English plumber moving to spain

Hay fellow ex-pats, my name is lewis and ill soon be moving to spain, costa del sol! with my partner she is fluent in spanish while im learning. i am a qualified plumber and have been working in this trade for 10 years here in sunny bournemouth uk. id just like some advice on getting started up when im there ill drive over with my T5 Transportor with all my tools and believe me i have every tool for any job. i'll even turn my hand to other maintenance and gardening.Just wondering if you have any thing like gumtree that can be used to advertise your busness? please only possitive advice i know about the tax systeam in spain and i'll be fully leget, and we love spain so nothing will change our mind. my partner teaches english TEFL but just thinking about the winter months!

thanks Lewis 

Have you checked out what certification you require?

There are many Brits scratching a living here but you seem more knowledgeable than most! One of our friends replicated his business back in the UK here and is still doing fine after 10 years so it IS possible. Sadly we have seen so many disillusioned and had to return.The best advice I can give is to rent not buy so that you are free to move around a bit. We  bought and after 7 years would not opt to live in a house built specifically for holidays.

Best wishes and keep going! This is a great sight to get lots of good information.

Hay thank you for your possitive reply, i have an added bonus that my partner is a TEFL teacher and is fulent in spanish  also dose nails and yes i am awere thta i need to comform to the spansh certs in plumbing that im not worried about 

Hi, Please reply back when you have started up with updates please, I am a Electrician , Plumber , and can turn my hand to most things including full kitchen fitting and bathroom/ensuites from start to finish including plastering...We are look at moving later on this year and planning to rent to start with, We are looking at the Andalucia area. Like you im a bit apprehensive as to where to start with local advertising. 

When we stay at a friend's villa in La Fustera he askes us to call him if anything goes wrong, he in turn calls up the cavalry, it just came to mind that when said cavalry turned up on the couple of occasions that we required it's services, it wasn't Spanish, but having said that it wasn't British either.

I reckon that an ad in the free English rag would pay dividends, along with a business card drop, good luck to anyone who gives it a go.

Thanks for the great feed back guys 

If you will want to get the message across to expats advertise in the expat press

The Sur in English

Euro Weekly News

The Olive Press

They are weekly, small classified ads don't cost much.

There are also a number of A5 monthly magazines that are quite popular, Costa Link comes to mind

The nearest Spanish equivalent of Gumtree would be Mil Anuncios to advertise to a wider audience

Our friend who owns the villa in La Fustera has had a plethora of folk working for him as gardeners, pool cleaners, villa managers etc, the better ones happened to be Polish and German. If you're a good, honest hard worker you will shine out like a beacon of light from admist some of the UK expat workers that we have experienced.

I reckon that you need things to work for, such as family and a nice home and lifestyle, just like here in the UK actually. Also you will be in someone else's country, wouldn't it be nice if you ended up with not just Spanish friends, but Spanish clients as well?

In my experience most of the people who need to advertise in the local papers aren't very good. Good people get all the work they want by recomentation. If I was looking for a plumber I'd ask around. The ex pat community is not that big and once you are known you'll get work if you are good, honest and not hard to pay. If you are on Facebook it is worth joining Buy and Sell costa del Sol - and there are more local groups such as Buy sell and swap Fuengirola.

thanks guys for all the info

I agree, word of mouth is the best advertisment but of course when you are starting out that's something you don't have.

If anyone has a higher budget you could consider the expat radio stations and get a jinglle made, not as expensive as you might think.

Thanks i will defo look into that! id also like to do some gardening, grass cutting hedges and the like, just to mix it up a bit 

How about a van that advertsies your detail?

If I need a job doing I keep my eyes open for such vans and if they are parked ouside a property I go in and have a word. 

Hi Lou,

If I were you I would start the registration and licence process now.  Sometimes the simplest procedure can take forever in Spain - they make our bureaucrats look positively dynamic.

You'll find that wage rates are substantially less than UK.  As said before there are lots of people scratching around for unskilled work.  Gardening work is underpaid and even if you're good you may find it tough, so personally I would focus on the skilled plumbing work even if it means you have to kick your heels a bit initially.

Given your background you may do well to circulate your details to some of the UK ex pat communities - the Presidents and Administrators of urbanisations in the area.  Personal recommendation is everything here.

Good luck

thanks guys for all the info i have got so much from every one

If the TD5 you're referring to is a right hand drive van you will not be able to put Spanish plates on it and if you intend using it as part of you're business in Spain you will have trouble with the insurance check it out before you go.