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Housing Down, Hit Plumb Center

Wolseley, owner of plumb center and parts center has reported a 77% drop in profits, mostly as a result of the slowdown in the housing market in the US and in the UK.The company reported that pre-tax profits for the year to 31st July have dropped to £145 million compared with £634 million for the previous year. The company added that conditions in many of its key markets are likely to worsen still.The company has seen a remarkable slowdown in its operations in the UK and the US, where the housing markets have taken a tumble last year.During this financial year, the company has announced that it would make 7,100 job cuts with an additional set of 600 cuts in the next financial year.The company said that it had no plans to raise more funds or go to their bankers for loan covenants renegotiation. However, it admitted that these are practical options if conditions remain difficult.Wolseley is the world's largest distributor of heating and plumbing products. It is also a leading ...
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Uncertified Plumber and Boiler Fitter Jailed

Boiler fitter, David Mountford from Stoke-on-Trent, put many lives at risk as he continued to work on boilers in customers homes despite being banned by the court. He has been taking on several boiler jobs and pretended to be a fully certified plumber while not having the right qualifications. On January 18th, he was sentenced to six months in jail.Heating Centrals network is extremely tough on such checks and vets each and every plumber and heating engineer on its network to confirm they meet the highest standards required for the job. Furthermore, Heating Central proactively seeks immediate feedback form each and every customer after every job (boiler repair, boiler installation or a full central heating system installation).Mr. Mountford has set up a string of aliases and bogus plumbing and heating companies such as DM Plumbing, Noble Group and David Mansfield to hide his identity. To his innocent customers, Mr. Mountford presented himself as being a Corgi registered plumber, althou ...
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