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Prices up north!!?

JakdeDiamond

Member
Messages
73
Location
Buckinghamshire
Hey guys, 

Just on my way back from a weekend visiting my partner's grandma.(Newcastle) We live in Bucks and are very fortunate to have a well paying area that we cover. 

Out of curiosity I asked how much Mrs grandma was paying for her windows and she said £4.40 fortnightly?! If she's not in he does the front only at £2.20. 

I knew prices differed a lot depending on area but this blew my eyes out.. apparently this guy has a few lads working for him too... How is this possible to make a living like this, trad too. Wow is all I can say. 

Very interesting but makes me think how lucky I am to do what I do where I do it! 

 
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If the lads are employed they'll be on 12 hour contracts and cash in hand for the rest of the hours.

Not all prices up here are that bad but you are correct you're luckier to be getting the prices you get.

I have, probably, above average priced work for my area but it is spread far and wide and taken me a long time to get it. When we 1st set up I didn't fancy competing with those prices so it was a slow build.

We still don't average £30 an hour up here but supplement our wages by raiding the south and teaching the southerners, not allowed to say Londoners as it offends a certain Millwall fan,  how to do it properly ?

 
They're plonkers that haven't got a clue how to run a business, and are probably buck shee claiming benefits on top of their earning is the short answer.

Just out of curiosity how many windows does she have?

 
They're plonkers that haven't got a clue how to run a business, and are probably buck shee claiming benefits on top of their earning is the short answer.

Just out of curiosity how many windows does she have?
Fairly standard 2bed. Down and up on the front and bi-folds and 2 up on the back. 

I couldn't believe it and thought they must be doing it as a side gig but then she mentioned he had a load of lads on his team ?

 
They're plonkers that haven't got a clue how to run a business, and are probably buck shee claiming benefits on top of their earning is the short answer.

Just out of curiosity how many windows does she have?
Don't disagree but the bloke running it will probably be making £20k a year officially and double that cash in hand.

If he puts his prices up to "sensible" levels he"ll lose half his business as there are plenty of others doing it at similar numbers.

 
@JakdeDiamond

6 windows then at 75p a window.

Why in the world would anyone take on the responsibility of running there own business to work harder, with more responsibility, and less pay than you would get, stacking shelfs in Tesco. ?

Honestly, they probably think they are doing great, I am sure there service sells well at £4.50.

But honestly they would be better of working as a security guard or shelf stacker in Tesco, than working as hard as they will have to, to make those prices work. Numpties ?.

 
Don't disagree but the bloke running it will probably be making £20k a year officially and double that cash in hand.

If he puts his prices up to "sensible" levels he"ll lose half his business as there are plenty of others doing it at similar numbers.
Yeah, no I have seen plenty like that over the years. I am still astounded to hear a price like £4.50 in this day an age. We have a minimum charge of £8.

There is risks involved if they go down that route, which is not something I wouldn't do.

I like to think I create jobs someone would want, not something they have no choice but to do. It would be dirty money to me, if my staff were getting a bad deal, to deliver those low prices.

 
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Out of curiosity I asked how much Mrs grandma was paying for her windows and she said £4.40 fortnightly?! If she's not in he does the front only at £2.20.
Apart from the bargain basement prices it must be a nightmare dealing with the small change.

I've only ever quoted in whole £s.

 
my missus had a window cleaner who charged her £4-50(4 bed house with awkward access to the back windows)....he hasnt a clue how to run a successful window cleaning business..i clean them now as he was rubbish,missed the side window out and didnt touch the frames or sills...

i see him around...he drives a £200 old banger of a car...uses a backpack(and he actually wears it on his back!)with little 5l tubs of pure water in the back of his car!he seems a nice guy to be fair but absolutely clueless....hes been window cleaning for many years too....

he  sometimes sees me pull up in my brand new golf GTD and always calls me a part timer(which is true)?......I OFTEN SEE HIM ON A BANK HOLIDAY COLLECTING MONEY.......he ll clean 2 houses then come back the week later and clean another 2 houses down the same close then spend an hour chatting and drinking tea.....i couldnt work like that......?

 
Yeah, no I have seen plenty like that over the years. I am still astounded to hear a price like £4.50 in this day an age. We have a minimum charge of £8.

There is risks involved if they go down that route, which is not something I wouldn't do.

I like to think I create jobs someone would want, not something they have no choice but to do. It would be dirty money to me, if my staff were getting a bad deal, to deliver those low prices.
Lol that’s the price I was charging when I first started (£4:50 ) 23 years ago I didn’t have a clue about pricing and Evan then it was way to cheap and I struggled to make a decent wage and take time off work . 

 
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Lol that’s the price I was charging when I first started (£4:50 ) 23 years ago I didn’t have a clue about pricing and Evan then it was way to cheap and I struggled to make a decent wage and take time off work . 
I started in 2007, and a £5 was a common price back then. But I could pick up a van for 3 grand back then, and the minimum wage was less than £6 an hour.

3 of those houses an hour, 6 windows each at £5, and that's £15ph, not terrible 15 years ago.

Now though, the last van I bought was 8.5k, and the MW is nearly £10. Hence why I would be closer to £9 for house with 6 windows. Twice what they're charging. Its mad to be charging £4.50 to clean someone's windows in 2021. 

 
Thanks for the replies all, a really interesting discussion. 
Like I said, I knew there was a disparity in pricing from south-north, but never expected this. 
Seems it's out of the ordinary thank goodness because I can't imagine banging houses out for £4.50 trad, I barely got 2 smallish houses done an hour a few months back trad!

Thanks again all!

 
Thanks for the replies all, a really interesting discussion. 
Like I said, I knew there was a disparity in pricing from south-north, but never expected this. 
Seems it's out of the ordinary thank goodness because I can't imagine banging houses out for £4.50 trad, I barely got 2 smallish houses done an hour a few months back trad!

Thanks again all!
It's not the norm. They'll be on benefits, free house, no council tax to pay. Successive governments turn a blind eye to the black economy, but we're all paying for their freebies!

 
It's not the norm. They'll be on benefits, free house, no council tax to pay. Successive governments turn a blind eye to the black economy, but we're all paying for their freebies!
Not as much as we pay to subsidise companies, large and small, that pay minimum wage. Who also use loopholes not to pay any tax but award their executives with multi million pound bonuses. 

If we're going to start going after tax / claimant fiddlers let us start at the top, not the bottom.

 
Lol that’s the price I was charging when I first started (£4:50 ) 23 years ago I didn’t have a clue about pricing and Evan then it was way to cheap and I struggled to make a decent wage and take time off work . 
But doing it got you established, the only difference is your area will pay more and you realised it.

 
But doing it got you established, the only difference is your area will pay more and you realised it.
Yes I got started but realised very quickly I wasn’t going to earn enough to cover holidays , sick pay and cover days off with bad weather ,I still maintain all areas of the uk should be able to charge similar rates @Green Pro Clean Ltd Has said several times he does round building all over the country and he prices stuff pretty much the same in all areas , I do understand what you are saying and in certain areas it will be harder but a lot   undersell themselves just like I did I didn’t appreciate that cleaning windows is difficult for most home owners , cannot reach the windows , getting smears , having the time etc so they are happy to pay a premium for us to clean them si when they come home they have nice clean windows and it’s ine less job for them to have to think about . Cleaning windows isn’t rocket science but many home owners cannot do it to save their lives ????. 

 
Hey guys, 

Just on my way back from a weekend visiting my partner's grandma.(Newcastle) We live in Bucks and are very fortunate to have a well paying area that we cover. 

Out of curiosity I asked how much Mrs grandma was paying for her windows and she said £4.40 fortnightly?! If she's not in he does the front only at £2.20. 

I knew prices differed a lot depending on area but this blew my eyes out.. apparently this guy has a few lads working for him too... How is this possible to make a living like this, trad too. Wow is all I can say. 

Very interesting but makes me think how lucky I am to do what I do where I do it! 
The funny thing is the guy running it will probably be pocketing a decent amount. They'll be glass only, probably only wiping around the edge of the glass with a scrim on the main windows, if at all, and will probably be surprisingly quick. You get what you pay for and the home owners are paying for a very basic clean.

 
The funny thing is the guy running it will probably be pocketing a decent amount. They'll be glass only, probably only wiping around the edge of the glass with a scrim on the main windows, if at all, and will probably be surprisingly quick. You get what you pay for and the home owners are paying for a very basic clean.
Funnier thing is some custy don't realise there is better services out there. A few years ago we had 3 story Victoria holiday apartments in Blackpool. We had difficult getting windy after h&s cracked down on ladder use. When we found a reliable one he did same as the squeegee boys and just did glass. We didn't realise that we could have asked him to do the frames and sills! 

Looking back I can see why, we paid something like £20 for 26 windows and 2 doors! He needed a 45ft pole and probably a long gooseneck to get over top bay! 

No way I would do it at that price ?

 
It's not the norm. They'll be on benefits, free house, no council tax to pay.
Not always, a few on here will no doubt recall a father a son team I mention once in a while the dad has been cleaning windows over 30 years and his prices are about 10 years or more behind £10 for a 4 bed detached with a conny they wfp the tops don't do windows above connys and trad the bottoms, he lives in a nice house and has nice car but he ain't putting everything through the books as he told me this one day,

I was asked to quote a modern 3 storey 5 bed detached with dormers and veluxs yesterday, they were just moving in, my price was £20, the guy said he was just curious and told me who his cleaner was at his last house of a similar size with a large garden room he told he was being charged £12 this was the son,

As my wife always says "cheap is cheap for a reason as they are doing a ? job"

 
I live in the most deprived area in Scotland.

I can think of a few with buck shee window cleaning crews charging less than £1 per window in my area, with an owner doing diddly squat but collecting the cash, and doing well off it.

Even then, these operators wouldn't go as low as £4.50.

Anyone running there own business should be able to pay themselves above MW, holidays, downtime, pension, overheads, taxes, and be left with some profit to replace vans etc, or else why bother? Its not the easiest job. Window cleaners deserve to be paid and treated fairly.

If I can get £1.50PW in my area, I think most areas of the country would pay similar if the operators would have to confidence to demand something fair  instead of doing jobs at 75p a window. Bear in mind the average wage is 30k a year.

 
I live in the North, North Yorkshire. My minimum charge for any new customers now is £13.50. The only customers I have on my books under £10 are 12 old people flats at £6 or £7 each which take an hour. All work is £50+ an hour. 

 
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