does anyone on here deal with non british workmen in any trade.
how do you find them? do you have problems with them?

Depends who they are. Poles/Latvians/Lithuanians tend to have a fairly solid work ethic, they’ll do a good job cheaply and get it done fairly quickly too.

Personally though I wouldn’t trust anyone who doesn’t come recommended.

At the company i worked for previously we brought over engineers that worked for the company in India (this was late 90s so when construction was booming), they had a better work ethic than our local guys and worked any hours going (helped that they were on 10 x their at home salary), most spoke good English and they were a pleasure to work with.

on the flip side they also brought some Eastern Europeans in and it was like chalk and cheese. After a fairly bad accident the compamy found out that half of them had only been employed the month previously before being sent over, and they werent qualified and they spoke little/no english.

So there are good ones and bad ones.

So there are good ones and bad ones.

Indeed, but as the two examples given show, where they come from has nothing to do with it.

Just like any tradesmen pick based upon recommendations. Unless you are looking to exchange sausage recipes nationality really doesn’t come into it.

I’d choose workmen based on their ability to do the job, rather than where they came from.

That, and price. Foreigners tend to be a bit cheaper. 🙂

You haven’t had my cousins offering to Tarmac your front garden again have you ton? Look, you’ve probably guessed, they weren’t actually doing a job down the road for the council and an inch thick isn’t enough.

an inch thick isn’t enough.

you’ve got a new baby that proves different!

😆

PWNED by the tall fella! 😀

no horror stories then? good, just given 3 kurdish brothers a few weeks work moving satellite dishes.
8)

Kurds are lovely people, if you exclude those involved in drug & people trafficking, organised crime, and armed rebellion.

Just don’t mess with their money – they don’t like that. And even their women can look a little scarey when they’re upset. Although this one has a lovely winning smile

Although this one has a lovely winning smile

If that’s her winning smile, let’s hope she never loses 😯

Make sure language isn’t going to be a problem
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqnFnWSYzaQ[/video]

It’s a Kurd family who run the Polish shop in Cleckheaton, they’re pleasant enough but then they’re taking my brass so not conclusive.

I work in construction and deal with a lot of Eastern European workers. Some leave the best work I have ever seen and others have cut corners and have had to had jobs redone. Recent example was using internal plaster as a backing for external render. The whole building has to be re-rendered and the original subbies have done a runner.

If they do a bad job, does that make it a Lemon Kurd?

…I’ve already got my coat, thanks…

crikey! Get out!

Being in possession of a lemon if you’re a kurd is no laughing matter crikey – maximum sentence is 25 years.

Kurd with lemon accused of supporting terror

There used to be a large building firm called Patels. Their slogan was “You’ve tried the cowboys, now try the Indians”.

So in summary some are good and some are bad? Kinell, it’s almost as if…

So in summary some are good and some are bad?

And what I found particularly interesting is that it doesn’t appear to matter which part of the world they come from, ie, if people haven’t got any horror stories concerning Eastern Europeans, then Kurds should be just fine.

would it be racist to say that British workers are lazy workshy bar stewards who would rip off their own grandmother….

Some are some are not.

Important things to check
Visa/Passport are they entitled to work here
Tax/NI
Do you have a recommendation?

I watched Spiral, the kurds were dead nasty in that but they were in France so what can you expect.

It’s almost as if their “foreignness” has a bearing on the quality of their work, and if not that, their trustworthiness. I’m sure I’m just imagining that though.