Drain Doctor prices its jobs before work starts according to a national pricing menu.

A scam, highlighted recently in the Yorkshire Post – in which an unscrupulous plumber preyed on the elderly by carrying out unnecessary or pointless repairs to their drains – has prompted us to re-iterate our price check policy for consumers.

A burst pipe or blocked lavatory is a problem at any time of the year – but in the New Year following all that Christmas excess it can be an expensive nightmare. ‘Rip off’ plumbers can charge a small fortune just to take a look at the problem. Extra unforeseen  expense is always unwelcome, particularly in these days of economic gloom.

That’s why we are maintaining our fixed prices. No overtime is charged for evening, weekend or bank holiday emergencies and there are no call-out charges. Every job is priced before work starts, working to a national pricing menu.

Leeds Drain Doctor John Rushforth said: “We are truly on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Service requests are handled quickly and efficiently and prices are agreed before the job is done, so there are no surprises. Our constant aim is to give superb and specialised service.”

Drain Doctor provides a 24 hour a day, 365 days a year service in every part of the country with each franchise run as an independent business.  The central principle is to deliver dazzling levels of service in a market plagued by cowboy operators who are overcharging customers for shoddy workmanship.

Franchisees offer a full 24 hour per day seven-day per week service with no call out charges and they give fixed-price, no obligation quotes with a full guarantee on all their work.

Technicians are trained not just with technical skills – including the latest techniques such as closed circuit camera drain surveys and no-dig drain repairs – but in customer care that is reflected in such things as wearing overshoes while in customers’ homes and clearing up carefully after every job.

John Donachie has taken on the Plymouth and East Cornwall franchise of Drain Doctor.

Drain Doctor welcomes plumber, gardener and smallholder John Donachie to the network.

John has taken on the Plymouth and East Cornwall franchise business offering emergency plumbing and drain repairs in the city and the surrounding towns and villages including Saltash, Tavistock and Wadebridge.

John has extensive experience in the plumbing and drainage industry. He has worked as a plumber for the past 40 years and has decided that the time is now right for him to start his own plumbing and drainage business.

“I have been a plumber and heating engineer all my working life and decided to start my own business. I live on a smallholding close to the River Tamar where I grow vegetables – tomatoes, courgettes and cucumbers – and produce eggs which we sell at the farm gate.

“I aim to keep the farm on so I had been looking for an opportunity locally for some time. When this franchise became available it made sense to take it on,” John said.

John was struck by how much more support he would get as part of a large national organisation, rather than working on his own as a small independent contractor.

He said: “Drain Doctor has a proven system that offers a largely recession-proof opportunity where I can still be an independent operator running my own business but with all the back-up that comes with being part of a large national organisation.

“We looked at other businesses for sale but you don’t get the same support that you do with Drain Doctor. With some other businesses you are left on your own. Drain Doctor offers great contacts with insurance companies and has a national account network that will help me to develop and grow the business.”

John will initially provide the plumbing service himself. He has been set quite a challenge as he has also been offered the neighbouring franchise area. However, he intends to continue to expand by recruiting technicians and hopes to have two or three more vans on the road within a year.

He will run the office, based in a converted garage on the farm, with the help of his wife.

In what spare time he has John will continue to run his smallholding and try to keep the local deer population off his cabbages. He said: “I don’t think I’m going to have much time to devote to gardening, at least not until we get the franchise more established and a few more technicians on the road.”

For anyone still pondering over the answers we have posted the quiz below, along with the answers.

1.   1066…… BOH (Battle of Hastings)

2.   24……     HIAD (Hours in a Day)

3.   12……… DOC (Days of Christmas)

4.   64……… SOACB (Squares on a chess board)

5.  1666……  GFOL (Great Fire of London)

6.  12………  SOTZ (Signs of the Zodiac)

7.   3………..  TAL (Times a Lady)

8.  170…….   HFAD (Highest finish at Darts)

9.  1961……  FMIS (First man in space)

10.  7………. SOAFPP (Sides on a Fifty Pence Piece)

11.  1993……..DDLITUK (Drain Doctor launches in the UK)

12.  2………..STES (Sides to every story)

13. 1966…… EWWC (England won World Cup)

14.  366……. DIALY (Days in a Leap Year)

15.  50………WTLYL (Ways to Leave Your Lover – Paul Simon)

16. 1440……  MIAD (Minutes in a day)

17. 4408…… HOBN (Height of Ben Nevis – in feet)

18. 147…….  MBIS (Maximum break in Snooker)

19.  30………POS (Pieces of silver)

20.  3………..FH (French Hens)

21. 25D……. BOC (Birth of Christ)

22. 99……… RB (Red Balloons)

23. 1979…… MTBPM (Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister)

24. 62.8……. HOWSW (Height of the world’s shortest woman – Jyoti, India)

25. 50……… SBFSLW (Scrabble bonus for seven letter word)

26. 10……… MWTM (Men Went to Mow)

27. 8……….. MAM (Maids a Milking)

28. 350…….. COPLIM (Cost of Park Lane in Monopoly)

29. 9801…… SRONN (Square root of ninety-nine)

30. 1989…… TSM (Tiananmen Square Massacre)

31. 706…….. TS (Titanic survivors)

32. 20……… TITPL (Teams in the Premier League)

33. 1935…… EPB (Elvis Presley Birthday)

34.  1969…..  FMOTM (First man on the Moon)

35. 173,000…  POP (Population of Peterborough)

36. 10…         GBHOTW (Green Bottles Hanging on the Wall)

37. 65….         ROs (Regional offices)

38. 2……….. WDMAR (Wrongs don’t make a right)

39. 4……….  WAAF (Weddings and a Funeral)

40. 200…..     VANW (Vans available Nationwide)

Hope you enjoyed it.

Don’t forget that Drain Doctor will also be working on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day offering the same high standard of service at the same competitive prices as it does all through the rest of the year. There are no call-out charges and no ‘overtime rates’ for working on bank holidays.

So, all of us at Drain Doctor hope you have a great New Year celebration. If a plumbing disaster does strike, though, give us a call on 0800 3357 999.

All you have to do is…identify the following commonly used expressions that cover general knowledge, music, sports terms, famous dates/events and other everyday ditties.

To show you how it works – the first answer is “1066 – Battle of Hastings”; the second is “24 – hours in a day”.

Good luck with the rest of the questions (no prizes I’m afraid) and a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

1.   1066…… BOH

2.   24……     HIAD 

3.   12……… DOC

4.   64……… SOACB

5.  1666……  GFOL

6.  12………  SOTZ

7.   3………..  TAL

8.  170…….   HFAD

9.  1961……  FMIS

10.  7………. SOAFPP

11.  1993……..DDLITUK

12.  2………..STES

13. 1966…… EWWC

14.  366……. DIALY

15.  50………WTLYL

16. 1440……  MIAD

17. 4408…… HOBN

18. 147…….  MBIS

19.  30………POS

20.  3………..FH

21. 25D……. BOC

22. 99……… RB

23. 1979…… MTBPM

24. 62.8……. HOWSW

25. 50……… SBFSLW

26. 10……… MWTM

27. 8……….. MAM

28. 350…….. COPLIM

29. 9801…… SRONN

30. 1989…… TSM

31. 706…….. TS

32. 20……… TITPL

33. 1935…… EPB

34.  1969…..  FMOTM

35. 173,000…  POP

36. 10…         GBHOTW

37. 65….         ROs

38. 2……….. WDMAR

39. 4……….  WAAF

40. 200…..     VANW

Rob and Sam Simpson present a cheque to Domini Pocock, Help for Heroes’ local co-ordinator for Suffolk.

The team at the East Anglia franchise business of Drain Doctor Plumbing and Drainage is spreading Christmas cheer to injured service personnel by contributing to the Help for Heroes Christmas Stocking Appeal.

“As part of our fund-raising for Help for Heroes this year we have decided to email Christmas wishes to our customers instead of sending them Christmas cards. We have used the money we would have spent on cards and postage to contribute to the Help for Heroes Christmas Stocking Appeal.

“We were able to spend around £200 on a couple of ‘stockings’ which include basic necessities like toiletries and shaving gear, fun items including playing cards as well as a couple of luxuries such as a clock radio and an iTunes voucher.”

Help for Heroes is Drain Doctor’s designated charity for 2011/2012. The idea behind the stocking appeal is to help to bring a little Christmas joy to wounded services personnel as they come to terms with their life changing injuries. This year, Help for Heroes is providing Christmas stockings to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Headley Court and the Personnel Recovery Centres.

Rob added: “Earlier this year some friends and I also took part in The Screwball Rally, a race around Europe which involved 50 cars going on a 2,000 mile round trip via Mannheim, Prague, Hanover and Amsterdam, to raise money for Help for Heroes.

“Our theme was Baywatch. Three of us dressed as Pamela Anderson and one as ‘The Hoff’ and we rallied in a bright yellow C class Mercedes estate which we bought for £400.

“I thought we would build on that with something a bit more festive that would provide a tangible treat for some of our heroes.”

Follow Drain Doctor's tips for a stress free Christmas

If you are hosting a Christmas party or family get together this year you’ll want to add preparing your kitchen and bathroom to your list of things to do. You don’t need a plumbing disaster ruining the festive fun.

Christmas is probably the largest single day of food consumption in the UK.

According to statistics from the British Turkey Information Service, in the UK at Christmas we consume approximately 10 million turkeys, 25 million Christmas puddings, 250 million pints of beer and 35 million bottles of wine. Meanwhile, Santa chomps his way through roughly seven million mince pies left for him by children on Christmas Eve.

At this time of year your family and friends cram into your home to help eat all that food, which means your kitchen drains and toilets will likely be working overtime.

Drain Doctor Plumbing and Drainage has some handy precautions that you can take before your guests arrive to help keep your home’s plumbing in good working order:

• Throw food scraps in the bin and put left over vegetable matter like sprout and potato peelings in the compost pile.
• Avoid pouring grease down the drain, because grease hardens when it’s in your pipes and can cause a blockage over time.
• Wipe off greasy plates and pans with a paper towel before washing them.
• Remove small objects from the top of your toilet tank that could fall in causing it to block up.
• Make sure your rubbish bin is easy to see so guests won’t flush paper towels, napkins or facial tissue down the toilet.
• You may want to stock your bathroom with single-ply toilet paper, depending on the number of people attending your party. This can really help to avoid a blockage.

These tips will help keep your plumbing in good working condition. However, if you are unlucky enough to have a plumbing emergency, Drain Doctor is on call at Christmas, and there’s never an overtime or call-out charge.

Jimmy and Andrew Smith have joined Drain Doctor covering Glasgow and Stirling

All at Drain Doctor would like to extend a warm welcome to Football playing father and son Jimmy and Andrew Smith. They are setting up their own plumbing and drainage business to service the north of Glasgow and Stirling as part of the national Drain Doctor network.

Jimmy describes the decision to go into business with his son as “a coincidence of timing”. He has recently retired from running his own property business (after a previous career as a publican) and Andrew has just left Glasgow Caledonian University where he studied construction management – and then stayed on for a further year as vice president of the students’ association.

The combination of business and practical skills arising from Jimmy’s experience and Andrew’s studies and post-graduate work make them an ideal team for a franchise.

Both men will initially be undertaking plumbing and drainage work themselves but they have already recruited their first technician to work with them. They aim soon to have a number of fully-equipped vans and fully-trained technicians, allowing them to devote their attention to managing and growing the business.

Jimmy says: “Things came together at just the right time as Andrew left university. I was getting bored in retirement and am looking forward to getting back into business.”

Both Jimmy and Andrew are keen footballers. Andrew was responsible for sports as vice president of the university students’ association and Jimmy is a qualified coach and referee.

• A 3-inch (75mm) lagging jacket around the hot water cylinder can help cut weekly heat loss by up to 70 per cent.
• Modern cylinders are supplied with foam lagging put on by the manufacturer.  Never be tempted to strip off part of the lagging to warm an airing cupboard.  It is cheaper to install a small heater instead.
• The length of pipe between the hot water cylinder and the hot water tap is known as a dead leg because hot water left in the pipe is cooled and is wasted.  The longer the pipe the more hot water is wasted.  Water at 60^oC travelling through a 15mm copper pipe loses heat equivalent to more than one unit of electricity for roughly each 300mm of run per week.  This is enough energy to heat ten gallons of water.  So the shorter the pipe the better.
• Use a shower for daily bathing and keep the bath for a relaxed soak.  A bath typically uses as much as six times the amount of water a shower does.
• Heat water only as needed.  Save money and energy by switching on an immersion heater an hour or so before the hot water is needed and then switching it off again when the hot water is not wanted.

The two-time Emmy nominated programme enables some of the world’s most successful company leaders to embark on grassroots journeys within their own organizations.

Dwyer-Owens went undercover within The Dwyer Group to fulfill a long-held dream to ride in service vans out in the field.  The CEO-turned-service-professional donned company uniforms to see life as a potential trainee whose service brands represent some of the most male-dominated industries.

Dwyer-Owens has championed The Dwyer Group Code of Values and its themes of respect, integrity, customer focus and having fun in the process as a foundation for the company’s success.  Now Undercover Boss viewers are invited to see her journey to customers’ front doors and find out how those values and the corporate culture are being embraced by service professionals on the front line.

The Drain Doctor is no stranger to TV stardom. Earlier this year Drain Doctor featured in Wonderstuff on BBC 2 when writer and presenter Jane Moore revealed how drain cleaner does the dirty work.