Plumber-to-the-stars Charlie Mullins is a massive fan of London’s congestion
charge and would like to see it extended – even though it costs him £150,000
a year.
“We’ve been going for nearly 20 years and undoubtedly the traffic has got much
worse in the capital,” says Mullins, 55. “Without the congestion charge, I
don’t think we’d still be in business. We wouldn’t be able to get around
London and we’d have to let down customers, which would have been a killer
for us because we pride ourselves on our service.
“We’ve got around 120 vans on the road and the charge costs us about £3,000 a
week. But it’s 10-15 per cent better on the roads and each of our plumbers
gains an extra hour a day, at the current rate of £75, so it’s not such a
bad deal.”
Mullins’ company, Pimlico Plumbers, has an annual turnover of £16 million and
makes profits of around £1 million. His clients include Jonathan Ross,
Michael Winner, Hugh Grant, Richard Branson and Sophie Ellis-Bextor. He
travels around the country, and to Spain and France, fixing plumbing
problems and overhauling properties. Occasionally, he flies long-haul for
business.
How can you improve the traffic problem in London?
We’ve had a meeting with (prospective Conservative candidate) Boris Johnson. I
think the solution is to make public transport free during peak hours and
put up the congestion charge for drivers. It might sound fanciful, but if
things don’t change, it will get worse again and London will eventually
grind to a standstill. But, of course, they have to invest in public
transport. I don’t know whether Boris will back our plan, but he did
indicate that the domestic charge will have to go up.
I’d also extend the hours of the charge. At the moment it starts at 7am, so
there is a mad rush to get in before then, which ironically creates
congestion. If you started it at 5am, people would accept that they had to
pay it and the situation would improve. There’s so much you can do; it’s not
rocket science.
What other problems do you encounter on the road?
Parking is an absolute nightmare – that’s probably another £30 - £50 a day for
each van. Some of our clients have parking facilities, but a lot of them do
not. But we have no choice because with the equipment we carry, it would be
impossible to travel by public transport. Our vans are fully equipped – the
only alternative would be travelling by our own coach.
Do you ever have to stay overnight in hotels in the UK?
I can usually get home to Kent. But if our engineers are working late and have
to stay over anywhere, they’ll usually stay in a bed and breakfast house in
Pimlico or Victoria. We don’t waste money!
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