Job as a courier / messenger?

I work in the public sector and this the best of both worlds in my view. You work, albeit in many cases inefficiently to make the country run or help people out / improve life chances. You can earn a good wage to make your life comfy and at least the core beneficiaries of your work are those whom collectively consume the goods and services you produce.

broken_77 oi destinations all well and good:-), now it looks like a bloody muppet show:-)...aha and there is a 360 guarantee which you can break through offered now....plus 10 percent bonus:-) so at least 396 a week.......
when Lee was on the box no probs at all:-)
that is... they feed you if they know you are not a muppet:-)
same everywhere..........i havent met single fast rider who wouldnt be fed after they had learnt that he was actually fast.....
Ian works for mach1 which everybody regard as a crap company......he is well off cuz he is what???? fukken fast:-)

what are you on about? 360 is for motorbikes last time i checked.... and certenly was no garentee when i was there.

well times are changing...my friend kuba, efraim, and now one other polsih kid are on 360 guarantee not including the bonus.....

I work for my family, it's a good feeling. Still fancy working as a courier for a while though.

im probably moving to london in the begining of next year with a lady. i have a degree but have had no luck using it to get employed. the only skills i really have is my degree, being able to sew/make clothes, and riding bikes. im good at endlessly chatting shit with people in pubs, but all i have ever done is work in pubs and bars and im fed up of it.

so what im basically wanting to know is what is your personal experience as a courier, and where do i find work in london.

how many miles do you reckon you avergae a day?
whats the pay like?
who are the best to work for?
is it even worth trying, or should i just work in yet another pub/bar?

Go to the MovingTarget forum and you will find a sticky thread there with all answers to your questions about couriering in London ohh famous London.

Probabably not the best time to start as a courier as main clients, i.e. The City and the creative / publishing industries, are experiencing some gloomy times...

ha ha... yeah just PM buffalo bill as often as you can night and day... actually set up an email account and i can help ;)

asm has some

I've a friend who does it just as a gap between him being made redundant and him riding around the world with his missus in a month or twos time, and have heard from other couriers, the pays not great at all, it's tedius and dangerous, certainly nothing to work towards, just a job if you can't get anything else. Don't get me wrong, i'd love to ride my bike all day, but it's just like a macdonalds job i guess? Not dissing couriers either cos most of the ones i've spoken to are safe as houses, just it's a basic job with a basic wage.

yeah i dont have dillusions that its a great career prospect, i just need a job and im good a riding bikes. i dont know how long it will last with the woman so it could just be a gap job to allow me to live. its either that or some other menial job, or continuing to live at home. id rather be doing somthing physical than gassing in a pub where i cant drink, serving idiots in a resturante, or slowly destroying my soul in a retail job.

im in a fairly lucky situation where by my rent is only £350 a month split between me and the lady, so money is pretty good. im just not sure what to expect to be paid for being a courier.

Fuck all.

hippy tell us that story of you being a currier again.... the test was hard yeah?

Hard if you have no idea of London's geography.. :)

you'll only earn good money if you know london backwards, the slower you are the less jobs you tend to get. on my first day i was out 10 hours and made £20, mainly because although i thought i knew london well i was being sent to what were pretty much alleyways in borough and law firms down the back streets of cheapside. each package you'll get about £2.50 unless you go more that a postcode then you'll get £3 (got £4 once for a package going down to dulwich village from WC1, got lost as fuck and took about an hour and a half). you should probably expect to get about £150 a week on your first couple of weeks which, for 10 hours working a day, is piss poor.

so yeah i work in an office now. it's nice being out on the road all day and you meet some nice people but it's hard to get a good company unless you work for ages at a shit one. and even shit companys won't touch you unless you know london fairly well!

Or can bullshit your way through their "test" fairly well. Shit, I still don't know London! :)
I'd go for the job in the pub.

If you're good you can earn good money, don;t let these naysayers get you down. Things are pretty dead tho, so you'll have to perservere for a bit id say. Much better than working in a pub/graphic design/banking/legalising/it/office/etc i reckon. 90% of these brears are just too pussy to try...

Well, I'd rather earn 400x the money working in I.T. and I don't particularly like my job.
Once the office job is done then the bike is my free/fun time.

Saying that, give it a shot. You might love it. It's the only way to find out.

i'm too pussy to earn £150 a week!

You prob couldn't earn any more than that then.

Jontyponty, if you're the 'ardcore uber-courier then isn't it in your best interests to stop others riders working? Just a thought.

no, i have enough trouble finding my way to work every morning, let alone delivering packages.

officenger ftw.

Every time my office changes location.. I have to take a week off until I find out how to get there.
Last move was next door. ;)

never said I was, just thought others were being discouraging without (it seems) having much experience of the job.

if i had a degree and was unemployed i would be looking for a temp job in an office somewhere.

+ves: better pay, warmer conditions, less danger, don't need extensive knowledge of london streets and alleys.

-ves: don't get to ride bike all day, don't get to wear a radio, don't get to meet other couriers.

never said I was, just thought others were being discouraging without (it seems) having much experience of the job.

And you are encouraging without much experience of the job?

Balance is restored.