u/Theres3ofMe

For last few weeks now, my call quality has been awful - be that in my house, put on the street a few miles away, or even 20 miles away at work. Its intermittent, and literally been an issue for about a month. I live in a busy UK city.

I have a Samsung S23U, which uses EE network, but speaking to other EE users- they havent had any issues?

Be interesting to see if others have had really poor call quality issues or not.

I've worked for Balfour's twice now, and the first time around for years, their Sick Pay entitlement was 4 weeks full Pay - if less than 12 month's service.

It changed last year to now only 2 weeks full company sick pay.

I'd be interested to know across the industry, what your Company Sick Pay entitlement is for less than 12 month's service? You dont have to name your company (or you can, should you wish) - but especially interested to hear from other Tier 1 employees.

Just interesting i guess how this has quietly been introduced to new contracts in last 12 months.

Hello all,

Ive had a company car this tax year, as well as private medical insurance (PMI). I have been on tax code 868L.

I'm now leaving this company, to join another one with no company car or PMI.

Will my tax code revert back to 1257L?

What I'm hoping to achieve is a salary reflective of receiving £3, 385.00 net ( i have Plan 2 student loan and PG loan).

I wont receive my P45 for a few weeks, so is it best i log into my PAYE account on gov.uk, and update myself? Or does my new employer have to do this?

I've had company cars previously (via LexAuto usually), but new company can only offer car allowance of £3500 (ill earn total £61.5k - so over 40% tax threshold 😫). However, happy to spend £300 a month on a car, as i have low outgoings.

I'm interested in getting an Audi A1 or A3 - as I've only ever driven Audi's and I think they're great.

I have no idea whether im best to go through my local Audi dealer for the lease, or, via a 3rd party company online some people have mentioned on here. How reliable are these online companies exactly?

With the Audi - have no idea whether to get brand new, for warranty reasons, or get an older car (3 or 5 years - i see an awful lot of 3 year old Hybrid cars in stock?). Am I better getting older hybrid car, as likely to get a better deal - because they want to get rid? If I get an older car, say 5 year Audi hybrid/petrol - can you buy warranty cover? Or am I better to buy care maintenance package?

Seeking minimum down payment (1-2 months max).

Appreciate your advice, thank you.

Starting a new job which only offers car allowance of £3500. Its 3 days a week in the office.

I currently have a company car, paid through wages (with tax code adjusted) - which I'll be handing back.

My new commute is;

- 2 miles away from train station.

- 22 min train journey (15 miles away).

- 8 minute bus commute to office (its a bus that picks up people outside train station,free).

An uber would cost me about £8 to train station of a morning, plus £12 day return train ticket - x 3 times week. On the return home, id get a bus instead of a taxi (£2 one way).

I have no idea how leases work? (All I know is my current company car is through Lex Autolease, and work just deduct 20% of sales value of car when new). Its a hybrid Audi A3, 24 reg.

I would like to get another car? But what worries me is how much that is going to cost me up front. I could put down a couple of grand but would rather not, as it'd eat most of savings. Plus, what happens if I lose my job (god forbid), and im lumbered with a car/debt?

Ive read somewhere on reddit that you can salary sacrifice- but only assume that's in instances where you have a company car.

Ive got a £5k loan, down to now £3800. So I really dont want more debt.

With the lease is it literally like renting a car? As thats all id want tbh. An all-in renting option where I can hand it back if I no longer need it.

Id really appreciate your advice as bit of a loss what to do.

I hear very positive things surrounding the RICS/CICES support at Consultancies, comparably to that at Main Contractors.

I'd like to make the switch over to Consultant side, but would really appreciate hearing anyone's experiences of this chartership support, and did you feel confident of passing because of such support? Was it RICS you pursued or CICES? Was the pass rate high at your company?

Our train (Merseyrail) has just hit a person at a level crossing unfortunately, which is absolutely devastating and we're all in shock.

Our train is a new train at that, but it has no windows that can open (the old train had those windows you could open at the top section?), there's no toilet, and no emergency water (we're sitting in warm direct sunlight).

We've stopped in the middle of a track, with all power off on tracks and train.

Has anyone been through this and give some advice or support? How can they design a train with no windows to allow fresh air to be let in, or no emergency toilet for incidents such as this? Is this just poor train design, or is this common for small, local commuter trains (over or underground)?

People are having to pee into spare coffee cups, and use magazines as fans to cool themselves down.

I'm stuck on a train just outside Freshfields station and the guard told us the train had struck either an animal or person at the level crossing at Freshfields.

Just thought id post this in case other passengers on other trains are trying to find out what's happened.

I've found working in main contracting that there are an awful lot of ruthless cvnts - to put it frankly. I've experienced this a few times in my career - twice this year - and they've always been long serving senior ops guys/directors who have made decisions which has made my life hell/battered me down/affected my job. I can't take it anymore , its really getting me down.

I genuinely need to know whether switching to Client/Consultancy will be game changing- before I make a serious and final decision to leave the industry for good....

Hi everyone,

Im a female Surveyor working in the Construction industry and have done for 8 years now. I really enjoy what I do, and take alot of pride in my work. However in those 8 years, ive been made redundant twice (liquidation), ive been let go twice (usually as result of the Ops team not liking my commercial risk averse approach/decisions, and/or just because they could). Ive left twice to seek promotion/salary increase, and worked freelance couple of times which I really enjoyed (through an agency that is). Its been a very unpredictable, uncertain and tumultuous 8 years let's say.....

I like to think im very good at what I do, because on a few occasions over the years ive been complimented for the high quality work I produce surrounding tender/contract negotiation/Administration.

But this year has been horrible for me, and it has absolutely wrecked my confidence and im on the verge of having a bit of a mental breakdown.

I had been at my large main contracting company for 2.5 years, but was working away from home for 6 months, and it eventually took its toll. I struggled to find a position internally, locally to me, so decided to leave which I was gutted about as very good company. Anyway, long story short, the new company I went to ended up screwing me over. Had 3 interviews for a role which was 30 mins from hoke, but when i started, after a week they basically told me id be based on a job 4 hours away (and they'd hired someone else for job i applied for). I was so angry, at this stunt they pulled as I left a job to get away from working away from home and was of understanding it was a job 30 mins away. Anyway, I said to them I cant to do, its not what i applied for. It was the senior operations guy who seemed to be an asshole about it, basically starting putting words in my mouth and saying i was ok with it in interview. After 2 weeks, they (this operations guy, and my commercial manager who didn't dare support me) get me into a room and say I need to rethink my position and accept the situation or leave. I was mortified and felt surrounded. I ended up getting upset because of the shock and confrontation.

Few days later they let me go.

After a day or two of coming to terms what happened, I reached out to a colleague of mine at my old company and asked if she knew of anyone who was looking for a Surveyor since I left. Amazingly there was, and after a fee phone calls, I had an interview and started back at old company- in a part of the business that was a "subsidiary" and was its own little silo. Very much operated more like a small domestic outfit than a large principal contractor. The team of surveyors I work alongside, are so lovely.

Within a couple of months, 2 surveyors left and 1 handed in notice - but then rescinded after a couple of weeks. Then someone else went on sick leave. After a few months I REALLY got to understand why- the culture became toxic because of how it was being run by this operations director and his senior ops guy - who were old school misogynistic, ruthless assholes basically. I got interviewed by commercial managers who are absolutely opposite of them- so wasnt to know! We had 4 graduate Surveyors who were given 10 jobs each and 2 other experienced surveyors. The workload was insane, id never seen anything like it. Ever. I was really struggling to adjust, because my standards were very high- having worked in the "parent" side of the business which was operated totally differently with a great culture and solid processes and procedures. Whereas, it was so poorly run this subsidiary, that I tried to demonstrate areas for improvement. My commercial team where fully on board with it, and put me in charge of a workshop to improve processes. It reached a point where i was drowning with workload and compiled a multi project task scheduler, to demonstrate this - then sent to my commercial manager (this commercial manager was new to the team like me, and came from the "parent" side of the business like I did).

The workload was affecting my personal life, I was more moody at home, started drinking more, and was just miserable.

I get invited to a meeting with my commercial manager, and his manager *commercial director (who has been understanding and supportive up until this point). Anyway, it was to discuss my workload and my welfare. Out of nowhere, the commercial director did s complete 360 on his support/attitude and was like "youve only got 6 contracts to do, I dont understand?". I said "ive sent you the evidence.... you know there is a process/procedures issues in the team - which you got me involved in a workshop for, and now suddenly im not doing good enough?". It fell on deaf ears. He continues "everyone else is super busy but dont hear them voicing concerns over workload " - (he was right - but they *were* complaining and stressed as we all spoke about it- but noone else would present evidence like I did? But I knew two surveyors had jobs taken off them because they become problem jobs, and another surveyor had a job taken off him because he didn't get on with the PM).

So for about 20 mins, I was sitting there wondering what the hell happened? It felt like I was a problem all of a sudden. Transpires i am apparently setting my standards too high, that im not churning out results quick enough - because all the other grad surveyors are turning them around quicker (yeh but I know their quality is poor and they use copilot alot). Also, out of 35 contracts to do on the team, 26 of them were allocated to me- but this commercial director didn't seem to grasp that major obvious stat.....

Anyhow, I began to get upset as it felt like i was being challenged/surrounded/targeted ONCE AGAIN. This commercial director left the room and I was left with my immediate commercial manager. He was genuinely lovely and total opposite to his manager. Very calming and explained things in a supportive way. He understood where I was coming from and that ultimately, i was setting my standards too high - for a part of the business that operates..... far below this. He went on to say that i was one of the best surveyors he had worked with, so its not a competency issue at all. He said to go home for a fee days and think about whether I can adapt or reconsider, but hed support me if I wanted to move somewhere else in the business.

I went home absolutely devastated and just cried all the way home. How the hell has this happened to me twice this year? Working for a company which is headed/run by ruthless, toxic operation guys? When I was home, I just fell into an emotional breakdown to be honest- because I just can't take this battering/rejection/abandonment (basically) anymore. 😞

Im having personal problems surrounding family too, so i feel like this was the straw that has broken my back finally.

I guess im not expecting a magical answer to this, but would really appreciate some advice or words of support to help me reframe things, or identify a different path which is better for me?

Thank you for taking the time to read.

I work in the Construction industry, as a Surveyor, for a Main Contractor. I entered as a late starter, aged 39. Before then, I'd worked within Civil Service, Estate Agency, Trade Union and Insurance (i was a jack of all trades, master of non - low-skilled basically).

I have been in the Construction industry 10 years now, and in that time I have worked for several main contractors- I have always struggled to be happy - due to mostly project location, commuting and/or hostile/ruthless senior management.

This is the most stressful industry ive ever worked for, in terms of sheer workload, senior management pressure/ruthlessness and absence of any empathy. Ask anyone who works in construction, white collar level, and they'll get it...

I love the contract law side of my role, but hate the cost reporting side - constantly getting hammered on why margins are down and where I can make gains.

I became a Surveyor, because I knew the industry has a massive shortage of Surveyors - hence why its very well paid (plus its proper stressful - to heights id never encountered before). So im in a fortunate position of their being an abundance of jobs in the market, but I think the industry is no longer a good fit for me.....

So, what industry do you consider, or work in, that is the least greedy and/or ruthless - that i could switch over to with my skill set?

I miss working in a nice positive culture, where i can help people and not those in positions of power who only care about margins....

Thanks all 😊

I love listening to the radio at night, especially when I switch the lights off to settle down to sleep. A big part of this was because I really enjoyed listening to BBC Radio 5 Live after 22:00pm.

Firstly, it was Phil Williams - superb presenter, engaging and had some cracking guests on. He left in 2019.

Then I loved listening to Colin Murray - a real character who was fun to listen to - but he left and Gordon Smart took over who was boring (sorry 😬).

Then Tony Livesey joined and i was absolutely buzzing, because he's a fantastically entertaining presenter, who came over from 5 Live Drive (where he was equally brilliant). His show each night would open to instrumental opening of the Style Councils, 'Shout to the Top' , where id shake my body in rhythm to opening beats 🤣🤣 EVen one of his listeners wrote a song just for Tony, which would be played most nights "hes been on a journey - LATE NIGHT LIVESEY'". He'd have some fantastic guests on including this music professor studying in America, who'd spend an hour intricately studying and explaining chords, rhythms etc of specific popular music. I know why he has left, but is 5 Live jinxed or something?

Now? Im lying here in bed listening to some fella who quite frankly, just makes me want to turn it off. Its gone so boring now Tony Livesey has left, im absolutely gutted. I really looked forward to my radio sessions at night, it was one of my little pleasures 😕

So why are so many excellent presenters leaving 5 Live, especially the night time shows?

Thankfully Stephen Nolan is still on at the weekend, but once he goes, 5 Live is for bin tbh...

I recently started a Project QS position looking after 4 mini projects with each value over £1m. Its the first time im running my own job/s, but I underestimated how stressful it would be?

One project, sure, more than manageable, but multiple? Its not for me to be honest. I don't know whether im coming or going half the time, jumping from 1 task to another in different jobs. Then there's workload - ive got to place nearly 30 orders by end of September. Some of which i need to place by 3 weeks time - with really weak and inaccurately costed tender packs/submissions *by Bid Team that is.

I guess you could call me a Subbie QS, even though I work for a MC?

I dont understand how any Subbie QS looking after multiple jobs, with multiple orders to review/draft downstream, cam honestly be ok with that? Compared to say an MC QS, who is on the 1 big job, and has more time to tender/procure with long lead ins.

Im interested to hear from current or past Subbie QSs and why you think managing multiple jobs is better maybe, than being on the 1 big job over say 2 years, with a MC?

To be quite frank, it's causing me a massive fucking headache.

Examples:

Graduate QS on my team - i said to him 'how are you getting orders out so quickly? Who's doing your scopes?'. He said 'oh I used copilot by bringing together the subbies quote, some email comms from PM etc'.

Asked PM to send over a scope. Sends me over a 27 page scope, initial reaction is like 'fuckin ell proper detailed that'. Until I actually properly read it and im like 'wtf is this?'. Asked PM and said he used ChatGPT by merging the subbies quotes, some client info'. I mean, it has the subbies fucking T&Cs embedded in the scope?!?

Ive worked with other PMs who are absolutely spot on. Actually know how to compile a scope of works from scratch. Ive done scopes myself in the past, with help of wider project team, so I know what should be included in one. But nowadays, how fucking lazy is using AI for scope of works?!

Between 5 and 8 years max, is generally the range of being at QS level.

I'll go first with the details:

- Tier 1.

- 8 years.

- £52k plus car.

- North West.