Trade Associations

[Dodger]

To be quite frank I could start a guild of like minded people with similar interests which is not a trade association this afternoon, whip up a website by teatime, make everyone on wcf a member for free (as long as they have 60 quid insurance), design a logo so they could all stick it on their van WWW world window washers.

Not for me but I'm sure it helps some people get those big jobs.

 

[Neil]

To be quite frank I could start a guild of like minded people with similar interests which is not a trade association this afternoon, whip up a website by teatime, make everyone on wcf a member for free (as long as they have 60 quid insurance), design a logo so they could all stick it on their van WWW world window washers.
Not for me but I'm sure it helps some people get those big jobs.

so basically this guild u just pay £20 for the year then thats it u get a sticker and ur part of there gang?

 

[Dodger]

Basically, as long as you prove you're insured.

I'm sure there might be a bit more to it than that but basically you pays your money to the owner and you're a member.

 

[Neil]

Basically, as long as you prove you're insured.
I'm sure there might be a bit more to it than that but basically you pays your money to the owner and you're a member.

smurfs a member come on smurf whats it involve matey? /emoticons/smile.png

 

[Dodger]

Check the website mate, links to some forums (not this one), a few H&S articles etc, members list and oh thats it actually lol.

 

[Neil]

Could any of you lot make up some sort of logo to put on the vans "wcf member" /emoticons/wink.png

 

[Neil]

I luv a sticker on my van

 

[Smurf]

Simply put it does the job rather than forking out £200 each year with someone else I won't mention. /emoticons/wink.png

 

[Neil]

Simply put it does the job rather than forking out £200 each year with someone else I won't mention. /emoticons/wink.png

im going to sign up to it , is there hidden costs? Or a one off payment?

 

[Dodger]

Simply put it does the job rather than forking out £200 each year with someone else I won't mention. /emoticons/wink.png

Which if you look at it that way is a reason to join, but I could still knock up a website, create an email address and logo myself for a fiver.

 

[Dodger]

Just saying Smurf, it's easy done if I was that way inclined which I'm not by the way.

 

[Smurf]

There you go dodger is this anygood? /emoticons/biggrin.png Stick that on your van

 

[Richard]

Any members of a window cleaners trade association? Guild of master window cleaners ect?

Thought it would look good on van and paper work but any one bothered? GF

As far as I know there is only 1 trade association for window cleaners and that’s the FWC; the annual cost for a sole trader is £92.50.

Use it in your marketing material to gain commercial work. It does help, even if you are not aware of it doing anything - because of the H&S concerns larger firms have to deal with, it make the decision easier for them when they know you are a member of the FWC.

Richard

 

[Smurf]

I'm not a member with them neither intend to join and have never had a problem gaining commercial work. Go figure /emoticons/smile.png

As far as I know there is only 1 trade association for window cleaners and that’s the FWC; the annual cost for a sole trader is £92.50.

Use it in your marketing material to gain commercial work. It does help, even if you are not aware of it doing anything - because of the H&S concerns larger firms have to deal with, it make the decision easier for them when they know you are a member of the FWC.

Richard

 

[Smurf]

Just to clarify here are their membership fee listed as at 2011 if anyone is interested. Seem just a money making racket to me...

On the appliaction form just need prof of insurance, be recommended by another member or customer then your in when you have paid your anual subscription and if you don't renew in time the following year you will get charged an extra £25 admin fee plus cost of renewal

SCALE OF FEES - 2011

Membership Subscriptions are based on the number of Employees plus an Initial Registration Fee as set out below:

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP INITIAL FEE AMOUNT PAYABLE

Company with 1 - 6 Employees .................. £102.50 + £10.00 = £112.50

Company with 7 - 12 Employees .............… £112.50 + £10.00 = £122.50

Company with 13 - 25 Employees ........…… £129.50 + £10.00 = £139.50

Company with 26 - 50 Employees ...........… £145.50 + £10.00 = £155.50

Company with 51 - 100 Employees .........… £189.50 + £10.00 = £199.50

Company with 101 - Employees & over ….. £236.50 + £10.00 = £246.50

 

[harunh]

i think gav should make a badge for all vip members /emoticons/tongue.png

 

[Neil]

I will become a vip straight away !!!! /emoticons/smile.png

 

[harunh]

me to /emoticons/tongue.png lo

 

[Smurf]

Funny as was just talking earlier how you don't need to be a member of fwc to gain extra commercial work as I've just opened my post as had a visitor knock on me door. To my surprise out of the blue I have been invited from a management company to tender for 15 buildings (15 blocks of flats) quarterly window cleans. Now how funny is that coincidence or what?

 

[Njones]

Hi Lads, Smurf told me about this thread & asked me to give a bit more info.

The Guild was started in 2008 by a group of window cleaners as an alternative to the FWC - for us the member fees didn't match the benefits, (especially for me being in Ireland) but we wanted a way to make ourselves look more professional in the eyes of potential clients & a nice little badge or logo for our vans & stationary,.... so we basically got together and made up a load of logo's and voted for our favourite, setup the website & member listings (which get great traffic from Google) and decided on membership requirements.

Initially we tried to do it the way the FWC do & have it so you needed to be reffered by an existing member - that turned out to be overly complex,.. so we had a re-think & decided to make it simple - the only requirement for membership is providing proof of current public liability insurance.

The Guild is NOT a trade association - there's simply too much paperwork for that - we're just a "club" of like minded window cleaners who wanted a way to improve our own businesses & raise standards within the industry in some small way.

Membership costs just £20 per annum - for that you get 3 vehicle decals, a member certificate, a listing on the Guild website and a CD with copies of the logo's for use on your stationary as well as some electronic copies of relevant Health & Safety documents which we have a liscense to distribute.

The Guild is non-profit. We used to run competitions at the end of every year and use any leftover funds for small prizes - - there isn't a lot of cash left over & interest in the competitions was small, so now extra funds just go on the occasional Google adwords campaign to promote the website, which of course benefits all members. /emoticons/smile.png

Currently I'm the sole admin of the Guild - I have been for a while now, probably about time for a change around! (applications to [email protected])

 

[Gushysfella]

Any members of a window cleaners trade association? Guild of master window cleaners ect?

Thought it would look good on van and paper work but any one bothered? GF

Big thank you to every one who's read and posted on this tread, email on its way njones! GF