HPS and PlumbCity join Willbond as subsidiaries of the Edmundson parent

[Ray Stafford]

A bit of industry gossip:

Ron Walker (the man who founded and later sold PTS) has just sold HPS to the same company that owns Edmundsons electrical and a load of other electrical wholesalers.

I also understand that Steve Wimbledon has sold PlumbCity (independent in East Anglia) to the same company, joining Willbonds who sold to them a few weeks ago.

If they acquire many more, there will be a new national merchant - you may recall thats how Plumbbase got started, as Grafton bought out lots of local independents.

 

[Barry98]

So price hike coming our way then

 

[REDSAW]

yeh, but have you seen the prices they charge?
i haven't for a long time.lol

 

[Rickster123]

On the same sort of topic is there any truth in the rumour that plumbcentre are closing loads of branches accross the country?

 

[Ray Stafford]

On the same sort of topic is there any truth in the rumour that plumbcentre are closing loads of branches accross the country?

Yes, they are closing 80 branches with about 800 jobs lost.

Article

 

[Chalked]

Plumb ar still in the 1980's with their discount structure. Ok for the big firms, who have someone there to negotiate and check every item.

 

[cr0ft]

Yes, they are closing 80 branches with about 800 jobs lost.

Article

Interesting article that. I've noticed on my travels each day that I'm seeing far less plumbing vans about Lincoln than in the Summer. That's my best gauge for how busy everyone is. I've never had a tradesman tell me they are quiet in 9 years of asking but that article backs up what I'm thinking, that the plumbing trade seems to be stumbling a bit in the wake of Brexit.

Be interested to hear what's happening across your patch Ray, Lincoln seems to be quietening down at the moment. Still enough work to keep us all busy but many less enquiries than this time last year.

 

[Chalked]

Interesting article that. I've noticed on my travels each day that I'm seeing far less plumbing vans about Lincoln than in the Summer. That's my best gauge for how busy everyone is. I've never had a tradesman tell me they are quiet in 9 years of asking but that article backs up what I'm thinking, that the plumbing trade seems to be stumbling a bit in the wake of Brexit.

Be interested to hear what's happening across your patch Ray, Lincoln seems to be quietening down at the moment. Still enough work to keep us all busy but many less enquiries than this time last year.

I work not far from you . ( north Yorks and east Yorks) I don't know anyone that is quiet.

 

[Ray Stafford]

Interesting article that. I've noticed on my travels each day that I'm seeing far less plumbing vans about Lincoln than in the Summer. That's my best gauge for how busy everyone is. I've never had a tradesman tell me they are quiet in 9 years of asking but that article backs up what I'm thinking, that the plumbing trade seems to be stumbling a bit in the wake of Brexit.

Be interested to hear what's happening across your patch Ray, Lincoln seems to be quietening down at the moment. Still enough work to keep us all busy but many less enquiries than this time last year.

Hi Keiran.

We only have a couple of really reliable indicators of the health of the trade. On the gas side, the number of registered boilers is a pretty good bellweather - and that has remained constant at 1.6 million, give or take 5% for several years. I think its absolute peak was at the height of the new build boom in the early 2000s when it might have just exceeded 1.7million.

Our own "state of the trade survey" also gives a good insight into what our 1000+ respondents feel is going on. That has been generally positive since 2011, having been pretty dark from 2008-10 during the financial crisis. However, that tends to be a little backward looking, since the questions about the last 12 months can be answered with facts, whereas the questions about the next 12 months inevitably reflect sentiment and aspiration rather than hard data.

My own gut call? I think that we will look back on the period 2013-2017 and describe it as a "boom". Its a truism that you know immediately when you are in a "bust" part of the cycle, but tend only to identify "booms" with hindsight.

 

[Ray Stafford]

I'm seeing far less plumbing vans

One more thought, and I don't have any evidence for this, but I am not sure that the number of different sign-written vans is a good indicator.

I suspect that the number of different sign-written vans is a sign of instability (good or bad) rather than the over-all health of the trade.

For example, people go self-employed both when things are terrible (can't get a paid job, so go SE out of desperation) and also when things are great (seeing how much money the boss is earning compared to them).

So maybe its extremes at either end of the spectrum that drive new businesses, and a lack of new sign-written vans might simply indicate a stable market?

Just thinking aloud here...

 

[REDSAW]

you dont see many sign written vans anymore as they stop them getting broke into!!

 

[cr0ft]

Hmm it's all very interesting. We're booked about 3 months ahead but that's after getting rid of one of our members of staff recently. For me the good indicator is the amount of leads coming in and for larger projects such as bathrooms and kitchens that's definitely reduced quite significantly since June. We're at the top of Google for Lincoln plumbers above all of our local competition and we've got the best reviews by a mile online locally. Have tried paid advertising in the local rags and it's not generating anything at all, not even enough to justify paying for it really.

Feels to me like a very different state of play from this time last year tbh!

From what I read in the Guardian the construction industry has been in recession since August.

https://www.theguardian.com/busines...s-into-recession-for-first-time-in-four-years . When housebuilding slows there's a lot more competition in the repair and maintenance sector too as people drop off the new build work like Ray suggests.

Will be interesting to see what happens but my bet is a rubbish 2017 on the way tbh!

 

[Chalked]

All will be fine if you just stop reading the guardian!