The Times April 18, 2006
See you later mein Liebling, I’ve got a new job in Britain
By Alan Hamilton
Whereas the German construction industry is stagnating, the British construction industry is booming, with 30,000 homes per YEAR to be built over the course of the next 20 years.
BACK in the 1980s, when the British construction industry was in recession, three fictional Geordie bricklayers set off for Germany in search of tax-free wages, willing Frauleins and cheap beer.
The arguments and misfortunes of Dennis, Neville and Oz on a Düsseldorf building site laid the foundations for the long-running BBC comedy series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. But now the tables are turned; it is the German brickies and chippies who are heading for Britain and from the same relative part of their country.
While the construction industry in Germany is stagnating as World Cup 2006 projects reach completion, it is booming in Britain, with 30,000 new homes a year planned in the course of the next 20 years and an Olympic site in East London set to be created.
Now German craftsmen are being instructed in how to attack the British labour market. Bettina Hansmeier, a spokeswoman for the German Master Craftsmen’s Group, a lobby representing skilled building workers in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which includes Düsseldorf, said that a number of websites had been set up to advise workers on how to get jobs in Britain. “We start with: how can I attack the market, how do I get a contract? We deal with hurdles such as Customs, taxes, registration and even cultural barriers,” Frau Hansmeier said.
Bilingual flyers have been printed and the group is offering English lessons.
Last September the group gathered ten trade associations together to “facilitate entry into the British construction market and promote German attributes, such as the high-quality of workmanship”.
This month the group will stage an exhibit at Interbuild, the construction industry trade fair in Birmingham.
“German craftsmen have a very, very sound level of training,” Frau Hansmeier said.
“We have the Meistertitel, or master certificate, a designation that doesn’t even exist in England. Then there are German qualities such as punctuality, reliability and exactness, which are also vital. The Brits know that we can be counted on.”
In a few years there may well be a comedy series on German television entitled “Cheerio, mein Liebling”.
thetimesonline.co.uk
See you later mein Liebling, I’ve got a new job in Britain
By Alan Hamilton
Whereas the German construction industry is stagnating, the British construction industry is booming, with 30,000 homes per YEAR to be built over the course of the next 20 years.
BACK in the 1980s, when the British construction industry was in recession, three fictional Geordie bricklayers set off for Germany in search of tax-free wages, willing Frauleins and cheap beer.
The arguments and misfortunes of Dennis, Neville and Oz on a Düsseldorf building site laid the foundations for the long-running BBC comedy series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. But now the tables are turned; it is the German brickies and chippies who are heading for Britain and from the same relative part of their country.
While the construction industry in Germany is stagnating as World Cup 2006 projects reach completion, it is booming in Britain, with 30,000 new homes a year planned in the course of the next 20 years and an Olympic site in East London set to be created.
Now German craftsmen are being instructed in how to attack the British labour market. Bettina Hansmeier, a spokeswoman for the German Master Craftsmen’s Group, a lobby representing skilled building workers in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which includes Düsseldorf, said that a number of websites had been set up to advise workers on how to get jobs in Britain. “We start with: how can I attack the market, how do I get a contract? We deal with hurdles such as Customs, taxes, registration and even cultural barriers,” Frau Hansmeier said.
Bilingual flyers have been printed and the group is offering English lessons.
Last September the group gathered ten trade associations together to “facilitate entry into the British construction market and promote German attributes, such as the high-quality of workmanship”.
This month the group will stage an exhibit at Interbuild, the construction industry trade fair in Birmingham.
“German craftsmen have a very, very sound level of training,” Frau Hansmeier said.
“We have the Meistertitel, or master certificate, a designation that doesn’t even exist in England. Then there are German qualities such as punctuality, reliability and exactness, which are also vital. The Brits know that we can be counted on.”
In a few years there may well be a comedy series on German television entitled “Cheerio, mein Liebling”.
thetimesonline.co.uk
