Chimney sweeps have never been more popular in modern times.
Not since Dick Van Dyke – complete with dubious Cockney accent and bendy limbs – played Bert in the 1964 epic Mary Poppins, has our trade been so lionised.
Newspapers and TV shows have been falling over themselves to report how in-demand sweeps have become. Indeed, we recently featured on a prime time Breakfast TV slot about the craze.
Many sweeps’ diaries have been full since September. Most are now only offering January/February appointments.
‘Silly season’ – as it’s called in the trade – is usually hectic. Fears over heating bills this year have put the turbo chargers on it.
You may think all this is good news. Indeed, some sweeps do.
A cursory glance at their social media business pages show a fair number parading their ‘Full for 2022’ status, almost like a badge of honour.
I don’t blame them; I’ve done it myself in the past.
But I was wrong. It’s not great – it’s actually terrible.
Terrible for customers.
Terrible for home safety.
And terrible for all the excellent progress we’ve made on reducing emissions.
After all, what precisely is good about making customers wait for months?
Sure, it may give your ego a boost. I mean, who doesn’t want to feel wanted and in-demand?
Again, I’ve done the same in the past. But it’s actually terrible customer service.
In a world we can order items and get them delivered on the same day, fewer and fewer people will wait months.
Some will, but many will simply either move on to another sweep; not get it done, or have a go doing it themselves.
Indeed, Facebook logburner groups are full of these tales. People buying sweeping kits off eBay, posting the pics and then getting an earful from industry folk for daring to clean their own chimney.
Why they are surprised, I’ll never know.
Of course, DIYers have always existed and always will. But there’s a big difference between those who choose to do it themselves and those who do it themselves precisely because they have NO choice.
The time has come to face up to it – something which has been evident for a while, but has now become unavoidable.
We need more trained chimney sweeps.
I totally realise saying this will put me at odds with, I guess, a large percentage of sweeps.
In fact, many feel there are TOO MANY sweeps.
This view stems largely from the fact it’s a widely seasonal trade. To put it in perspective, takings in ‘quiet time’ can be 50%-75% down on what they are in ‘silly season’.
These quieter times spook many sweeps, which is why some are sensitive to extra competition.
But what many conveniently forget, or maybe don’t even realise, is that by not being able to offer appointments in busy time, they’re actually CREATING their own competition – the same new competition they often complain about come the quieter months.
The demand in ‘silly season’ is there and that’s how most new sweeps start up – getting ‘overspill’ from established sweeps who have told frantic customers they’ll have to wait months for an appointment.
“Why won’t they wait?” the established sweep will cry. “I’m experienced and they won’t be getting the same service from a new sweep.”
Reality check: most customers won’t care. They just want their chimney swept.
Now. Not in three months’ time. Now.
And they’ll trample over your ego – experienced or otherwise – to get it.
Other sweeps simply shrug and blame customers for ‘leaving it to the last minute’.
While you can always encourage customers to get their chimneys swept in spring or summer (and there are very good reasons for doing so), the vast majority will always come in the winter months.
So unless we have more sweeps, we’ll have more dangerous chimneys, more DIYers and more overworked sweeps.
That last point is worth noting. In silly season, many one person bands – even those who do zero active marketing – work seven days a week, doing anywhere between 6-14 chimneys a day.
And yet they’ll STILL be turning customers away hand over fist. It’s unsustainable.
Silly season is a hard slog. Having downtime is important.
At Mr Soot, it’s extremely rare that we work more than 5 days a week. Rest time is important. It’s a tough job which is hard on the body as well as the mind.
Things are changing though. More entrepreneurial-minded sweeps have started to expand, employing people and therefore have fewer disappointed customers.
Since we started expanding in mid 2021, we have DOUBLED the amount of appointments we’ve been able to offer. This means waiting times are in some cases down to mere days or weeks, not months.
We’ve also started covering more areas than ever before. We’ve branched out into Liverpool, Sefton, Preston, South Ribble and parts of Cheshire – with more expansion planned in 2023.
Granted, this silly season has been unusual. But given the amount of new stoves going in, it’s unlikely to be any quieter in 2023 and beyond.
The dye is cast.
Demand is wildly outstripping supply. The market is dictating this. And as the UK government and its short-lived Prime Minister Liz Truss found out to their cost recently, you cannot fight the markets.
Of course, some will start aiming their fire at sweeping associations and accuse them of ‘cashing in’ by training new sweeps (Disclaimer – I’m a trainer for the Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps, although this claim predates my appointment by some considerable timespan).
This tired, old and lazy canard doesn’t hold water, and never has.
Because, going back to the previous point, it’s market forces which are dictating this.
If training wasn’t available, then you’d simply have people going round plying their trade without any formal training whatsoever. It wouldn’t stop people from doing it, it would simply reduce standards.
And as an industry which is so hot on professionalising its image, it would reflect poorly on us as a whole.
Fortunately, such misplaced theories about the associations causing an over-supply of sweeps have now been roundly debunked.
The reality is staring everyone in the face – there will be new sweeps entering the market.
It may be a career switcher. It might be a neighbour. It might even be one of your customers.
Many of the established one-person bands won’t relish it.
But the writing is already on the wall. In huge capital letters no less.
And as a company we’re ready to accept this new challenge. In fact, the plans have been in preparation for some time.
Earlier this year, we launched this very website – a first of its kind in our industry. A dedicated chimney sweep careers website for those wanting to enter the industry.
We recognise that, to get good people, you need to reach out and show why someone would want a career with you.
As such, we’re well placed to be able to offer posts for new sweeps. Directly-employed, trained, approved professional sweep technicians.
A shift is happening in our industry, and has been for a while. Issues such as gas prices have simply expedited it.
For companies like Mr Soot, who have seen this coming on the horizon for a while, the process of adaptation has already started.
Exciting times. Stay tuned…
David is the owner of Mr Soot Chimney Sweep. To hear him discussing this further, you can tune into Trade Entrepreneur Podcast.
Chimmey Sweep Careers 