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  Adam Pilgrim February 20, 2012 at 4:08pm

  Sorry to hear this Matthew, although it does happen a lot in business - to be totally honest it doesn't really bother me any more - I am good at what I do, work quickly and efficiently and give a fair price for any work - if the clients don't want it done at that price, it's their loss....

  It surprises me a little that a housing company was actually interested in having lawns scarified and fed, was this request actually in the details of the price that you were asked to give?

  In my experience, many such companies only seem to want the bare minimum of work done, as cheaply as possible (of course, there are always exceptions). ..

  Although slightly different, I know from looking at some of my local council documents on-line, their tenders are often assessed on a 25% 'Quality' and 75% 'Price' basis - in other words, the cheapest nearly always wins!
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  Chris Auld February 20, 2012 at 4:09pm

  Some people are desperate for work, thats how.
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  Matthew Crudgington February 20, 2012 at 5:10pm

  
  The scarifing and feed was in the details of the contract, all of the tasks mentioned above were their list of requirements It's a sheltered housing scheme so the residents pay an annual fee for having the grounds maintained to a good level. 
  Adam Pilgrim said:

  Sorry to hear this Matthew, although it does happen a lot in business - to be totally honest it doesn't really bother me any more - I am good at what I do, work quickly and efficiently and give a fair price for any work - if the clients don't want it done at that price, it's their loss....

  It surprises me a little that a housing company was actually interested in having lawns scarified and fed, was this request actually in the details of the price that you were asked to give?

  In my experience, many such companies only seem to want the bare minimum of work done, as cheaply as possible (of course, there are always exceptions). ..

  Although slightly different, I know from looking at some of my local council documents on-line, their tenders are often assessed on a 25% 'Quality' and 75% 'Price' basis - in other words, the cheapest nearly always wins!
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  Paul McNulty February 20, 2012 at 6:10pm

  I've looked at similar jobs, where there is a long list of reqirements you have to factor in. So far as I can see the service has always been very minimal in the past, hence them looking for a new supplier, and none of the requirements are being met. I'd bet that after a couple of months they'll be getting a basic mow-and-blow service by some un-trained youngsters, and the residents will be complaining again.
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  Dan Frazer Gardening February 20, 2012 at 6:17pm

  Yes it sounds like the winners of the bid won't be doing scarifying etc, whether or not they stated that on their quote.

  Is the 1500m2 split up into lots of small lawns? Is it a weekly cut or fortnightly in the spec?
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  Matthew Crudgington February 20, 2012 at 6:46pm

  The contract came about as the present gardener is leaving in a couple of weeks to take on the position of head gardener at a country estate so i'd assumed they were looking for a good service, this was confirmed by the site visit.

  I think they were just so pleased to see a small quote from someone else they didn't fully understand that mine was all inclusive and had factored in the time required to atain a high quailty finish

  Yes Dan it's 12 seperate lawns plus lots of little strips between the bungalows and the grass in the orchard.  Loads of paths running along side them all so plenty of edging aswell.  Weekly cut aswell.

   
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  Dan Frazer Gardening February 20, 2012 at 6:55pm

  Well don't worry. I suspect they are paying a very low price at present anyway if the existing guy would rather go and become employed rather than keep his business going.
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  Dan Frazer Gardening February 20, 2012 at 9:27pm

  Matthew - as a side note, I notice your website domain name does not match your business name. I would suggest you buy a new domain, matthewcrudgingtongardening.co.uk, migrate your site content to this domain name, then set up a basic page at halesworthgardener.co.uk that directs clients to the first site.

  I think a domain name should always match a company name.
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  Matthew Crudgington February 20, 2012 at 10:00pm

  Cheers Dan, i do have the domain name matthewcrudgingtongardening.co.uk but was worried about people mispelling my name or just not being bothered to type that many letters. That's definantly something i'll look in to doing, thanks for the tip.
   
  Dan Frazer Gardening said:

  Matthew - as a side note, I notice your website domain name does not match your business name. I would suggest you buy a new domain, matthewcrudgingtongardening.co.uk, migrate your site content to this domain name, then set up a basic page at halesworthgardener.co.uk that directs clients to the first site.

  I think a domain name should always match a company name.
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  Andy Thorne February 20, 2012 at 11:38pm

  Hi Matthew,

  not meaning to be harsh but your assertion that the job is 700hrs/pa may be wrong.

  I have a very similar sounding contract, that includes coring and spraying as well as all you list.  Lawned area around 1300m2.  That job comes in at a bit below £5k.

  The time taken to do tasks depends totally on:

        kit used x experience of worker x motivation of worker

  This formula, although not specifically measurable will lead to variations in time allowed to complete tasks. 

  Overhead and profit costs will also vary.

  Therefore time and costs to  company 1 cannot be attributed to company 2.....