Controversy corner

[Corabar Steve]

In these times of financial hardship, is it right that part timers with full time day jobs are still operating & taking gigs from those that rely on discos as their only income?

Somebody I know who has done discos for many years has had to succumb to hardship & has ceased doing discos (& looking at selling his kit) & is looking for a "day job", because he can't compete with low cost part timers.

This is somebody who doesn't do pub jobs & only does "quality" bookings, weddings corporates etc.... & charges a realistic going rate.

Unfortunately, he doesn't live near enough to us (ROI) to be able to realistically work for us & do another job during the week (without moving house).

It just strikes me as being unfair that somebody who loves what he does is having to give it up because he is being priced out of the market by people who only do it as a money making hobby & can subsidise it with other employment.

Tough, I know & fact of life maybe, but it's a sad state of affairs.


It's made even more annoying by the fact that ours is probably the only industry that I can think of that the part timers outnumber those that do it as a full time job.

[Vectis]

Agree it's a conundrum, but everywhere you look in all industries companies are cutting prices just to remain afloat. With unemployment on the up more will be turning their hand to 'beer money jobs' so the problem at that end of the market is going to get worse.

If you (or your friend) suspect a competitor is perhaps, shall we say, flouting the rules, then there are ways of reporting ones suspicions which may help eradicate the problem.

Otherwise we'll just have to modify our own practices to suit the market conditions.

I reckon bar staff and bouncers probably have a greater ratio of part-timer to career professional Add taxi drivers to that list too.

[501damian501]

you get it in every business mate, if you take alook at the fairgrounds in birmingham robert wilkinson, stays in the boundrys of birmingham and charges 80-90p per ride, well use to, so the other firm owned by the wilsons, has to go else where, because they cant live off 80p - 90p per ride.

to be honest, if am not out i,d happily do a £90 gig at one of my local pubs, karaoke only though, 1 its local to me, 2 i know the landtennents and get respect from them, then if all else fails, i,d turn out and get a ground and open a side joint, the weather and the costs so far this year, i can see it being short and simple for me. but oh well. thats the sad fact of life.

[Corabar Steve]

Agree it's a conundrum, but everywhere you look in all industries companies are cutting prices just to remain afloat. With unemployment on the up more will be turning their hand to 'beer money jobs' so the problem at that end of the market is going to get worse.

If you (or your friend) suspect a competitor is perhaps, shall we say, flouting the rules, then there are ways of reporting ones suspicions which may help eradicate the problem.

Otherwise we'll just have to modify our own practices to suit the market conditions.

I reckon bar staff and bouncers probably have a greater ratio of part-timer to career professional Add taxi drivers to that list too.

I did say that I can think of

If you (or your friend) suspect a competitor is perhaps, shall we say, flouting the rules, then there are ways of reporting ones suspicions which may help eradicate the problem.

I can't see him reporting people to the dole office or tax man, but I know what you're saying. Maybe it is time the cowboys started looking over their shoulders.

you get it in every business mate, if you take alook at the fairgrounds in birmingham robert wilkinson, stays in the boundrys of birmingham and charges 80-90p per ride, well use to, so the other firm owned by the wilsons, has to go else where, because they cant live off 80p - 90p per ride.

I hardly think it's a fair comparison, there aren't exactly that many traveling fairgrounds

[501damian501]

over 1,000 fairs are held weekly in england, scotland and wales.

am ready to sumit appilications soon, maybe visting near you steve

[ppentertainments]

It is very annoying and as you say controversial. If the competitors are operating illegally then as Vectis has said, action can be taken. However if they are operating legally on a part-time basis, unfortunately I think it has to be accepted as a fact of life and an indication of the current financial and unemployment situation.

I think a lot of other trades are noticing this problem as well. We had a decorator in the other week and he is suffering from similar problems with people with full time jobs going out on evenings and weekends.

There is no law preventing people from running a part time business, and if ran legally nothing can stop them. The benefits I have found from running the business full time is that it gives you more time to market your business and increase the service provided by having the time to research and consider business opportunities.

I have spent the past month or so, learning about marketing and suprised myself at how little I knew. Someone working part time will be unlikely to be able to be able to allocate this time.

[Corabar Steve]

over 1,000 fairs are held weekly in england, scotland and wales.



am ready to sumit appilications soon, maybe visting near you steve

& how many towns are there?

There is more than enough to go round.

Their only problem would be that their punters are begining to feel the pinch & can't afford to go the the fair in the first place.

Sorry to dissapoint you Damian, but I'm not looking for work.

[501damian501]

It is very annoying and as you say controversial. If the competitors are operating illegally then as Vectis has said, action can be taken. However if they are operating legally on a part-time basis, unfortunately I think it has to be accepted as a fact of life and an indication of the current financial and unemployment situation.

I think a lot of other trades are noticing this problem as well. We had a decorator in the other week and he is suffering from similar problems with people with full time jobs going out on evenings and weekends.

There is no law preventing people from running a part time business, and if ran legally nothing can stop them. The benefits I have found from running the business full time is that it gives you more time to market your business and increase the service provided by having the time to research and consider business opportunities.



I have spent the past month or so, learning about marketing and suprised myself at how little I knew. Someone working part time will be unlikely to be able to be able to allocate this time.

what about people with one or more business

[Corabar Steve]

What about them?

[501damian501]

What about them?

surly am a part timer, if i run another business