Lockdown, one year on: Plumber Sean Patrick lost 90 per cent of jobs overnight but now business is booming

SCOPE OF DELIVERY

Sean Patrick at work during last year’s lockdown.

The lock had few good sides. Perhaps the brightest was a quick and renewed respect for the people doing the underrated but important daily work we all depend on.

People like Sean Patrick.

The Hastings-based plumber and his staff were key workers during the lockdown, and although he lost 90 percent of normal business overnight, he had enough to keep busy.

“It was obviously a tough blow,” said Patrick. “And we were all in the same boat. We made it thanks to the wage subsidy, but we know that many didn’t make it. “

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During the lockdown, he and his staff were asked to fix leaks and blocks, as well as other pipe emergencies.

“Anyone who stripped everything down to the bare minimum – food, shelter, running water, etc. – had the effect of making people look at craftsmen like us and many other important workers differently,” he said.

Does this newfound respect endure?

“I would like to think that it is a bit like that, but who knows. People have always been pretty grateful for the job we plumbers do, to be honest. If one or two people had a revelation about how great we are, that’s great, ”he said with a chuckle.

SCOPE OF DELIVERY

Patrick, right, of East Coast Plumbing and Gas, with Benjamin Stanley, who graduated in September.

Business has picked up significantly after the lockdown, and the past year has been one of the busiest for Patrick’s East Coast Plumbing and Gas company.

“More people are investing in their homes instead of spending on overseas travel, etc. So we get some of that kind of work with builders – new kitchens and bathrooms and the like – and install gas,” he said.

The company employs the same number of people as it did before Covid, with five craftsmen, two office workers and Patrick and his wife Emma. They want to keep more busy when the company expands into heat pump installation.

“We did it and we’re fine now, but it has certainly had a huge impact on our business that will take us a few years to recover,” he said.