4th January 2013, 02:31 PM
Just a quick note to add here about distances - some areas have very large catchments. For me in North Wales given where we are based we could be doing a job which is less than 10 miles away (using our local knowledge) but for us to visit the HER would mean a round trip to the HER of almost 150 miles. We do make use of local libraries and archives but it is hugely problematic to travel that far for arguably limited information. Luckily we don't have the problem of the data being sent not being fit for purpose or the requirement for us to always visit the HER and staff are super helpful. And as for undercutting it is always the same - if others do not have to visit the HER than we price ourselves out of jobs.