Gone very quiet
Discussion
Interesting thread . We supply leisure (caravans , holiday homes and lodges ) and had virtually zero revenue April to end June. The industry is booming right now but demand order book is still only 80% In September YOY. Biggest problem is the manufacturing base gaining output capacity whilst social distancing . The retail demand is in excess YOY, available stock has almost gone . Expect cautious winter but busy , a lot will depend on ongoing staycation bookings / quarantine etc
I can't speak for how things in my business compare with last year because I was still setting up then. But I'm getting quite a few enquiries, went to quote on two kitchens today. Which is nice.
There's been some surprising shortages of supplies from large firms, for instance Dulux reckon there's no light base to be had for their tinted to order Trade Diamond Eggshell anywhere in the country, and Blum (huge supplier of quality kitchen hardware) have some gaps in their most popular ranges too.
There's been some surprising shortages of supplies from large firms, for instance Dulux reckon there's no light base to be had for their tinted to order Trade Diamond Eggshell anywhere in the country, and Blum (huge supplier of quality kitchen hardware) have some gaps in their most popular ranges too.
singlecoil said:
There's been some surprising shortages of supplies from large firms, for instance Dulux reckon there's no light base to be had for their tinted to order Trade Diamond Eggshell anywhere in the country, and Blum (huge supplier of quality kitchen hardware) have some gaps in their most popular ranges too.
Tell me about it...There are no multifunctional chlorine tablets anywhere in the country - we have regular tablets but no multifunctional. Earlier in the season we were getting orders for 4-5 tubs at a time, which for most domestic pools would be two years supply. People panic buying have caused a massive shortage.
Those chemical companies that rely on 'cheap s
t' coming out of China were hit massively as they literally couldn't get stock for months. Fortunately now all of our supplies are EU sourced.We make large special purpose machines and I had expected it to be very quiet but we had a few good orders through lockdown for face mask machines and now we are busy with normal orders, we have got every job we have quoted this month! Our customers are all busy and seem to foresee no downturn.
HoHoHo said:
Exhibition designer/builder.
It’s all gone, all staff now redundant and my buildings look like a ghost town.
It may come back next year but if we’re looking at a further 6-9 months if this st then I’ve no idea what’s going to happen.
I feel quite sad after 23 successful years
There was someone else on here in your line that went into removals and storage... could that not be an option?It’s all gone, all staff now redundant and my buildings look like a ghost town.
It may come back next year but if we’re looking at a further 6-9 months if this s
t then I’ve no idea what’s going to happen.I feel quite sad after 23 successful years
HoHoHo said:
Exhibition designer/builder.
It’s all gone, all staff now redundant and my buildings look like a ghost town.
It may come back next year but if we’re looking at a further 6-9 months if this st then I’ve no idea what’s going to happen.
I feel quite sad after 23 successful years
Where are you based, I need some storage for classic cars if you have extra space, quite good money in it if you have secure premises.It’s all gone, all staff now redundant and my buildings look like a ghost town.
It may come back next year but if we’re looking at a further 6-9 months if this s
t then I’ve no idea what’s going to happen.I feel quite sad after 23 successful years
mike74 said:
HoHoHo said:
Exhibition designer/builder.
It’s all gone, all staff now redundant and my buildings look like a ghost town.
It may come back next year but if we’re looking at a further 6-9 months if this st then I’ve no idea what’s going to happen.
I feel quite sad after 23 successful years
There was someone else on here in your line that went into removals and storage... could that not be an option?It’s all gone, all staff now redundant and my buildings look like a ghost town.
It may come back next year but if we’re looking at a further 6-9 months if this s
t then I’ve no idea what’s going to happen.I feel quite sad after 23 successful years
HHH - it must be heartbreaking, but normality will return and I am sure, from your posts, that your staff will be keen to rejoin your resurgent business when that happens.
loafer123 said:
mike74 said:
HoHoHo said:
Exhibition designer/builder.
It’s all gone, all staff now redundant and my buildings look like a ghost town.
It may come back next year but if we’re looking at a further 6-9 months if this st then I’ve no idea what’s going to happen.
I feel quite sad after 23 successful years
There was someone else on here in your line that went into removals and storage... could that not be an option?It’s all gone, all staff now redundant and my buildings look like a ghost town.
It may come back next year but if we’re looking at a further 6-9 months if this s
t then I’ve no idea what’s going to happen.I feel quite sad after 23 successful years
HHH - it must be heartbreaking, but normality will return and I am sure, from your posts, that your staff will be keen to rejoin your resurgent business when that happens.
I started a logistics business week three so back in April and by the time I got going I was nearly into May.
To be honest it’s been pretty good. I’ve picked up two great clients and I’m moving for example vending machines around the UK and that accounts for 4 days a week.
The other is overflow work for John Lewis and other work as it comes along.
I built the business up and had four staff all working most days for the last two months. Their costs were covered however that’s as far as it went and sadly a business has many more costs as you are all aware.
I had the make the sad financial decision to make all staff redundant with the caveat I will do my best to offer them work with a day rate using my vans for the forceable future. That will help both sides and I hope to help my staff pay their bills.
With a further 6 months now being discussed of lockdowns and draconian rules and with shows already from early 2021 already being postponed I’ve got no choice but to knuckle down and make the best of a s
t situation. As it happens I was in Suffolk over the weekend on a camping weekend with 5 mates watching Le Mans (didn’t actually see much......far too much food and drink
) and after a three hour drive home yesterday, I’m now 15 minutes from where I was yesterday again!Ah well, s
t happens but at least we’re earning money.With regard to the poster asking about storing cars, my units aren’t suitable and currently they are rammed with everything we need to build stands (having brought back everything I can from alternative storage I was paying for)
On the plus side I own my own buildings and as a company we are cash rich, so hopefully we can ride this through. I am just frustrated the government has so many contradictory rules and don’t appear to know what their doing and the events industry has been completely forgotten. As it happens two of the mates over the weekend are very, very close to a certain M Hancock MP and they are also shaking their heads in frustration. I am constantly sending various news articles to one who then forwards them to Cock, I’m hoping he may read one or two.
Edited by HoHoHo on Monday 21st September 09:49
We've been flying along until about a week ago when it all went really quiet. No idea why. Plenty of website traffic but little contacts. Might be a blip but it does seem odd to suddenly change like that. Checked everything and there's no change in our marketing etc. I wonder if the surge after lockdown has gone and now companies are beginning laying off thousands that people are getting reluctant to buy new cars. Just seems odd to have stopped so suddenly (relatively)
DSLiverpool said:
Expos will come back, we know this. Companies who used to expo will do again.
Your past regulars, not all will be skint could you take deposits on future work? This means you’ll know what level to rehire once normality resumes.
Worth a try ?
To be fair we’ve had really positive support from our clients which is great, most realistically don’t know if that will be in 2021 or 2022.Your past regulars, not all will be skint could you take deposits on future work? This means you’ll know what level to rehire once normality resumes.
Worth a try ?
Deposits is a good idea however 90% of our clients have worked with us for so long if they say they will come back to us, I have no doubt they will.
Also in the Exhibition and Event industry and like HoHoHo, business has just disappeared! Yesterdays news that events will not be coming back for at least 6 months is just the latest blow and has tipped us over the edge. Now making all staff redundant and I'll need to see how it looks in May / June, but not overly hopeful. One of the guys has been working with me for over 20 years and another for 15 years. Dozens of freelancers too that will be missed.
Last proper job we built was back on the 6th March. Since then, been scratching away a few different things using the kit for 'social distancing' etc, a bit of transport, not really enough to cover costs but confident we could make it to the new year with reserves we had built up, now all early bookings in the new year have gone.
It's actually pretty fking upsetting typing this out! Feel like weighing the lot in for scrap and trying to rent out the unit.
Last proper job we built was back on the 6th March. Since then, been scratching away a few different things using the kit for 'social distancing' etc, a bit of transport, not really enough to cover costs but confident we could make it to the new year with reserves we had built up, now all early bookings in the new year have gone.
It's actually pretty f
king upsetting typing this out! Feel like weighing the lot in for scrap and trying to rent out the unit.Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff