Interesting, as all the European tradespeople I've seen sent round from the local housing association to fix things at my girlfriend's fiat have done nothing but total bodge jobs and all the Brits I've found on trade review sites to do work on my house have done great work. Apart from one roofer who I had to take to court.
But don't let stereotypes get in the way of things.
Plenty of people out there. When you can charge £60 to change a tap it's no wonder people are jumping on the tradesman bandwagon. You just have to do plenty of research to get a good one, Brit or other.
If you remove tradesmen from the supply, of what ever nationality, it leads to a shortage of skills
I assume trades people from every nationality are on a scale from excellent to terrible, It is not a nationality thing.
We see few if any American trades men, but their workers in wood are exceptional, with a wider range of timber construction skills than we would ever meet here.
I have experience of a number of Polish building workers, and I would put them among the best workers and problem solvers that I have met.
For any one to change a tap it is likely to take two to three hours out of their day. first to inspect and quote, book an appointment then come to do the Job. and the journey times. £60 would seem very much at the lower end of things for any such job.
If the plumber is already familiar with your house water system, you are more likely to get and more accurate and lower estimate than a new unfamiliar customer/ premises would get.
I changed my own garden tap last year, and all it cost me was the price a new tap. I would have expected to pay at least £40 for someone else to come out and do the same thing however quick and easy that job is.
A new sink mixer tap can be a nightmare to even remove. When mine was replaced It took the whole morning, (mainly removing the rusted mount of the old tap) and I am sure the plumber was a contortionist/Strong man in his spare time. And he still charged me what he had estimated.
I was recommended their roofer by my local church, he came along replaced 3 storm damaged tiles and re-fixed the ridge and was gone again inside half an hour.
All for no more than a few of pints of the best beer....