| By :
Martin Hofschroer
An increasing number of people have beaten the jobs crisis by becoming self-employed plumbers, according to a new study. Research by Thisismoney.co.uk revealed that despite the growing unemployment figures, more than 3.8 million people are now self-employed, which is an increase of two per cent on the previous year. Furthermore, the typical self-employed person is likely to be a tradesperson who is over 35 and has completed plumbing courses and decorating courses in order to become fully qualified. Thisismoney.co.uk discovered that part-time self-employment increased by nearly ten percent in the three months to the end of February in comparison to the same time period from 2009. Many of the people who were setting up their own business were using their savings or redundancy payments, said Stephen Alambritis, head of public affairs at the Federation of Small Businesses. People who set up their own business following a redundancy will benefit the most if they invest as much of their own money as possible because they will not be over reliant on the support of banks, explained Mr Alambritis to the BBC. Mr Alambritis added that having family support is also crucial for people who are looking to change career and start a new business. During the mid-nineties just over two million people were self employed and that number is likely to double by the end of 2010, according to Thisismoney.co.uk. Government-funded services such as Business Link and the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative, can help people who are looking to start a business as they provide grants for people in deprived areas. Business Link is only available in England, and works in partnership with Business Gateway in Scotland, Flexible Support for Business in Wales and Invest Northern Ireland. People need to complete the appropriate recognised plumbing courses before founding their own plumbing business. To be considered as a fully qualified plumber people need to complete the City & Guilds 6129 Technical Certificate Level 2 and Level 3 and the City & Guilds Plumbing Level 2 and Level 3 NVQ in Mechanical Engineering Services - Plumbing (Domestic). The Technical Certificates provide key principles, theory and essential background knowledge, while the NVQs can only be taken by those in employment and are focused on on-the-job training and assessment. Figures released at the end of April 2010 revealed that 2.5 million people were unemployed and that every sector in the economy had reported job losses.
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