Rodthegasgod

Hi all, hope you are all well. My wife and I are looking at re-locating in Cyprus. I was hoping that someone could assist me as to what the prospects are like there for a uk plumber and gas fitter i.e do i need to learn greek, is there work available for plumbers and gas fitters and is the money half decent (liveable wages) thanks all

themajor

Most of the Ex Pats doing plumbing work or any other work do not speak greek Most Cypriots do speak English.

Rodthegasgod

Fantastic, thank you very much. Do you know if setting up a business is a good idea? Is there a call for tradesmen?

teejaydee

The reality is that your potential market will consist only of British expats. Cypriots are likely to employ tradesmen who are either relatives or friends of relatives, and these will be fellow Cypriots. That's the way it works here.

To maximise your chances of success, you will need to be based in an area where there is a large British expat community. This means Paphos district is your only choice.

However, as you can imagine, there are already many tradesmen operating in this area, and you will face competition.

You should also bear in mind there is no piped gas in Cyprus.

Rodthegasgod

Thank you very much for your quick response. It gives me a very clear view. Thanks again

teejaydee

I'm not sure I was able to give you a clear view unfortunately. I was just looking at the "Local Services" pages of the "Paphos Post", which is a local free newspaper for British expats. There are several pages of adverts for tradesmen. Many are for handymen who claim to be able to do plumbing, but there are also a few adverts for "real" plumbers. There are also a couple for central heating engineers. The central heating will I think be from bottled gas or oil. Only those properties in the hills will have central heating.

If you like I can send you the telephone numbers of these advertisers. They may be willing to give you an idea of what business is like.

The other thing to consider is that most British expats live in flats. Many of these (for various reasons) are rented. If they have a plumbing problem they will contact the landlord, who will be a Greek Cypriot. He will then contact a plumber, who will almost certainly be another Greek Cypriot.

I'm sorry if you feel I am being negative, but I hope you will agree it's best to know how things are out here before taking the plunge.

Please let me know if you want the details from the adverts.

themajor

Strange having lived here for the last 13 years I find that most expats live in Villas. Those that rent also try to get expat landlords. Just saying.

Rodthegasgod

Not negative at all, very happy to know this prior to the move. The numbers would be great if you don't mind, thanks again

Veronica-K

I agree that most expats that I know live in villas or townhouses not flats.
Most flats are young poorer Cypriots or eastern Europeans from my experience.