[Chris Higgins]

First of all, I'm aware that this is a hard question to answer, and I apologize in advance for another "how much am I worth?" post being added to the forum. My girlfriend and I are seriously considering a move to the UK early next year, but we haven't got a very good idea of what our wages would be like if we moved from Australia. I thought it might be helpful if I post details here of what I do and how much I earn (roughly), to try to get an idea of what the same kind of job might be worth in the UK.

I work four days a week for a mate who has his own home-based web design business, from which I earn about $41,000 (approx £27,500) per year (before tax). In addition, I run my own home-based studio in the evenings and on weekends from which I earn around $20,000 (approx £13,500) per year (before tax). So I'm pulling in somewhere around the equivalent of £40,000 per year (before tax).

Because of the nature of the environments I work in, I predominantly work on small and medium sized business websites. I studied "multimedia" at University for two years (09/10), and I'm experienced with HTML & CSS, and know both Wordpress and Joomla really well. I have a good eye for design, but have no desire to do just that, and I'm happy designing small business websites. I develop my own themes for Wordpress, and I'm starting to do the same with Joomla. I'm spending some time this year trying to learn PHP, and trying to improve my knowledge of SEO.

I certainly wouldn't consider myself a hardcore, specialist developer of a particular discipline. Definitely a "jack of all trades" kind of developer, and I enjoy working in all of the different areas involved in small/medium sized business websites. Ideally, I'd like to continue running my own business from the UK. This may not be a realistic goal to start with, especially when the bills need to be paid and the girlfriend and dog need to eat. I could perhaps see myself working as part of an in house website team for a business, as opposed to for a studio that pumps out loads of sites.

Essentially what I'd like to know is if there is a market for "small business website developers" in the UK, and am I likely to earn anything like what I'm currently earning in Australia? I know it's tough to say, and I certainly don't expect anyone to divulge their wages online, but I just wanted to get a more realistic idea of the industry before I pack up my girlfriend and dog and move to the other side of the planet.

Thanks.

Chris

[MikeChipshop]

OK working it out backwards (as i had a friend who moved out to Australia).
Wages wise you'd be looking at roughly the same sort of pay obviously depending on your networking abilities and the quality of your work etc. The cost of living here isn't much different to where you are now but, just like Australia, there are huge differences in area pricing and cost of living.

In short, if you like cold, dark, damp countries then yeah come over the difference shouldn't shock you much!

[oakleaves]

Quote

Essentially what I'd like to know is if there is a market for "small business website developers" in the UK

Personally I think that particular market is overcrowded. However, there is always room in the market for 'quality business website developers'

[Chris Higgins]

MikeChipshop, on 16 January 2012 - 10:44 AM, said:

In short, if you like cold, dark, damp countries then yeah come over the difference shouldn't shock you much!

I love them. I must be one of the few Aussies about that despises the heat!

oakleaves, on 16 January 2012 - 10:53 AM, said:

Personally I think that particular market is overcrowded. However, there is always room in the market for 'quality business website developers'

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it. Cheers.

This post has been edited by Chris Higgins: 16 January 2012 - 10:56 AM

[brightonmike]

A massive thing for you is where in the UK. For example, in Carlisle you can buy a 3 bedroom house for around £115000.

The exact same house where I live, the most expensive City outside of London, would cost you about £280,000. Property is hideously expensive down south.

So how economically viable it is is going to depend on where you want to live more than anything.

I think if you're earning £40k a year in Australia personally I think you could well suffer a drop in wages. Nothing monumental, but you might drop a few K.

This post has been edited by brightonmike: 16 January 2012 - 11:03 AM