Trustatrader.com

TrustATrader is an online directory offering homeowners and businesses the opportunity to connect with tradespeople in their area. The service provides people seeking local traders with a list of tradesmen who have been rated for their overall quality of their work. It also helps with local businesses acquiring potential new customers.

People visiting TrustATrader use the service for free; using a search function that highlights all the local tradespeople in the area. In 2012 TrustATrader joined forces with Payatrader to offer their customers a safe and easy way to pay traders by debit or credit card. This service is said to protect customers, particularly more vulnerable groups such as single parents and the elderly.

History

Trust a Trader was founded in 2005 by Gary McEwen, who started the business following negative experience with tradespeople that worked on his home renovation project; work that should have taken 6 months was still ongoing 2 and a half years later.

McEwen felt let down his tradesmen and with the advertisers through whom he sourced them. When he approached the advertisers he found that, despite promoting the traders, they were not connected to them and had no capacity to act as an advocate on his behalf. This left him out of pocket, out of time, and with nowhere to go to put right the wrongs.

It was at this point that McEwen spotted a gap in the existing market and created a directory of vetted, accredited tradespeople.

Since it started in 2005, Trust a Trader has successfully matched customers to local traders, including “saving the day” for Ipswich Town F.C. when a loose skylight nearly resulted in the cancellation of a football match.

Advertising

In 2014 Trust a Trader appoint Boutique Media to take on a television advertising campaign in addition to its existing radio campaign Media starring the actor and comedian David Walliams. The company has also secured Bravr, a London based digital marketing agency to boost its online presence.

Community Projects

Trust a Trader is involved in numerous community project which include: The Lea Manor High School After School Club, Luton: Trust A Trader and its members saved the Lea Manor After School club from closure by giving its premises a complete overhaul. AFC PortChester allowed Trust a Trader members to renovate the changing rooms and organise various fundraising events, including a football tournament.