[CMOTD]

It has never been any different. I used to work in electrical wholesale and had good contacts in all the building related trades but often struggled to find someone to do a particular job. When I had an expensive extension done on the house it took three months to even get a builder to quote let alone build the thing. The trade is notorious for ignoring potential customers and quoting outrageous prices when they don't really want the job.

One source you might try is to ask for recommendations on your local Facebook group which seems to work in our village. The local tradesmen don't like being criticised for lack of response on there and tend to turn up when asked.