Java skills

[scooby]

I'm after a Java developer (may need to do some design), Web Services using JBOS and EnterpriseDB. Located south Manchester city (Uni)

Immediate start, approx 2-3mths contract, will have to go through agency.

anyone free for approx £320per day? If suitable and right price, i can point you to the agent for CV submission? PM me.

[Spacecadet]

thats really handy for me
Unfortunately I don't know the first thing about Java

[d000hg]

thats really handy for me
Unfortunately I don't want to travel south

Oh well.

[chewie171]

that sounds great im a java developer , unfortunately i start sweating and shaking uncontrollably when i go north of the watford gap

[thunderlizard]

Unfortunately I don't know the first thing about Java

Nor did I the first time my client needed some Java doing all of a sudden and, for reasons I never understood, insisted I was the man to do it. It was for quite a bit more than that too (though of course the Manchester Pound is worth more than the London one). Funny things clients.

[nomadd]

...though of course the Manchester Pound is worth more than the London one

Problem is, it isn't. And I'm saying that as someone from Manchester. A nice place to rent or buy in South Manchester is just as insanely expensive as The South. Doesn't stop people from quoting stupid rates for Manchester based work, though...

Nomadd

[SueEllen]

Problem is, it isn't. And I'm saying that as someone from Manchester. A nice place to rent or buy in South Manchester is just as insanely expensive as The South. Doesn't stop people from quoting stupid rates for Manchester based work, though...

Nomadd

Manchester is cheaper than the south (Ok London and Surrey)

I've lived in both areas.

[NickFitz]

Problem is, it isn't. And I'm saying that as someone from Manchester. A nice place to rent or buy in South Manchester is just as insanely expensive as The South. Doesn't stop people from quoting stupid rates for Manchester based work, though...

Nomadd

Manchester is cheaper than the south (Ok London and Surrey)

I've lived in both areas.

Just for fun, I went to findaproperty.com for some comparisons. As I don't know Manchester or London that well, I chose what I hope are similar-ish areas: that is, one in South Manchester that I've heard people from there describe as desirable, one that a contractor friend of mine lives in down in London, and another London one that a permy friend lives in - Didsbury, Islington, and Hoxton.

For each, I'm taking the current price of the cheapest two-bedroom house listed on findaproperty. From the descriptions they're all pretty similar in terms of size although the London ones are very quiet about parking.

Didsbury: £137,500.
Islington: £400,000. (There's a maisonette for £340,000, but that's not a house even though it's described as one.)
Hoxton: £410,000.

I reckon Manchester is probably cheaper than London.

EDIT: There's also this rather nice two-bedroom... well, shed. In Wilmslow. Offers over £50,000

[RichardCranium]

EDIT: There's also this rather nice two-bedroom... well, shed. In Wilmslow. Offers over £50,000

"Opportunity to modernise"
"a two bedroom park home"

However, I'd far rather have a static 'van in a mobile home park than a new-build inner-city 'executive apartment' cardboard-walled shoe box.

If you want somewhere secure, this is a snip. It's a £20,000 water tower in a field.

[nomadd]

Manchester is cheaper than the south (Ok London and Surrey)

I've lived in both areas.

I've lived in London: 23 years.
I've lived in Manchester: 24 years.

I happily do contract work in both locations. But very little in Manchester these days due to the pathetic rates agencies offer.

Manc.:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-...%2Fhouses.html

London:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-21208712.html?locationIdentifier=OUTCODE^1671&insI d=2&displayPropertyType=houses&oldDisplayPropertyT ype=houses&pageNumber=4&fromSummary=true&backToLis tURL=%2Fproperty-to-rent%2Ffind.html%3FlocationIdentifier%3DOUTCODE%25 5E1671%26insId%3D2%26displayPropertyType%3Dhouses% 26oldDisplayPropertyType%3Dhouses%26index%3D30

Both cost the same rent (and I'm very dubious over the "five bed" claim for the first one - a three bed semi.)

My current contract rate in London is almost double what was quoted at the start of this thread for work in Manchester. Rates of pay in Manchester have been hammered over the last year or so due to the lack of roles and agencies believing that life north of Watford gap is "cheap". Rates in London have also fallen, but not by anywhere near the same amount.

If I can rent a house for the same amount - which I can - then I'd rather be picking up £600+ / day in London than half that in Manchester. I was offered a role back at Barclays in Knutsford recently - rates had fallen from the £525 I was on 2 years ago to £250! Over a 45 week working year, my current gig leaves me about £80k better off than going back to Barclays. And when I can rent a 3 bed property for a similar amount in both locations, well, Manchester doesn't seem to look cheap any more. I guess that was the point I was trying to make: Manchester is cheaper per se, but not once you take recent pay rates into account.

And as for the person who was trying to compare Islington with Didsbury, try comparing it with a similar area - i.e. Hale. Look at this rubbish for £300k:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-...%3Findex%3D160

And here's a 3 bedder in London close to where I rent that's cheaper:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-27490550.html?locationIdentifier=OUTCODE^1671&maxP rice=300000&displayPropertyType=houses&oldDisplayP ropertyType=houses&pageNumber=1&fromSummary=true&b ackToListURL=%2Fproperty-for-sale%2Ffind.html%3FlocationIdentifier%3DOUTCODE%25 5E1671%26maxPrice%3D300000%26displayPropertyType%3 Dhouses%26oldDisplayPropertyType%3Dhouses

I'd love to move back to Manchester full time, but the rates of pay on offer just don't make that financially viable. Like I said, a nice area in the south of Manchester isn't cheap: your pound doesn't really go that much further, especially when you are getting so many less of them.

Mind you, like all places in the UK, I can see housing getting much cheaper over the next few years, but that's an entirely separate debate...

Nomadd.