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NEWSLETTER

February 2009

Hello everybody Happy New Year and I hope you all had a prosperous 2008. I’m hearing lots of reports about record breaking volumes of work for established businesses and a good busy season for new sweeps. Given the problems which are beginning to appear in the wider economy you should feel relieved to be involved in an industry, which I think will grow in 2009. If you have concerns you might speak to those sweeps that have taken steps to maintain or grow their businesses this year. It’s been quite some time since your last newsletter; a new baby and a record year have slowed me down. As always, the road to publication is paved with good intentions. I intend to produce a more regular update for you in 2009. If you can remember as far back as the AGM you’ll recall a very good meeting. I had a good idea of the programme in advance but was still very impressed with the presentation and content. Turnout was very good and I’m sure we all now realise just how important these events are from both a professional and social perspective. Information on this years meeting will be available soon. It will most certainly be bigger and better. We had nine new members complete the training, mentoring and assessment last year and the first training course of this year is already fully subscribed. The second course is filling up fast. Our membership should increase by over 50% this year. The training course, the manual and the mentoring system have all been improved upon since their inception only a year ago. The venue has also been upgraded - Sascha and Claudia have very kindly agreed to make the space above their shop available for training. I’m told it is very smart. This will have many advantages e.g. access to a chimney, stoves and integrity / pressure testing equipment as well as keeping costs to the Guild down. Some “old hands” will also be attending parts of the course to learn about both the theory and practice of chimney integrity testing as well as to meet the new members. Lawson.

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Editor’s Introduction 1 Very Important Announcement 3 Fly Posters / Adverts 3 GMS Member Profile No. 3 4 Guild Website – Facts Figures and Feedback 6 News News News 7 Jethro is Back 8 Italian Trip 9 New member testimonial – Steve Shrubb 10 CO Awareness Poster Competition 11 CO Leaflets – Feedback / Marketing 12 Payment for Goods 13 NACS Invite 13 In Conclusion 14

The Deadline for copy / news / comment for the next edition is Monday 30th March Send to Lawson@camsweep.co.uk

In This Issue

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Very Important Announcement

Most of you will know our chairman, Bob Russell. He has worked tirelessly on behalf of Guild members for 15 years and has been very involved in promoting chimney sweeping and the Guild since it was formed in 1990.

Bob has announced his intention to step down as chairman at the next AGM. I’d like to thank Bob personally for the help and support he has given to me during my sweeping career. He is an inspiration. His devotion to the cause and the sheer volume of work he undertakes on our behalf will be difficult to replace. I suspect it will require more than one person. We will therefore be electing a new chairman at the AGM this year. Who will fill Bob’s shoes? Perhaps prospective candidates may wish to publish some sort of manifesto in these pages. A nice open discussion would be good for the Guild. Let’s hear your views.

It has come to the attention of the Guild that some members are putting up posters or flyers to advertise their business.

Now while this is ok in shops or putting flyers through letterboxes the practice of putting up flyers or posters on telegraph posts, walls, fences or under windscreen wipers is a criminal offence carrying large fines given out by a magistrate, or up to £80 fixed penalty notice issued by the local authority or police. Unless a licence has been issued to do this.

The Guild advises that anybody that is doing or has done this stops and removes any still being displayed.

The website direct.gov.uk has more information abut this. Please follow the link below.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/WhereYouLive/Streetcleaninglitterandillegaldumping/DG_10029666 Martin Lewis. Technical Director

Fly Posters / Adverts

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GMS Member Profile No. 3 – Simon LLewellyn

How long have you been sweeping chimneys and how did you get started? I started sweeping chimneys about nine years ago. I was intensively trained and mentored by Lawson Wight and Bill Wight (not related). Once a Yellow Pages advert had been placed and the local area saturated with leaflets Ablesweep was up and running, albeit slowly at first. What first attracted you to the business? I wasn’t attracted to the business at all. In fact when I heard Lawson was planning to become a sweep I struggled to imagine anything more absurd! Through mild curiosity I followed his progress and listened to ‘chimney sweeping tales’. Solving problems and the customers he encountered! Reflecting on my series of dead end jobs being a chimney sweep began to unfold as an exciting and rewarding opportunity, one that I could develop into a stable business. Is sweeping your full time business? If not, what else do you do? Sometimes sweeping feels like more than my full time business. Equally it provides the time and flexibility to pursue other ideas, interests and past times. Such as LPG conversions to cars, various complementary health courses as well as fishing and keeping goats. Do you work alone? If not who helps you and how? I work alone although rely on my wife, Shona, for anything to do with the computer. What did you do prior to chimney sweeping? Not much, quite content being a bum! What do you find most frustrating about the industry? I find the emphasis on compliance rather than using ones initiative frustrating. This however, is not specific to chimneys but transcends everything we do. What do you like most about being a chimney sweep? I like doing a thorough job without leaving a mess. This is often reflected in

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genuine customer appreciation.

What do you like least? People not being at home as arranged or cancelling at the last moment or even worse saying they had left a message when clearly they had not!

What do you like to do when you are not working? See above How long have you been involved with the Guild and why did you join? About eight years. I was told it was the best thing I could do - advice that has since been borne out. What is your most memorable sweeping experience? Probably sweeping a chimney for the TV program ‘How clean is your house’. Actually it was a bit of an anticlimax; hours of filming translated to a handful of seconds of airtime. Still a lot of fun though. How do you view the future of chimney sweeping and what do you think the role of chimney sweeps should be in the future? I think the demand for proficient sweeps will grow, especially as the public become aware that having their chimney swept is not synonymous with spending days afterwards cleaning up. Educating customers regarding potential emission and fire hazards along with correct fuel use should be associated more with a sweeps primary role. Chimney sweeps should be considered as the fourth emergency service! Oh, yes they should also be armed!

Thanks for that Simon. Simon is based in a rural area in central Scotland. He has built a busy and profitable business trading on quality of service. This was not easy in his area and he still has nearby “sweeps” offering their “services” for as little as £15. He seldom travels less than 100 miles in the course of a days work, often much more (I feel lucky to average about 30). Although he originally trained with Bill and me, I am more likely to look to him for answers to problems nowadays. Another good example of “The more you give the more you get”. Lawson See www.Ablesweep.co.uk for all Simon’s details.

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Web Site Report

NEWS NEWS NEWS

For those of you interested in how the Guild website is performing here are some facts and figures from last October. The Guild site received 2869 visits during October, an average of 92 per day. Monday is always the busiest day of the week and Saturday the quietest. Over 80% of visitors are new and they spend an average of 2 ½ minutes looking at an average of four pages. They arrive at the site from a variety of sources: The greatest number come from google searches – 1900 or 66%. Next highest is direct i.e. someone has entered the Guild site address as opposed to arriving via a link. This was over 300 or 11% so it is well worth promoting the site address on all your literature / paperwork. Some of the links to the likes of Yell.com (the banner) and solidfuel.co.uk (the SFA) don’t produce much in the way of numbers (39 and 29) but the quality of visitor is much higher. They spend much longer and look at more pages. The bounce rate (visitors who arrive at the site and promptly leave) is also much lower from these links. A number of visitors (125 or over 4%) come from the careers advice service. The Guild site is our shop window. For many visitors it is the only image of the Guild they have seen. The

impressions and information that are gathered on this visit will determine whether or nor they go on to contact someone on the site. The look of the site and the information reflects directly on you. What do you think the Guild site is saying about you? What do you like and what needs changing? Perhaps you could ask someone who has never visited it to have a look and say what they think. You can email your board with any suggestions. The following list of addresses will send your email to them all. They are: Bob Russell robertmrussell@hotmail.co.uk Daniel Hodgson chimneysweep@blueyonder.co.uk Sascha Meding 1-2-cchimney@btconnect.com David Woofindon chimneyservices@o2.co.uk Martin Lewis guildofmastersweeps@hotmail.co.uk ------------------------------------ If anyone would like printed or emailed back copies of the last two newsletters please contact me on 01954 782284 or better still Lawson@camsweep.co.uk

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I sent everyone an email recently regarding printed and electronic copy of this newsletter. A number of our members don’t like to use computers and prefer a hard copy. If you are happy to receive your copy electronically please let me know. Thanks to everyone who has already replied. Lawson@camsweep.co.uk Why not reply RIGHT NOW. This will save money, resources and most importantly, time. -----------------------------------------

Gail and Lawson are very pleased to announce the arrival of their baby girl, Maya. Born at home on 18th July 2008.

5 days old If you have anything to announce in this section of future newsletters, you know what to do.

NEWS NEWS NEWS

Email or Printed Copy

Births, Deaths, Marriages

Chairman and Vice Chairman, Bob Russell and Sascha Meding will be attending a meeting at Hetas on the 16th of February.

It is likely that all Guild sweeps will be required to be Hetas approved in the future (as was once the case). We like to think the Guild have the best trained, most knowledgeable and diligent sweeps of any organisation. This is another way we can prove it. Policy and rule makers will have to listen to an organisation with many well-qualified members. If we are qualified enough then we will have direct input into rules, regulations and policy. This subject will be just one of the important discussions and decisions at this years AGM. ---------------------------------------------- Your ever-industrious chairman Bob Russell is has commissioned a little research in to a non-stick substance used by, among others, the MoD. It repels oil and water based solvents. Bob has sent a couple of vacuum filters and a couple of Guild sweatshirts to a company for testing. If successful it could mean nothing sticking to your vacuum filters and no subsequent loss of suction.

Hetas Visit

Non Stick Bob

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You may recall an item of news at the AGM concerning the forced retirement of Jethro Vivian from Beverly in Yorkshire. I am very pleased to inform you that these reports were premature and although he is not yet fully fit, he is sweeping a few chimneys. I spoke with him recently and he says he is feeling the best yet since the accident and is optimistic for the future. Jethro had a nasty accident last March: He fell 15 feet from a ladder whilst accessing a hatch / soot door. Finding himself on the ground and feeling a bit shocked he began to assess the damage. None was immediately apparent so he got up. Whilst inspecting his elbow he discovered the whereabouts of the screwdriver he’d been using – it was now stuck past the elbow in to his arm. Amazingly, a sense of duty and perhaps a bit of shock led him to finish the job before heading off to hospital. They fixed him up but he found it became impossible to work. Jethro gives talks to schools on Victorian chimney sweeps. He also attends weddings so fell back on to this work. He did not feel he would sweep chimneys again. Nearly a year on and in his own words he is “on the mend and on the up”. He has a new all singing and dancing website (literally) – www.Jethro.biz

Jethro is Back!

Be careful not to upstage the bride

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NEWS NEWS NEWS

Every year in September the village of Santa Maria Maggiore is invaded by over 1000 chimney sweeps from all over the world. This gathering is mostly a social event with its origins in the history of the buying of Italian children to work in the sweeping industry. Last year chairman and vice- chairman Bob Russell and Sascha Meding along with Gina and Claudia attended this famous gathering. They were asked to lead the British contingent in the parade, as one of the organisers liked the look of the Guild logos on their uniforms. Various websites can give you the full picture. An excellent time was had by all despite the wet weather. They met up with some old friends and colleagues and made some new ones too. There will be representation by the Guild at the festival this year. If you’d like to go this time then our secretary, Claudia Freisinger, will be able to advise.

Italian Trip

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CO Awareness Campaign / Poster Competition

an hour. I was keener than ever about training to be a sweep. Bob asked me to go out for one day sweeping and what a day! I think we swept about 12 chimneys that day (which I haven’t done since). Still keen I paid the fee and training was arranged with Bob, Lawson, Daniel and Sascha. You can’t go wrong with the training and I will always be grateful to them all for their time and knowledge. I booked in my first six sweeps and what a day! Started at 9.00 am and finished at 4.00 pm and goodness knows how many miles between jobs. I’ve got my grouping better now and no two days are alike. The only thing that does stay the same is the stupid questions. How’s Mary Poppins? Where’s your little boy? Can you do the dance? Have you got a black cat? Why do they have to make a wish when the brush comes out the top? And no, I don’t do weddings! But thankfully I’m giving a few sweeps in my area a run for their money. With the backing of the GMS things are looking good for 2009. See his details at: www.invictachimneysweeps.co.uk

New Member – Steve Shrubb

Hello, my name is Stephen Shrubb. I had been thinking about becoming a chimney sweep a few years ago and got in contact with the ‘other lot’. I was told “no way, Kent had too many sweeps”. But with my back getting worse from lifting garage doors I was back on the internet and found the GMS site. I phoned Bob and left a message. The next day I received a call from Bob and we spoke for nearly

I first met Steve when he came to train with me for a couple of days through the Guild mentoring system for new sweeps. He learned quickly and was very keen. He took the best of the information from each of his trainers and applied it to his own business and situation. The result was a flying start (well over 30 chimneys in a week within three months of starting). Things are quieter now – it’s always a bit of a shock for new sweeps having come through their first busy season to find themselves so quiet after Christmas. My advice to anyone in the first couple of years is to stick with your advertising and promotion plan. All promotion done at this time of year will bring good results; it just takes time and will be bear fruit later in the year. Be creative and be careful where you spend your money. Why not ask those Guild members who have built businesses from scratch within the last ten years. Remember, the advertising and promotion you do at the start of your business may well change as you begin to build a strong base of repeat customers. Lawson

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The Guild was invited to a very important event from the CO Awareness Campaign. All of you must have heard about their poster competition, they were guests at our last AGM. They’ve been promoting the competition in many schools to make children aware of the dangers of Carbon Monoxide. On the 20th January there was a prize giving event at the House of Commons for the best poster. Sascha Meding and Daniel Hodgson were there to congratulate the winners. We were surprised at the number of participants and the creativity of many children. Some politicians and also people are aware of the danger, but there is still a lack of education and awareness. The CO Awareness Campaign with their head Mrs Stephanie Trotter will run another poster campaign this year. The Guild is very pleased to be able to assist in this. Also you can help. If you are involved in a school through your children or otherwise, make them aware of the campaign so even more children will contribute in 2009. You can also get in contact with your board and we will arrange the contact for you. Claudia

Copyright CO-Gas Safety

Wining posters

CO Awareness Poster Campaign

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CO Leaflets

Most of you will have seen the superb Carbon Monoxide safety leaflets, which are available to us through the Guild. It is a very eye catching and comprehensive leaflet containing a mass of general solid fuel safety information as well as the specific CO advice. They are very well received by customers provided you spend a few seconds explaining what it is. I hand them one at the same time as the certificate and say “This is a leaflet concerning solid fuel and Carbon Monoxide issues. It contains some good education and information”. Since the last AGM I have given out around a thousand. It prompts all sorts of responses from “I thought you could only get monoxide from gas” to “Can I have another for my daughter” and “I was poisoned by carbon monoxide”. I also discovered that the commonest cause of death in the Antarctic was CO poisoning!

These leaflets are an excellent business tool if used correctly. When I am stopped in the street and asked for a card I usually fill my name and number in and hand one over. They are now almost certain to call. I include one with every piece of business mail I send e.g. reminder cards, invoices, bills, mail to advertisers etc. Obviously they add serious credibility to any mail shot you may do. You may persuade fireplace and stove shops to display them and or include them in their customer information packs. Oil and gas engineers will recognise the value of this information and this will reflect on you.

Buy more, use them and let me know your stories.

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JL WIGHT 01954 782284

PAYMENTS OWING FOR GOODS

As you my not be aware when I place bulk orders for stock for our members vacuum cleaners rods etc. we are talking of orders that go into thousands of pounds. There is not the money in the Guild account to cover large orders so I fund them myself. Of late I am finding that some members are taking a long time to settle their accounts and I am sure that they are not thinking about were the funding comes from, but regardless, we are a Guild and as such we should be looking after each other, not riding off the backs of others and using other members money to feather our own nests. I also find that I am constantly chasing up some members for payments which when you are busy running your own company’s for profit and funding these members it does get very annoying. We will be in the position at the next AGM were I will be stepping down as chairman of the Guild and I would like to think that these acts of selfishness are a thing of the past. In short when you order goods be in a position to pay for them, so avoiding paper work time and expense to others. Bob Russell. Chairman.

Nacs Show

You may, like me, have been surprised and pleased to receive an invitation and information from NACS regarding their Chimney Works Trade Show. It is on Friday and Saturday the 24th / 25th April at The Barcelo Daventry Hotel, Daventry, Northamptonshire. I suggest you contact them for a programme if you are thinking of going to this very good show. Lawson

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In Conclusion

I hope you have found this newsletter interesting and perhaps useful. If you have any suggestions I’d be very pleased to hear from you, particularly if you include some copy / photos etc. You may remember from the AGM that we agreed I should contact two members per newsletter and extract a one-page article and a photo or two from them. This reduces the work involved and introduces variety. You can expect a call. In addition, I would like to work with another member in producing this newsletter in future. Someone who is good at laying stuff out on their computer would be ideal. Applications to Lawson@camsweep.co.uk or call 01954 782284. We will probably all have to do more for the Guild in the future but then it is our organisation, all of us with an equal share. Do your bit, help everyone, and help yourself. Lawson