voivod

Are there any opertunities for uk plumbers in france? Hard working and always willing to work.
Trying to learn french and spanish at home at the moment.
Is there any Uk firms that work over there? Or firms that can put up with my limited language?
cheers
steve

Ka Ora!

I Guess theres call for plumbers that do the work they say they are going to do be get used to the idea of some pretty strange pipe sizes. Have not seen any large uk firms around here. But every other Brit that comes here gets his building diploma on the ferry so theirs all sorts of work

herbie

The French do recognise a British plumber's qualification and you just have to prove you've got one and how long you have been in business in the UK. You would need to do a week's training to learn how to keep your books etc. in order to register. If you were working in a highly populated expat area, then your limited french may not be a problem. I would also suggest that the French very often won't employ a British contractor or visa verse so you really would need to be where there was a large expat community. You would also need to research as to how many plumbers there were in that area already. As Ka Ora rightly stated, the pipe sizes are different but I guess once you get used to that, you shouldn't have a problem. Good luck.

cheekyfarkinmonkey

i would'nt think so, as the language barrier is awesome- and, it'll take you 3 years to learn the lingo at least..
the pay is better in the uk, i wanted to retrain to be a plumber, as it's nearly impossible to get work here!!
uk firms would be daft to work over here- the taxman rodgers you!!!!
a plumber would take home about a grand a month working for a company..
you can't moonlight as you dont speak the lingo- no one would give you a second look!!!
the only other plumber i spoke to over here who was'nt able to get a job, was black!!! and that was probably the reason why!!

herbie

Actually, although I've said it's very difficult to be employed, I do think there is room for self-employed british tradesmen. You would need to be properly in the system and national insurance payments are extremely high. Income tax itself is not that high, it's all the other payments that cripple people. You will need to get your qualifications recognised but I don't think that's difficult. I know 3 plumbers, all personal friends, and they are all doing well. They mainly work for the expats though so you need to be in an 'expat' community. I also know decorators who are self-employed and they do well even with the French community because of the high standard compared to the French decorators. So it's not all doom and gloom! Do your research though.