Hi,

       thank you for taking the time to visit my website. 

       Here you will find photos of the work I have carried out.

       A detailed explanation of jobs I can carry out for you.

       Testimonials /Reviews/references for work I have carried

       out, and personal character references from clients I have 

       worked for as a site Manager in my previous employment.

       

       My background....(life story).

 

       I decided to give an honest insight into my life to give you 

       an understanding of my reasons why I am doing this and to

       hopefully give  you, as a potential client some peace of mind

       when choosing any of my services available to you.

 

       Builders have such a bad reputation due to a very small 

       percentage of them being rip off traders and just very         

       inexperienced builders who have a "yeah I can do that" attitude 

       thinking they can google it the night before and be ready to

       remove a roof or worse in the morning.

 

       This is what I enjoy doing the most and I am happy and look 

       forward to going to work which to me is more important than 

       any amount of money I can earn.

 

       I am not out to rip people off and I cannot get my head around        

       the mentality of the few builders that do it.

       I am very fair and honest in what I am doing and I want you to

       use my services again and more importantly to recommend me 

       to others as reputation and good reviews are so important to 

       being successful in this line of work.

 

       I have worked in a large number of properties from one

       bedroom flats to mansions in the Brighton & Hove city area.

       

       I fully understand it's not easy to trust a stranger in your own

       home and the many reasons why it's not easy.

       

       All of my references here are real people I have carried out

       various jobs for and some for a long time and trust me

       to work alone when they go on holiday or away for a weekend etc.

       

       I am a lateral thinking person and a great problem solver and 

       I also have a great eye for how things could be improved or just

       quirky ideas that make your house different from the norm.

       My rates are from £18 to £24. 

       depending on the work and what tools/plant is required.

 

        I have seen competitors in Brighton who charge £40 for the first

        hour and £35 thereafter. REALLY!

 

        I will not take on a job I am not confident in carrying out   

       properly. If i cannot undertake something I will say so

       usually know a trusted friend who will be able to do it for you.

       

       Fair Payments - I work on an hourly rate which in my opinion

       is the best option as you can see me working.

       I would never DEMAND a payment from you if you thought it 

       was wrong or did not agree with it for whatever reason.

       I want to provide a good service - at reasonable rates.

 

       EG. Of my fairness--- I recently invested in new battery powered

       tools for carrying out carpentry work and have spent over £3000

       this year alone on tools and equipment to work more efficiently 

       and to obtain an improved quality and finish within my work.

       I was carrying out some carpentry work and needed to cut some

       tricky off-set angles which required two of my new power tools

       and as I had not used these specific upgraded tools before spent

       a couple of hours setting them up and testing out cuts before 

       actually cutting the client's wood.

       I deducted this time from my day's work and have done the same

       on other jobs, if for instance, I am doing something for the first               time and feel I have spent say an hour working something out                 then i will also deduct that time.

 

        

        Ok if you are still awake please read on..........

       

       I started working at 13 years old, as a window cleaners help in 

       Brighton and the many surrounding areas and on Fridays we

       travelled to London which I loved at that age.

 

       I had no interest  whatsoever in school work and found it a real 

       struggle to stay there let alone actually in lessons.

       My amazing mother was a single mum with 3 children to raise

       by herself.

       My older brother being her first child was a breech birth and 

       was brain damaged by forceps during his birth.

       

        This made my mothers role as a parent very difficult as she

        could not work at all. I also have an older sister so I was the 

        man of the house.

 

        The window cleaning job provided me with a premature insight 

        into earning money and being able to help out my mother.

 

        At 14 I talked my way into an apprenticeship with a Brighton

        building company called S Saunders & Sons doing painting & 

        decorating, I managed to stay there for six months before they 

        found out my real age and against my wishes and theirs I had 

       to leave with the promise of an open position as soon as i was                 sixteen.

 

       Back then builders were such a laugh and horseplay was a 

       common thing with the young lads being in the firing line.

 

        Being sent to "Bert" to get skyhooks or black and white stripy 

        paint and searching the site for things like skirting board ladders

        was part of most days but helped me mature in myself around

        adults in the workplace and I also realised my future was going 

        to be within the building industry because I really enjoyed it.

        

        I ended up working for most of the guys there on weekends 

        helping them out with private jobs and also for my sisters

        boyfriend who was a builder. 

        

        By the time I was at school leaving age I was a skilled labourer

        and was offered a job as a general property maintenance person

        for a large company who had a portfolio of around 500 flats 

       shops, offices and hotels all over Brighton, Margate, Eastbourne 

       and Hastings.

     

        I found my best job still up to today! I had no idea where I was 

        going or what I was doing most of the time and had to work out 

        for myself how to repair and replace faulty or broken items 

        within the range of properties they owned like locks etc.

        In my opinion, this was the best way to learn because I knew why

        things had to be done a certain way as opposed to being shown

        just how to fix it.

 

        This gave me the opportunity to gain a varied all-round skill set

        and knowledge of refurbishment works and I also became a

        an experienced painter and decorator to a high standard

        as I took pride in my work and 

        found I was only happy when allowed to do a proper job.

 

         This put me in a position of better clients as I was now working 

         in the hotels and offices and bosses own houses which suited me.

 

         I worked for the same company till I was 23 and sadly the 

         property crash in the market found them in receivership.

 

         I struggled to find another job within property maintenance 

         that came with a good rate of pay and found myself having to

         decide on a single trade to become qualified in so I could

         earn more and Painting was my favourable option.

        

          I was torn between carpentry and decorating and the fact you 

          need thousands of pounds worth of tools and a big van helped 

          my decision, also I watched carpenters carry all their tools onto

          a job on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floor and then pack them all back

          in the van because of the risk of theft. Most carpenters even 

          working in schools etc with alarms and CCTV will not leave any

          tools on site.

 

           I was offered a job within Pilbeam Construction which is still                  a fast growing successful established company who have 

          a turnover of around 20 million pounds a year.

 

           I was taken on as a painter and decorator and with the 

           support and training from them I was soon qualified.

 

           I worked for Pilbeam's for 25 years and throughout 

           my employment with them I was given support and training

           to better myself and my position in the company.

 

          I was put in charge of small contracts at first and was a 

          working foreman and eventually became a site manager.

 

          This was great at first but as jobs given to me got bigger i 

           found I was having to take my laptop home and was told not

          to carry out any work on site and felt like an office worker which

          did not appeal to me. I was doing some weekend work and I 

          realised I was happier back on the tools and decided to work

          for myself.

 

         Thanks to my late mother, I have spent a lot of time and money               setting myself up as a sole trader and this is what I want to do.

       

         We all spend so much time at work and I've always said if your

         not happy going to work its not worth going.

 

         Thanks for reading and I hope I have come across as a guy that

         takes pride in his work, is honest and enjoys what he does.

 

         Paul.

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         PS.......Thanks MuM I love you so much. xxxx