Young Scaff Firm - we need a decent designer London & south east.

Hello all,

Me and my business partner started our scaff company about 18 months ago and things are going strong. Already turnover £1m+. One problem is we have an ever increasing requirement for scaffold design drawings to be completed for us.

We have used a couple of companies and one is better than the other but both are seriously expensive and punishing margins on our jobs where designs are needed.

Ideally we want to bring someone in house full time to do these for us as we grow as we currently spend well above what it would cost to employ someone in house but I have no idea where to start looking for someone and what qualifications should be required.

Can anyone advise where I should start looking for a qualified scaff designer?

Also because of some large orders that have landed we need to buy a serious amount of tube again but new tube is too expensive in our eyes and second hand would be ideal. We bought about 700 tons of tube from a failed company when we started and are on the look out for another who may be looking to off load some more?

Cheers

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---------- Post added at 01:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:51 PM ----------

Good afternoon folks

Hi there.

My names Nick and I have been a Scaffold Designer for nearly a year now. Only wanted to browser a thread but had outstayed my lurkers welcome, so here I am.

Look forward to picking brains.

Nick

Your best bet would be to try and head-hunt someone as scaff designers are a rare bread and not easily caught in the wild.

Just out of interest though, what sort of package are you offering?

Don't know what to offer to be honest. Hoping that someone here can give me an idea of annual salary these boys expect?

I guess that amount of experience they have had.

These are just some general guide lines, mileage may vary.

HNC/D plus CAD experience can be between 18K - 23K per annum

B.Eng/Sc can be anywhere between 23-25K - 30K depending on wether newly graduated or Experienced Engineer.

Chartered or near chartered depends what they're asking and what you're willing to pay.

Scaffold design is not regulated by any of the engineering institutions so be sure to check references carefully before employment. That being said, its not an area of work people generally wind up in so you should be all right.

Just put the feelers out and see who bites.

The rates quoted are very low. They are for engineers just starting on a site who have just qualified. Agencies normally advertise jobs between 55-65k plus packages. Just work out how much you are charged for a site visit/ hour or how much / drawing your paying.

Hello. have you any jobs for a scaffold supervisor as i was layed off 6 months ago. or do you know of anyone

I would agree with Savva that the rates quoted by Nick are well below the norm. For a designer with 5 years plus experience (which you would probably want if he is working on his own) you are looking at £45k +, especially in London. If you have a look at some of the job agencies (Total jobs, Indeed, Simply Hired), they are looking for some in your area at the moment and the pay is generally around £50K.

Having an in-house designer is not all it is all cracked up to be. You need to cover all the usual extras such as NI, Car & Pension so all in it will be nearer 60-70k.

Also need to ask yourself how it will work - personally I don't trust any freelance designer working on his own - who is checking his work? He might be good but we are all human. Industry professional norm is to have a minimum of 2 to cover this and holidays etc.

I would go to a design house and just agree sensible terms you can live with. PM me for details of one I can recommend.

I think he's gone off the idea.

Don't blame him, another non producing mouth to feed. A big step for a wee firm to employ their own designer. SS had the best idea about striking a deal with external supplier.