OP
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Hi Chris,
No I can't say I do?
Had a quick google search and couldn't find anything either!
"Hello again Hellmooth",
Thanks for your reply.
I asked about John Black the Building Contractor just on the slight chance that You might have known of Him in your area as I think that He was very well known around there and in Edinburgh in the 1990`s / early 2000`s and possibly beyond then.
I worked on a project in London in the mid 1990`s with Him and his team of Tradesmen and Labourers from the Livingston / Edinburgh areas - the Project was for a Company from Edinburgh who created Student and Nurses accommodation all over the UK - John`s Men were living in accommodation on site - He was staying in a Hotel.
He and all of the Tradesmen and Labourers [about 20 of them] were all great blokes and We used to go to the local Pub with them most evenings - so much so that most of my Team used to go to work by Minicab so that We could have a drink after work - We all lived only about 5 miles from the Site.
At that time John did not have a Plumbing & Heating Contractor who would have wanted to `Supply & Fix` a job like that and come down and stay in London for Months and I was a Friend of one of the Developers so they specified my Company to carry out the Plumbing and Heating works.
The Job was running on a 7 Day a week basis and although there was plenty of drinking going on in the evenings there was no drinking during working hours - plenty of work / production was produced even with the ever present `Hangovers`.
The Project was 21 Flats being turned into 100 Student Bedsitting Rooms with new Showers / Bathrooms and Kitchens.
The Site was very close to a Local Pub which had suffered a downturn in custom because the new owner had expected more trade when He purchased the lease and was hoping to earn enough money to gradually refurbish the Pub and therefore attract more Customers.
The Landlord was almost broke and about to close up and give up the Licence / break His Contract with the Brewery / His Suppliers when We arrived on the Site - the Pub began taking a couple of thousand pounds a week from Us which obviously made the world of difference and also despite there being 20 - 30 + Builders in the Pub every night the improved atmosphere attracted more Locals - the Pub became completely `reinvigorated`.
The Landlord went from almost being `destitute` / losing His Pub to earning a good living - to such an extent that He did refurbish the Pub using some of the Carpenters / Electricians / Plumbers & Painters from the Site at the end of our Project and up to about 2 Years ago [ I have not been there since then] He still had what became a very good Pub.
John Black bought a nice big House in East Trinity in Edinburgh and my Business partner and I went up there to completely renew the Plumbing, Heating system and Gas - He preferred Us to do the works on his new House than the Plumbing Contractors that he used on his usual Building Contracts - even though as We were living away from Home our `Mates Rates` Price and accommodation costs would have been much more expensive than a local Plumbing & Heating Company.
I am sure that this would have meant that We could have had some `grief` in the Pubs in Edinburgh but We had 20 + new Friends from the Edinburgh / Livingston area and they put the word around that `We were O.K.` and `not to be interfered with`.
Sorry for the `Story` - I just wanted to explain that I knew John Black well at that time - and although He would probably be in his mid 60`s I thought that He might still be trading in the Livingston area - however He did tell Me that his ambition was to `retire to a Beach in the Caribbean by his mid 50`s` and as He carried out some quite large projects up to and after that time He may well have achieved that ambition.
Regards,
Chris
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