing for the reoccupation of the buildings which have been empty for a few months.
Oh ok... makes sense... but was it Gove who said recently that pubs and clubs will probably be the last to reopen ? That might include theatres too ? Let's hope not...
 
I really don't know the answer, knowing 2 people dead in my village, and some in hospital.(who I know of)
Im in no rush, job be dammed the hatch is well and truly down here, and I wont be surfacing till things get back.
Well they are my plans up to the moment.!!
 
Oh ok... makes sense... but was it Gove who said recently that pubs and clubs will probably be the last to reopen ? That might include theatres too ? Let's hope not...

I haven't been keeping up with what the politicians are saying really, I'm just keeping my head down at home. I'm occasionally hearing from my customers as to how their situations are developing.

On eof the theatres I do work for want to open the building as soon as possible to take the opportunity to have a fair amount of work done.
They've got some asbestos removal to get done, which now would be a great time for. Plus they want a bunch of electrical jobs done so I'll be busy there.
 
It is a hard decision. I'm of the view that if the job is outside away from people with only minimal time inside such as adding the charger cable and rcbo etc into the board then with full PPE and distancing I am happy to do the job. Its a bit like the supermarket. You line up outside 2m apart then once inside everybody walks past you without a care in the world and so close you can see what they had for dinner on there jumper!!

I do think our government are playing catch up. The PPE is available but there is too much red tape in procurement. It won't go overnight this virus but given the lockdown has been In place 4 weeks and it hasn't really come down and only flat lined makes it seem we will have to get used to this social distancing for the foreseeable future.
 
there's no goverment ruling on carrying out work, essential or non-essential, except advice onprecautions. empllyed guys/gals can survive on 80% wages ( which is being already paid)whereas the self-employed may not be able to survive, having overheads to pay and no chance of the 80% till late June.
I know we’ve debated this point in other threads, and our opinions on the guidance differs.

It would ultimately rely on a court to decide if your working was against the law; if you were stopped by police travelling to your work, and they decided your explanation wasn’t good enough (travelling) and gave you a FPN, then you decided to appeal.

I have a letter from my employer, who have decided my employment is essential. I keep it with me, should the cops stop me. Very few if any contractors, can enter our premises now. Parcels and post are left at the front door. Likewise food deliveries.

Sweden’s policy may be seen as a way of fighting the virus. But only time will tell, and we are too far in to change tack now. But their graphs are going progressively steeper now.

IMO our ‘exit strategy’, will be a vaccine, coupled with less strict measures, but none the less still restricting people’s movements. But I think that is a few months off.

There are far too many un-vulnerable people dying of this thing, for these restrictions to be considered excessive.
 
I'm not even thinking of rebooking my postponed jobs yet. After the three weeks will be another three weeks.
The govt guidelines are poor regarding workers who can't work from home. Their policies in all of this have been economy first, people's lives last.
I'm staying off work until I can justify it to myself to go back, and that decision won't be financially based. My work is primarily in people's homes so I feel I have to be as careful as possible.
 
The guide lines are somewhat wishy washy.
I believe they are deliberately so, the government knows they can’t promise money in June and then make the self employed stay at home, not blaming the government as this is new territory for all but they have to be seen doing the best for all.....
 
I believe they are deliberately so, the government knows they can’t promise money in June and then make the self employed stay at home, not blaming the government as this is new territory for all but they have to be seen doing the best for all.....
The government are constantly behind the curve, I know a plumber who is applying for the money from government self employed scheme based on last year's self assessment. At same time he's out working everyday and according to my cousin is doing it all cash in hand and not declaring it. Suspect he is not alone in that regard.
All this money will be paid back it ain't free. People are happy being furloughed but I expect National Insurance to go up afterwards maybe even Income Tax, it will, be dressed up as to help NHS etc and pay the debts incurred from this. But it wil stay at those rates.
I also think you will see the 40% tax bracket payers loose a lot of pension perks.
If fuel stays low expect taxes to go up disguised as green taxes... As if yo u could pay 1.30 a litre before why not now?
There is no such thing as free money from the tax man! That is a certainty
 
For tradespersons working in people’s homes, I think it’s pretty clear.

Thats guidance for working in people’s homes and I agree it is clear, it still doesn’t address the 3-4 million self employed who have no choice, some will have savings some will not and when the government says June for some money that will be July...the whole universal credit thing is a farce with all the will in the world of the person on the phone interprets your entitlement wrong you are then on the merry go round with no money, I’m fortunate enough to not need it but I hear stories every day from self employed mates who are now really struggling and have no choice but to go out and scratch a living, 2-3 is a holiday and you’d not be earning anyway as normal but 2-3 is not realistic.....the real irony here is all the people at home on 80% have money to burn at the moment as they can’t spend as they used to so are getting all the jobs done around they house...and as gavin mentioned a lot are paying cash ?
 
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