Are East European fitters good, bad, or just misunderstood? Asks deputy editor Tim Wallace...

These days, aside from my role on kbbreview, I'm also editor of another Taylist title - KBB Installer.

So far it's given me an interesting new slant on the industry and, as you'd expect, kitchen and bathroom fitters aren't normally short of an opinion or two.

In fact, if I'm honest, there are a few corporate bods out there who could certainly learn a thing or two from them on the benefits of plain speaking and telling it how it is.

One issue that's raised its head of late is the thorny old subject of east European fitters. Reports recently have suggested a lot of these guys are now making their way home. The work's dried up and the UK no longer offers the comparatively rich pickings it once did.

Not so, says Robert Moore, an Edinburgh-based kitchen fitter who took part in a debate we've featured in the latest issue of the magazine. There are still 'loads of them' in Scotland he tells me, and 'the standard of their work is really appalling'.

Among other things, they take work off him by offering significantly lower prices, generally do a pretty shoddy job and fail to comply with the necessary building regulations.

Now before we go any further, I'll happily admit that I'm sitting on the fence on this one. After all, this is dangerous ground, and although there are strong opinions on either side it's not easy to get the true story.

All I can do is report what installers are telling me, and Robert Moore is not a happy man. Nor is Gary Evans, who owns his own kitchen and bathroom installation business in the south of England. Like Moore, he casts doubt over their willingness to comply with Part P, Gas Safe etc and suggests they're happy to work for peanuts to the detriment of those looking for work in the same areas.

So do Moore and Evans have a point? Or are views like these too generalised? I've talked to other people, manufacturers included, who take an altogether different stance. To some, eastern European fitters are usually quick, well trained and do a good job. In fact sometimes the job they do is a bit too good for the liking of the traditional British installer who charges more and takes longer to complete the work.

There's also a geographic consideration here with others telling me they've heard the stories but that it isn't a problem in their area.

It's also very easy to blame the influx of east European fitters for continuing to harm the reputation of the industry. Maybe it's just a convenient way for some of their British counterparts to pass the buck?

Fitters willing to work speedily for cheap rates and to do a good job are undoubtedly a threat to their businesses. But looking at it from the other side, fitters who work quickly because they're not complying with the regulations and are therefore dangerous tarnish the reputation of an industry that's still finding it hard to shake off its cowboy reputation.

So what do you think? Is the retreat of the much malinged Polish plumber a good thing? Or are East European installers sometimes given a bad name simply because they're perceived as a threat to their British counterpart?

What do you think? Email Tim direct - tim@kbbreview.com