Reply to: Contracting London versus Manchester

[SueEllen]

Or a crappy car.

That's probably safer all round.

[Lance]

if you are thinking on contracting in Birmingham (or the West Midlands in general) make sure you have excellent security for your car.

qh

Or a crappy car.

[quackhandle]

if you are thinking on contracting in Birmingham (or the West Midlands in general) make sure you have excellent security for your car.

qh

[billybiro]

A few (OK, several) years ago I was given a piece of advice - if you want to be serious about contracting, consider living within easy commute of an airport, good train links and good road links.

So you left the UK then?

[simes]

Yeah. Sorry, gonna waffle now.

See Senior Consultants with 25 years being offered £350pd to work at -Insert Broken Investment Bank Here- versus being offered £850pd+ for 24 months to work outside of London in Manc and Brum.

Fair play. Had no idea.

[Bluenose]

Did I understand this right??

Yeah. Sorry, gonna waffle now.

See Senior Consultants with 25 years being offered £350pd to work at -Insert Broken Investment Bank Here- versus being offered £850pd+ for 24 months to work outside of London in Manc and Brum.

I know people who took these London roles and turned down work on programmes i was on because they simply would not leave London.

There are lots of people that I have met whom have no experience of either living or working outside of London and hence, have a limited viewpoint for context.

When you travel the main cities you can see the changes , feel excited for the future and grab opportunities others in London will laugh at because they are stuck in a 2006 time-warp. The game has changed and they won’t.

Perfect example, the new Ivy restaurant in Manchester. I love the new Ivy opposite Heron Tower in London, i frequent it a lot but it’s opposite a scumbag sports bar in a building that looks ready for demolition.

The manchester one, it’s a purpose built freestanding building with three floors including roof terrace and a Asian fusion restaurant on the middle floor, men in green coats open the doors for you as you arrive, it leaves the London one in its wake as an experience.

There are many, many more examples. Tattu Birmingham looks like someone has spent millions on it and it’s ‘only’ a chinese restaurant in a basement.

anyway, enough gushing praise from me, do yourselves a favour and get out there.

[simes]

Rates in London generally less for same role in Manchester because people have........

Did I understand this right??

[Bluenose]

Is London, a better place to be a contractor (ie. more work), or is it about

the same as say Manchester, has anyone out there tried it,

i live and work across London, Bham, Manc and Liverpool. I did 15 years solid in the City and Docklands.

is manchester a better place to live and work? yes

does manchester have enough contract roles to make it viable? no but the situation has been changing since 2011 as companies started to re-locate away from London.

Rates in London generally less for same role in Manchester because people have roots in London and tbh sheer laziness and/or ignorance about what it’s like beyond the m25 ring.

Birmingham and Manchester eclipsed London for quality of life somewhere around 2013-2014 period. They now have roughly equal parity with London in most respects. Sadly this now includes drinks prices.

[WTFH]

Is London, a better place to be a contractor (ie. more work), or is it about

the same as say Manchester, has anyone out there tried it,

A few (OK, several) years ago I was given a piece of advice - if you want to be serious about contracting, consider living within easy commute of an airport, good train links and good road links.
My first purchase in the South of England was near the West Herts/Bucks border. An hour to Heathrow by car, 45 mins by train to central London, about half an hour to the M40 or M1.
The furthest North in England that I drove for contracts was Leeds, West into Wales, South to Southampton, East to Norfolk. Trains into London clients. After that it was flights to Scotland, Ireland, various European countries, US and the Far East.

If you’re just looking to get a job near where you live, then consider your skill set and if there is an area where there is a concentration of companies that could use that skill set. If you manage to get interviews, choose the one that offers you the best salary.

[BR14]

Not helpful.
And bulltulip.
Get back to general with your bigoted crap.

Plenty of finance in Leeds and Manchester. Creative stuff in Manchester.
Even some finance in Bradford.
Manufacturing is big in the midlands.
.

yeh, but the surroundings and indigenes suck big time

[Lance]

Unless you're looking for contracts in mining or whippet racing, London is definitely the better bet.

Not helpful.
And bulltulip.
Get back to general with your bigoted crap.

Plenty of finance in Leeds and Manchester. Creative stuff in Manchester.
Even some finance in Bradford.
Manufacturing is big in the midlands.

There’s more to contracting than the City of London.

[GhostofTarbera]

And London has its zones also

Canary Wharf- top sexy younger people, best rates, women in high heels, no t-shirts to work - suited and booted

City - older contractor, suited and booted, no women

Rest (London Bridge etc) - lower rates, jeans and t shirts flip flops - lager drinkers types


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[fiisch]

Unless you're looking for contracts in mining or whippet racing, London is definitely the better bet.

[BoredBloke]

Is London, a better place to be a contractor (ie. more work), or is it about

the same as say Manchester, has anyone out there tried it,

I'm from the north west and hardly ever get work here - in the last 18 years I'd say I've managed 4 years on a daily commutable role - It is always London or Edinburgh. I seem to be getting more jobs based in Edinburgh over the last 5 years- the rates are better than the north west but not up there with London. But the costs to stay in Edinburgh are not as much as London - except for August!

[simes]

Am surprised anyone bothered to respond to the randomness of this one...

Define 'better'.

If just 'more work', then answering Yes should suffice.

And questions invariably end with a '?', not a ',' .