PHEX South Live Show Special | Off The Job: A Trade Podcast Season 3 Episode 10

Welcome to the Season 3 finale of Off The Job: A Trade Podcast! In this special live episode, we take you inside the PHEX South (Plumbing and Heating Exhibition London), one of the UK's premier events for plumbers, gas engineers, and industry professionals. Hosted by Kieran and Pete from Trade Apps, this episode is packed with laughs, trade stories, and insightful discussions.

We’re joined by special guest, Pointy Plumber, a renowned Talon ambassador, who brings his signature humour and knowledge about the industry. We also dive deep into mental health in the trades, the daily challenges of working as a plumber or gas engineer, and answer audience questions about everything from career paths to the future of heating with air source heat pumps.

You’ll also hear about Kieran’s journey from plumbing and heating to founding Trade Apps and Gas Certificate App, a leading tool for gas engineers across the UK. Don’t miss the hilarious role-play segment where Pointy Plumber and Becca Weston tackle a mock plumbing disaster!

If you’re a tradesperson, plumber, gas engineer, or just a fan of British podcasts that blend industry insights with great banter, this episode is for you! Make sure to subscribe for more content from Off The Job: A Trade Podcast and stay connected for more updates from Trade Apps and the Gas Certificate App team.

#OffTheJobPodcast #PHEXSouth #Plumbing #GasEngineers #TradeApps #Talon #GasCertificateApp #BritishPodcast #Plumbers

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Warning: Contains adult humour and language.

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Transcript

0:00

Right! welcome one and all all of you to the uh off the job live podcast uh at PHEX show um this is the second time that we've been to PHEX as trade apps company um and I think to it's the new arena this year and I think we can all agrees it's a lot lighter it's a lot brighter nice daylight in here don't feel so enclosed do you so um yeah so let's say this is a second live show that we've done now we've done one before and this is the second one we're trying so we'll see how it goes uh we was expecting a few more people here but you know let's blame the trains on that one yeah woo um yeah there's a few people there oh it's cold here how you doing Carl enjoying yourself yeah what you've been doing anything nice loitering yep and that's what you're doing now sit down son people can't hear him Pete but coming to London gives me flashbacks what from it reminds me that I hate driving and parking in London but you know what Kieran I hate your driving too it's absolutely abysmal um how many red lights you went through you probably lost your licence on the way here son it literally took me 20 minutes to drive a mile 20 minutes to walk back and on top of that I had to carry carry your luggage yeah anyway so um yeah but that is what chauffeur drivers do in it are you gonna expect me to take it to your room later yes yes you'll be taking it to my room and you'll be the room service for that as well so um we'll have a little bit of banter bit of banter between ourselves so oh we're filling up a bit now we're filling up a bit if anybody's on the outside come in come in um so Kieran let me ask a couple of questions about you and you can ask me a couple of questions about we don't know these questions by the way no I don't know what he's gonna say to me and he doesn't know what I'm gonna say to him so Kieran if you hadn't started trade apps um do you think you'd still be plumbing and heating I'd have no choice yeah you know I'd have no choice so I'll probably still be plumbing you still be plumbing in the heat what did you used to do you told me a bit about what you did earlier on the way up here right so you weren't just plumbing the heat you used to do other stuff as well what did you do yeah so my background was sort of maintenance so I used to look after swimming pools as well yep um I done electric so when I first left school actually went into electrics went to college so I learnt that side first and then my job change worked with a plumber everyday so I naturally picked up plumbing um then done my gas went to work for myself and I still carried on like maintaining swimming pools and stuff in London um so yeah what would I I still be doing plumbing you still be doing plumbing but what made you change what made you think I don't wanna do plumbing anymore but you still wanted to work within the industry um ah be honest I was looking for other ways to earn money he was lazy wasn't he he was lazy you didn't what you didn't wanna be on your knees anymore let's be honest none of us wanna do that all the time but yeah I know it weren't for me forever so I thought but it's gotta be easier ways to uh but I'm not knocking plumbing cause it's a good trade no we love it we love we love plumbing where's that Andy Cam here yeah yeah what I love plumbing Carl where is I love plumbing right so yeah one question for you Pete if your life was a reality show oh my God what would it be called and who would narrate it who would who would who would be right yeah what would it be called if you had a reality a reality show would be um oh no I knew I should have been briefed on these questions the reality show would be uh that crazy unpredictable life of a plumber as opposed to just a day in a life of a plumber and the the narrator would be James L Jones but unfortunately cannot be with us anymore so probably a bit bad taste that one in it I don't know sorry sorry about that but he was he was my favourite voice over that's all I'm saying I don't know that is Pete no you don't know who anyone is right if you had to swap places with the tradesman for a week with with one tradesman for a week who would it be and why this sexy man in front of me Carl well I said this sexy man in front of me Carl oh you'd swap places with him yeah yeah if you don't know Carl lad yeah Google Carl lad Google him he's a Google he's on Google he's naked he's naked on Google you can see him it's beautiful it's beautiful I'd like to swap with him to work with Mark but I don't know if he'd want to spend the day with you though oh right big boy stuff big boy stuff Google him right this is more of a serious question tomorrow you are taking part in a panel on mental health and well being how do you feel about being asked to be a speaker about mental health um I feel honoured I'll be honest with you all because it's quite uh it's quite close to my heart uh I've got family members who suffer from mental health um I myself I'm sure like a lot of us have do have mental health issues at time it's very important subject to talk about especially within the trades industry because men and women within a trade industry are under a huge amount of pressures everyday um running a business whether or not you're just running a business or you've just got home life which is like it might be difficult it's not when you work in our sector of trades it is not the most sociable of ours as we all know and that that you have to have a strong partnership with your partner in that so and that also can affect your mental health if things aren't going straight at home it's not going well that can have a massive effect so tomorrow being asked to sit up here again and speak on it I'm hugely honored so yeah thanks very much so what let me ask you another one what is the most outrageous customer experience you've had at gas certificate app should I share this okay on our customer service chat we've had a photo sent in by accident apparently of a guys friends he was naked oh this was to a woman that there was about customer service like 2 years ago she had a pic sent to her on customer service oh an accident I didn't see it is there anything else I'm trying to keep it clean I'm trying to keep it clean do you know how hard this is for me to keep it clean um Pete you are not shy about expressing enough we should say this your hate for plumbing but you can't deny the opportunities as brought you so what is your most positive memory or what do you love about your career I think to be honest with you um in the last three years is when I probably started all this malarkey and actually met people who are actually out here in the crowd and engage with people who like to watch stuff that we do on a day to day basis what we do on social media I think that's the that's probably the highlight of my career because judging that to taking out an old toilet it's got to be like a huge positive isn't it when we all agree a lot of us on here on social media you'd rather be like doing something like this or like you know enjoying that that side of it then actually like some people love plumbing no some people do love plumbing yeah they love it so much they join social media do you know what i mean look around see you love plumbing where is I love plumbing no no he's over there talking he's chatting away he's chatting away right so um anyway let's um ask some audience members cause none of you gonna I was gonna say Pete go gone these words don't normally come out my mouth but anyone that knows you understand today I think I spoke so too much you've spoke too much yeah really that's the first yeah I know so can you go and ask the questions to the audience so I can have a rest I'll ask them I'll ask some audience questions um so uh who can we pick here can we ask you sir are you you don't speak English okay that's the best you spoke English the best he just spoke English best excuse I've ever had in my life best I'm gonna say that in the future all right um all right then his partner next to him then yeah okay are you friends no okay so stand up so are you are you a plumber or a gas engineer this person who I've never met before in my life random go on neither you're neither you know but how do you explain what you do what what do you do what do you do as as your what is your industry profession apart from pilot I'm speaker now oh you're you're speaker you are now a professional speaker welcome to the stage sir all right okay well let's let's leave him he don't want to talk he doesn't want to talk um right uh well we don't wanna answer him but let's ask Robbie Robbie let's ask you you're you're a you're a heating engineer aren't you why right what are you then right I'm a pipe strangling bog bustle dabbles in gas very erotic very erotic so how how did you get into the trade how long ago oh 22 years ago completely by accident um I don't wanna bore you with all the details but yeah an opportunity came up when I was 16 to do an apprenticeship I had no intention of staying on as a plumber I wanted to be a gamekeeper but yeah within 12 months I felt that I love plumbing there's a lot of I love plumbing going around isn't there but it used to wanna be a gamekeeper you still involved with that sort of uh industry are you a farmer type sort of grounds person groundskeeper yeah I'm a bit of a fake farmer really bit of a farmer wannabe um there's a lot of them around my area and yeah the boys rip the out of me but yeah I I yeah very active in country life um cause I'm in mid south Wales and that's how we roll I love really love that like because you like in London you have like plastic gangsters but in the country of plastic farmers that's that's brilliant isn't it as how do you see the future of plumbing and heating rob air source heat pumps in it it's gotta be everybody's raving about the air source heat pumps Robbie he's shaking his head now at the moment Pete have you got into heat pumps I've I've fitted a couple of heat pumps okay well half a heat pump I can't do it all not qualified um what do you like and dislike about the trade customers and customers um the job would be easy if it wasn't for customers but then I wouldn't have a job so yeah it's meeting customers it's um creating a rapport with them um I've got ones that have been with me since I was apprentice sort of 19 years I was doing hobblin for them and I still go back to their houses and they've watched me grow as a young man they've watched me grow up kind of um to being married and having kids and stuff and it's nice to go back I can never do a boiler service in half hour like certain companies can it's a 2 hour job because the customers wanna talk to me give me back the mic please this is my moment now it's good yeah it's just customer relationships and and yeah having a laugh I think that's the thing is it if you build up good customer relationships with people your business is gonna strive because it's word of mouth a lot of it I know a lot of us do social media and that's one way of doing it but we always say the best way of spreading how good you are is through recommendation which you build that trust with your customer don't you so if you start to get one last question if you start it again would you change trades? no well I did fancy being electrician but it turns out I'm colorblind so yeah no I'd probably still be a plumber to be honest I just like pipe strangling and bog busting that's what I do cheers Robbie thanks for that yeah I've I wouldn't made a very good electrician either especially as my mom and dad was blind and I used to do my dad actually used to do rewires of my house believe it or not and this breaks been nice to be honest just for a laugh I'd tell him the wrong colors what a green man can you go and ask more questions please well we can let's ask some more people okay let's come over this way here so what do you do sir what is your trade I'm an electrician boo get out no no go go go that was set up we've just relieved him liam come back he's wearing double denim as well you could actually think he was an electrician wouldn't you is a double denim electrician right we've got a special guest yeah we have got a special guest let's move over for it can we introduce our special guest Pointy Plumber come to the stage please I want him closer to me oh hello hello everyone hi there how the devil are we ah he's working we needed him cause he can really talk loads loads and loads I can sit back and just listen there has anybody told you about Talon pipe snugs oh my God I've been talking about them all day I actually feel like I'm working on QVC and then what have you got over him what you what you done to him oh no it's mike they have hypnotized him he knows the buttons to push baby free clips I mean come on well it's nice of you to join us pointy thank you very much nice to be here thank you I am disappointed I'm disappointed that you haven't come in your shorts well the reason I'm not wearing them is because I did come in my shorts so I had to change into trousers we was trying to keep this clean I hope everybody noted that I didn't say that wearing my trousers I didn't say that that was you but you know why you wear shorts in it I know why you wear shorts a lot God I mean it might be I mean all I can say is you've got some massive calfs going on there show of your calfs yeah he really doesn't skip leg day pointy look look pointy can we get a cat oh that's impressive isn't it how's face look how's on Google and he's never seen calves like that I want to be on Google Pointy's calf they've got they've got to be on Google surely and I now I've tensed one now I can't get my cuff down you need some we need to call it back down we need some grease has anyone got any like grease no no some lubricant for that I'll just oh no hold on I don't think they can't even get past your calfs look at him just look at them they're so impressive you're welcome you're welcome soak it up so um have you found PHEX today pointy so first time I've been to phex um heard about it for so many years obviously new venue so oh look tifers alright mate oh welcome tifers nice nice of you to join us yeah nice of you to join us

get out to first get out 3: 16:19

15 the usual amount of time he shows up but no first time at phex this year um got the honour of working on the talon stand today um I've obviously been a talon ambassador for quite some time now and it's a really great business to work with of course I've never officially done a show stand so come all the way down to London and done the whole you know ambassador thing you know meeting the customers talking about the products which is really easy cause obviously I use the stuff anyway um but yeah walked around totally different vibe to obviously a lot of the shows I'm used to going to um but again I feel like it's a little bit close in there you get to talk to the guys a bit more you know you could get to make more connections with the stands that are here so yeah I think it's got a a different angle selling point but it's been an enjoyable process so far well done nice is there anyone who doesn't know you how long have you actually been within the industry so I retrained when I was 27 uh started doing plumbing then uh it took me a couple of years to get onto my gas course so yeah 11 years in total uh I've been on my own working for just six years so November will be with the end of my sixth year so to go from basically being arriving Alki 10 years 11 years ago to getting qualified getting into the business um and then grow my own business in the last six years and we've just recently this week actually on Monday we started our second van on the road and and our third employee so yeah six years yeah thanks sir thanks thanks everyone so I'm quite proud of that and and obviously I've been able to do the social media stuff off the side of it and enjoy life and dick about for money effectively so before but before you did this you used to be in the food industry didn't you used to do a bit of chef in and stuff like that didn't you yeah left school qualified chef level 3 professional culinary arts do you think that I know you said that you had you did a bit of drinking and all that did that go hand in hand with the with the that industry massively I think you there's there was a I think what was it called now I think it was heat or something there was a um a film recently done um about a kitchen it was all done in one long take um and it was a real professional kitchen as all actors obviously but it was the closest thing to the real pressures and environment that you're working in I mean we're under pressure as self employed people booking things quoting things keep up to date with regs doing the jobs putting it on Instagram yeah there's a lot of stress there's a lot of hassle but it's nothing compared to the service industry because you know they're working longer hours for less pay they don't see anybody the only people they do see

are the people they finish work with at 1: 19:05

00

2: 19:07

00 in the morning get drunk with for an hour go to bed and show up at 6 the next day you know it is hard hard graft and you know I did it for about six or seven years worked with some agencies worked in some interesting restaurants um but yeah it just it is hard work and the only way to get out of it is is through drink really yeah and that but that transition from that to the heating industry how did you find that was it like very like did it was it shock yeah it was well there was a bit of a buffer I don't I can't remember for the life of me how my kind of calendar went but obviously from 16 I went into chef in full time work and then in between that and 27 I've been doing things like managing paintball sites I've been a chauffeur I've been a qualified digger driver I got my squatter never been a squatter you're a commentator no you squatting your legs oh yeah your professional squatter haha very good page you do comedy funny yeah it's amazing you should try this standing up yeah haha so I'm gutted Granddad's not here today yeah so granddad obviously is your apprentice he's been with me 6 years he's up to uh yeah he's had to go to work today so he was meant to be coming down with me uh and obviously Grandad's benefited really being with me because we've done so many little adventures over the years and we've had days off and done show and done paintballing and all that kind of stuff but just for anyone he is not a granddad no he's young yeah he's not no he's not just some poor old bloke like 20 yeah why is he called granddad cause he's slow and senile hahaha I was like when he started him on his first day he's got the same name as my grandad which is George right but by the time he started with he started with me on his first day I says mate my granddad's been dead six years and he still run rings around you today it's weird our nickname comes about in it really so and then now if you don't know him as granddad it's like yeah we're still gonna get one for stew though cause it's weird it's like Pointy Granddad and stew and it's almost people ask me now like stew is that is that really what he's called that sound doesn't sounds interesting as pointing grandad I'm like we're working on it we're working on it yeah would you recommend someone to get an apprentice how comes he's still an apprentice it's been six years so executive so it's it's a bit of a talking topic possibly to go into more detail on one of your shows perhaps but it benefits the business no so when granddad when granddad started with me he was actually meant to be a plumber he been to college he done full time for 3 years hundred percent attendance and came out of that with a qualification MVQ level 3 more qualified than I still am in plumbing right no one saw experience I said how do you fit a radiator oh you put the screws back in the holes now this was the three years of education in plumbing and heating that these guys would be getting and it come out they didn't even show my spirit level so then he became my apprentice but it was more just a trainee slash labourer but that situation doesn't work with a lot of times cause there's too much trust involved you risk getting mugged off by your employer but at the same time you risk having someone that's useless because you still gonna pay them you know um so yeah he's basically been on a 6 year training course and he could probably quite easily fit a boiler now to the same standard as me take a lot longer just don't trust him don't trust him is he on a job on his own today though no he's with Stewart the other grown up haha um so they I think Pete can't answer this question how have you found working with ADHD this is like serious question oh mate I can't I don't know I tried paying attention to it the once but I got distracted haha this is really hard so I'm gonna just try and do you even if I put my feet in the air the blood will come out and I'll just be able to put my trousers back there there we go um I actually think to a degree being a self employed business person trades person with ADHD to a to a level is actually almost helpful so through life I mean I've had a lot of jobs I think through my life I've done so many different jobs because I've got bored and distracted and I wanted to do something different something's always looked more interesting or more practical and with plumbing and gas I feel like every job even just changing a tap in that house to changing the tap in that house could be a completely different experience in a process of what you have to deal with and getting to do social media and getting to do plumber social and get to do you know influencer and ambassador stuff it it's constantly keeping you distracted whilst actually staying focused on your core business so yeah it it gives you the the ADHD uh distraction but actually you're still moving forward in one straight line so so not a lot of people will know this you know it's not a big giveaway but you're quite good at talking India I don't know what you're talking about you know you you don't you don't shut up but like that's why we got you on here basically but not a lot of people knows you are actually a commentator as well and yeah your commentator I work with the British Truck Racing Championships I'm actually there in Snetterton this weekend I do the TV presenting trophy presention and yeah I do all the pitline interviews and commentary on the online stream as well so keeps me busy on the weekends right brilliant well like that well we're gonna do one more thing I think before we wrap up and um could we have a volunteer please bex haha volunteer from that right so what we're gonna do we always do when we do these live shows we try to do a bit of like audience participation etc as if we've done loads please our second one yeah I know it's like improv but like make it look like we're professional here in India you know right so what we what we do we in the last one we did we actually got some roleplay so we're gonna have a bit of roleplay between Becks and pointy easy right easy now so Becks if you like to come up here what what we want to do right is pointy as you are a commentator well let's move this let's move this out of the way so pointy as you are a commentator yes right and you are a plumber and you know exactly what you're doing right you should know how things are done things are done and you should know what Bex is doing in this situation that we've set up so Bex you can call to a house there is a macerator oh also known as a Sandy flow and Bex you've gone to the house and you've got a deal with it unblock it take it out and put a new one in and pointy is gonna come and take this live action would you like it to be a kind of a motorsport commentary or would you like horse racing or we're gonna do more nature documentary whatever I feel like okay we do nature Bex are you comfortable with this yeah you do just a disclaimer there okay so tradesperson comes over and looks clearly under the lid to discover not one accidental poo but three the macerator broke four days ago but we've carried on using it anyway because that's what we do as customers we look at one more time hoping that it's gone away on its own but no the poo is still there flush it one more time oh shit it's getting to the top of the bowl I didn't bring the wet back I haven't unloaded the van yet um okay put the rubber gloves on long rubber gloves been a while since we put these on it's okay I'm ready psychologically preparing we switch it off there's a few spur that's new usually just an extension lead to the conservatory very very good fitting of the macerator so far we crouch down my goodness it's a good job you're not doing that towards the audience Madam um the very creepy man that's invited you to the property now watching you from the other end of the corridor I feel I might have to say to coin a phrase are you winning so we reach down and start to unscrew the bolts from the side and and smooth out what we're doing here now we're all we've got some very long and shafty is this is this the pipe house is the outlet pipe okay so I'm gonna go into the quarter and uh we got a bag there there is obviously no drain off points on this pipe they weren't that good at fitting it so we're gonna cut it live reaching there with the snips the back pressure builds off oh my gosh the drain is three stories off it's coming out it's going everywhere at least 10% of the poo is going in your blue bin liner but it's okay the pressure has relaxed supporting the sack while scrubbing it at the top very important technique tie off at the top as well do you yeah has anybody filled a bag of liquid and then put it on the floor and expect it to stand up on its own no it's like the old I'm gonna take the U bend off the bottom of the sink and then tip it into the sink amazing sorry continue back you're doing a great job so so we're wiggling the pan out of the way now we lift the butter the panel bend with the knees of course uh there's no room to but you know health and safety uh and then we're on our knees this is the the new one is this the new one oh I see the new box we're opening the box are we gonna remove the old one or is that just disappeared on it oh oh cool cool cool just don't forget that can't double whammy a macerator fuck it yeah turbo turd wouldn't it like two masturators in series starting to smell over a point hey sorry mate it's not my fault she's slow in it I really need to go Becks can you hurry up I wanted to go horse racing you know what I mean okay okay and she's off now she's fitting as well the Jubilee clip onto the inch and a half pipe there down with the screws back up now to the inch and a half outlet pipe with a new solvent wild connector picking up the thing pan goes back in he's done it ladies well done Becks across the finish line 400 pounds plus a new wet back so to the creepy man still watching me is he is he no he might be done well done Becks thanks very much for you let's go over a round of applause thank you very much pointy great job Beck are you wash it over there now are you are you back tomorrow I am back tomorrow yeah back on the talons uh no I'm a free agent tomorrow but I will certainly be visiting the talons he's touting he's touting for work if anybody wants to use the loudmouth ha ha ha ha come and get him he's uh enjoy the show tomorrow yeah enjoy the show that's what I'll be doing tomorrow think make sure you come over see us on the talent stand after this we are there for another hour come and see the fantastic products we've got an offer for you to make your life easier and the job better well thanks very much your services are now done with how much do we owe you$100 million and uh I think that's it for now is it is that yeah have we got anything else um thanks very much for joining us first time at VEX uh we've enjoyed this it's been an experience um yeah go and enjoy the rest of the show and uh we'll see you about thanks very much for joining us thank you guys thank you alright this has been another episode of off the Job Podcast thanks for watching the show on YouTube or listening on Spotify Amazon Music Apple Podcast and all other streaming platforms if it's your first time watching or not make sure to subscribe below and follow us on all the big social media stuff like Facebook Instagram TikTok for our overtime show Monday send us in your stories and comments for it to be read out on the show send it in via email direct message through our social media accounts or WhatsApp us on 0 7 4 5 4 0 6 2 5 9 and we see you on the next episode