Pimlico Plumbers’ Charlie Mullins on furlough, Brexit and running for mayor of London

Charlie Mullins has been ruffling feathers of late with the news that he let around 30 employees go from his Pimlico Plumbers firm for what he says was a refusal to come back to work from furlough.

The criticism for this decision was swift and strong but he is absolutely adamant he has done nothing wrong, insisting that those shown the door had been “milking the system”.

But this isn’t the first time the country’s best-known plumber has dipped his toe in controversy. He came in for plenty of flack for his outspoken and very public opposition to Brexit, even going as far as erecting a 100ft long ‘Bollocks to Brexit’ sign on the roof of his company’s HQ.

And around the same time he was making headlines for all the wrong reasons for taking a contractual dispute with a former employee over employee rights and benefits, all the way to the Supreme Court.

Mullins doesn’t seem to mind what anyone thinks of him and is a clear believer in the old adage that there’s no such thing as bad publicity.

“I ain’t doing it to wind anyone up,” he says.

“I do it to be honest, no other reason than that. I’m not going to suck up to people and go along with the flow.”

And while his regular presence in the media over the years – whether it be to discuss Brexit, employment law or the furlough scheme – suggests that there is a PR programme working away behind the scenes, in conversation, it becomes clear that he genuinely believes in everything he says.

Having said that, does he really believe that everyone on furlough is milking it?

“When the furlough scheme was announced, our HR department went around our office and said people could go home and do nothing or we could keep them working in a safe environment.

“Within five minutes about 100 people flew out the door – I thought the building was on fire,” he says.

“I genuinely feel some people didn’t want to come into work. It was just a way for people to get money for nothing, but it wasn’t all of them,” he concedes.

open image in gallery

Dig a little deeper and it becomes clear that Mullins is not a fan of the furlough scheme in general (even though his firm used it) because he believes it disincentivises working. And working lies at the heart his world view.

“Placing people on furlough is a risk. We are going to become a nation that feels entitled to sit at home and do nothing,” he says.

To illustrate his point, he references a recent Morgan Stanley report that found only 34 per cent of the UK’s office workforce had returned to offices compared to 68 per cent of their European counterparts.

It seems he has deep-seated fear of people not working, of being idle, entitled even and the impact that will have, not only economically, but socially. And that fear is accentuated when he views the future through the twin lenses of Brexit and the coronavirus.

“We weren’t expecting the coronavirus and swallowing the Brexit pill was going to be a big enough challenge.

“We are in more danger now than ever and I think there will be another extension [to Brexit] as it will be economic suicide to have another big downturn,” he says.

Mullins believes that the recession we are facing could spiral downwards into a depression and that the longer people put off going back to work and the longer they work from home not spending money in their usual haunts, the harder it will be to get the economy going.

“Some people will never work again after this,” he warns.

“If we carry on the way we are with only 34 per cent back at work, unemployment will be massive, companies will go out of business and the economy will go bust. If we don’t get back to work the country will go bust and there will be riots and unrest.”

Which is a pretty apocalyptic view but for Mullins, employment is more than a means to make money. It is the lynchpin of society.

“You become part of society when you work, you can be the person you want to be and do what you want to do. If you give a young person a job, you create a different person,” he says.

And he believes we have slipped into a public narrative that celebrates staying at home while vilifying those who venture out to work.

“We’ve encouraged people not to work and we need to change that. People need to be proud of working for a living,” he says.

That sense of pride should be imbued in people the minute they leave school. He argues for a system that would see school leavers faced with three choices – higher education, moving directly into employment or starting an apprenticeship.

open image in gallery

“There should never be a situation where kids are left to do nothing,” he says.

“It’s not difficult to get them into work. I would give the job seeker’s allowance to the employer and make it a worker’s allowance.”

He says that when Boris Johnson was running for mayor, he approached Mullins to seek his views on tackling the city’s perennial street crime problem.

“I said the answer was really simple – give people jobs. When you do that, they’ve got a future. Every kid that gets into trouble has nothing to do and I never read about anyone with a job stabbing someone,” he says.

Mullins is not a fan of the current mayoral incumbent and says he is considering running for mayor himself. He has made noises about this in the past, but they have come to naught. The delay in the next election, however, has got him thinking again.

“We need someone outspoken, someone who has the experience and understands London.

“I know how to get youngsters into work, I understand London people, I’m nobody’s fool and I’m prepared to give people my honest view,” he says.

“I come from a very poor background and that is what they need. Someone who has experienced both sides of the fence.”

How serious these political ambitions are is unclear, but one thing is certain – if he does go for it, his campaign will be anything but dull.