Alan - Very good. His finish was smooth as glass and he was quiet, just getting on his work. I wish I could have him to do my whole house.
Tafa - Was ok. His attitude was good, worked hard but the finish not great. He missed the bit between back boxes for sockets and switches too, so I had to use filler to fill afterwards, which was very awkward job.
James - Went awol the 1st day, Trevor called me all day because even he could not find James. Then when James was in the house he helped himself to the copper pipes (taken down at the beginning of the renovation) in the garden, bagged them all and hid it under an old curtain. When I found that I removed the curtain. Half an hour later the bag was under another old piece of cloth. I had to tell him not to take them. This may have irritated him and led to what happened afterwards. When the bathroom fitters (another team) finished the shower room, they lifted up the blue protective film and removed the blobs of plaster stuck on it. To their surprise there's a burned mark precisely under a plaster blob. One can only speculate what happened there!
Further adding to my frustration- there's a hole in the kitchen ceiling that Trevor's men did a full plastering. When I contacted Trevor to mend that (alas money had been paid), I was brushed aside with 'we're busy', 'your decorator will do it for you'.
All in all, dodgy finish and attitude problems. Will not hire again, and certainly will not recommend.