Trade Talk: TV Engineer Pay through the decades

Hi.

British Relay 6th January 1970 I was 15 and 7 months up to my 16th birthday £3-8-5 per week

After 19th May 1970 (16) £4-0-4. Final salary when I left (December 30th 1974) Fully qualified C&G £18 a week.

British Relay had a criticised stores bonus, the less parts you used the more pay you got (time served engineers) it was a stupid system as engineers skimped on parts so repairs were often not properly done, one reason I left in 74. 

Medium size Independent dealer Bolton 1962 age 15 £2 5s per week

Small Independant dealer Wigan 1969 £18 per week Qualifications C&G Final and Colour endorsement.

No bonuses.

I thought the big rental companies were paying more than the small independents, but looking at Trevor’s post perhaps not much difference.

Small family run business near Croydon. 17 yrs and 6 months in June 1970 £8.10s per week. I left there in 1973 and I think I was on £12 per week. Started Philips in 1973 at 20yrs and 7 months on £25 per week which went up to £29 per week by Christmas of that year.

By the time I was 18 I moved sideways in British Relay to trainee station engineer, this gave me just over £14 a week, eventually in the last few months I went back on the bench as the relay rentals were dying out and some of us saw the writing was on the wall. I then actively looked for another job. When I started in Clydesdale in January 1975 I got £29 a week. For me I was quite lucky in my 18 years with Clydesdale as I did their engineer enhancement training and also did their shops EPOS tills. In 1992 I had an annual salary of £16,500 but took voluntary redundancy with an enhanced payment before they went bust. I then started with Sony, (SES Cumbernauld) in Glasgow for the same salary. By the time I left I was on just over £19,000.

I started work in the tv trade in 1970 on £5 a week. This doubled to £10 when i passed my driving test in 1972. £10 a week and a J reg Escort van for private use was good in those days up here in the sticks. Started at Rediffusion w/shop in 1975 on £30 a week, grade F, black and white only, Malc.

I was never a TV engineer but when I started as an electronic engineering apprentice at Ferranti Ltd in 1966 I seem to remember that my wage was £4-7/6d.

Peter

I originally had a Saturday job with Lynns of Holmside in Sunderland earning 10 Shillings for the day. When I became an apprentice with them in 1971 I earned £4.95 a week.

The pay at D.E.R. I felt wasn't bad but not great but I honestly can't remember what I was coming out with. I earned it, it went into the bank and the OH spent it. What I do remember was that we were the first company of the Thorn rental operations to submit a pay claim each year, whatever we got Radio Rentals asked for more.

My last employer in the trade was with a Wales based company who at the time appreciated the worth of good engineers, the wages were top end of the scale and in the final year (2011) for a bench engineer it was just shy of 30k. Those were the days, I'm in EPOS now and nowhere near to that.

Hi.

Continuing on from Sony (SES) I went to Mastercare and was employed as an instore Engineer in Currys Kilmarnock. It was boring to say the least as we were so quiet, we got Top-up from other branches eventually and this boosted salary in one year to £21,500, it was short lived and I was out by 2000. The trade by then was beginning to decline but I was lucky to become a partner with John Nisbet in Audio Vision Services here in Kilmarnock. Pay though massively dropped, initially it was £14,000 but as time went by it went down with it. When John retired in 2004 by then it could only support one, by the time I fully pulled the plug in 2006 I only made £5860 in the last year. With a family and mortgage we were effectively bankrupt. We lost our house but fortunately we saw it coming so were able to sell up and move to a local authority house.

I miss the early days but am glad I'm out. After I closed up I fitted window blinds for 7 months, in November of 2006 I started working for a company repairing industrial cleaning equipment for a little over minimum wage, my health gradually went downhill and I have to say the last 12 years have been the worst of my life. Health though has taken its toll and I've not worked since July 2015.

Good morning,

I started working Saturday's and after school in my local independent TV shop (BK Vision) around 1988/89. I can't remember what I was paid during this time.

They were dealers for JVC, Pioneer, Mitsubishi, Salora/Luxor (later to become Nokia) and also sold Ferguson, Sharp, Philips and Samsung from our local wholesalers (Harris & Russel). We sold and installed TV, Video, HiFi and Satellite/Aerial systems and also had quite a number of TV's and Video's on rental.  When I left school they took me on full time under the WTS YTS scheme and sent me to College on day release. WTS YTS scheme pay was something like £26 a week! My boss would make this up to I think about £80 a week.

The business was run by partners Ian (sales) and Godfrey (engineer), Ian was also an engineer, but with me now at the bench he stayed on the sales side of things. When I passed my exams and could drive my pay was then increased, but I cant remember the amounts now (probably not much). In the mid 90's business was quite slow and Godfrey left to pursue other things. So I was now the only engineer, doing all repairs and some calls/installs.

We then started selling white goods and we also became a dealer for Beko. When I was made redundant in September 1999 I was earning around £9-£9.50-ish an hour. I still miss it now and I still look after a few of my old customers if they need help, but there are not many of those left now! If I had a time machine I would do it all again too.

WTS or YTS?

Posted by: Nuvistor

WTS or YTS?

 

YTS Frank, sorry it's was quite late!

I was racking my brains thinking WTS what’s that until the penny dropped.  Yes the Youth Training Scheme was heavily pushed by the government of the day. Obviously worked for you and many others.