Local Traders News » Know Your Trades

Screwfix on the Hunt for Britain’s Best Tradesman

Sarah — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:19:22 +0000

Screwfix, the largest supplier of hardware products, tools and accessories in the UK, is searching for Britain’s Top Tradesman. The competition, which has a closing date of 20th April, wants to find the best tradespeople across the UK, from builders to joiners, painters and decorators to plasterers with the winner of the title receiving a prize of a Ford Transit van worth £27,000 to help transport them and their tools.

In addition to the UK wide competition, Worcester is also holding its own best tradesman competition, also being run by Screwfix but in conjunction with local newspaper, Worcester News. Plumbers, electricians, central heating engineers and kitchen and bathroom fitters are being called on to enter the competition to prove they are worthy of the best tradesman title. Finalists from competitions in different regions across the UK will then go forward and be pitted against each other in a head to head contest to see who is worthy of the Top Tradesman crown.

Screwfix’s marketing director, John Mewett, said,

“Screwfix’s Top Tradesman competition is all about celebrating the finest that Britain has to offer – with exceptional skills in their craft and a commitment to professionalism.”

The winner of Worcester’s Top Tradesman will not only get the glory and recognition of being the best in the region, but will also receive £750 worth of DeWalt professional 18V tools including a jigsaw, hammer drill/screwdriver and a cirular saw. To be in with a chance of winning the Top Tradesman title, applicants must sign up through the application form on the Screwfix website before 20th April, and any tradespeople from Worcester who wish to apply and be in with a chance of receiving the DeWalt tool prize should select ‘Worcester News’ as the medium through which they heard about the competition.

So if you’re a tradesman who goes out of your way to provide excellent customer service and go beyond the call of duty to keep people’s homes in good working order and put people’s minds at rest, why not enter the competition to see whether you can become Britain’s Top Tradesman. In addition, localtraders.com is always looking for reputable tradespeople so if you would like to become part of our service, call us today or send an email to sales@localtraders.com and we will be in touch.

New Series of Cowboy Builders Hits Five Tonight

Sarah — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 08:48:52 +0000

The new series of Cowboy Builders hosted by Dominic Littlewood and Melinda Messenger begins tonight on Channel Five at 8pm with the first show featuring a resident in Sheffield. The programme comes to the rescue of homeowners plagued by problems with rogue traders who have begun work on their homes, taken hard earned money and not delivered products or services promised or disappeared leaving distressed customers having paid for a building project, extension or loft conversion to be left with a pile of rubble and little sign of change in the near future.

Melinda Messenger has been in the property development business for over 10 years and armed with her building team, sets about righting the wrongs caused by the rogue traders to give the homeowners everything they could wish for from their renovation project and more.

In the mean time, Dominic Littlewood, known for his appearance on a number of consumer programmes, using his experience and expertise to help stop people being ripped off, tracks down the cowboy builders to confront them about their poor workmanship, customer relations and working ethics in a bid to prevent more customers falling victim to the tradesmen.

The programme also provides advice and tips for viewers at home about what to do if you suspect your tradesmen are ripping you off or the standard of work they’re delivering isn’t up to scratch.

When you are planning or considering undertaking work on your home, whether it’s a kitchen or bathroom modernisation or a garage conversion, a mobility remodelling of your home or a multi-storey extension, it is important to have a tradesman or team of tradesmen that you trust to undertake the work on your home.

Obtaining a number of quotes is usually good practice so you can tell straight away if one is overpriced or, on the other hand, literally too good to be true.

If you are planning significant work on your home, it can be useful to ask a tradesman for references or for contact details of previous customers who have had the same or similar home improvement work done. You can then assess from their previous work whether it is good enough to pay that particular firm to carry out renovation or building work in your own home. In addition, if the tradesman should be hesitant to provide details, or refuses outright, it is wise to keep looking for another tradesman – afterall, a reputable tradesman should be proud of their work and have nothing to hide unless they genuinely haven’t carried out a particular type of job before, however most should have something similar to show you if they are experienced companies.

Using the simple service from localtraders.com can help you tick a couple of these boxes straight away as we send your details to up to 6 local tradesmen so you can get a number of quotes for your work. In addition, we vet our traders to confirm they are members of any professional trade bodies they say they are, so if you’re looking for a trade specialist, submit your enquiry details today and our reputable tradespeople will be in touch.

Tool Manufacturer Launches Ultimate Tradesman Challenge

Sarah — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:59:13 +0000

International tool manufacturers Irwin Tools have launched a competition to find the Ultimate Tradesman. The worldwide search will see competitions taking place around the world, including the USA, Ireland, Poland, Denmark and the UK. Competing tradesmen will get the opportunity to win $1 million, however participants in the UK heats will also be competing to win the keys to an Aston Martin V8 Vantage.

Irwin want to highlight the important role that tradespeople play in assisting homeowners when things in their homes go wrong, from broken down boilers to leaking pipes, rotting fences to electrical faults and giving rooms a fresh lick of paint. The competition will find tradespeople who are passionate about their profession and providing a quality service and high level of craftsmanship.

Participants will have to demonstrate an array of skills in the challenge, including measuring, marking, cutting and drilling. With the clock ticking, competing tradesmen will pitt their expertise against each other to prove they are worthy of the Ultimate Tradesman title.

They will have to show abilities such as speed, accuracy of both measurement, cutting and drilling, ability to secure work to ensure neat and tidy edges and to show they are experts at general tasks they would demonstrate on a daily basis during projects and jobs they complete for their customers.

The challenge will begin with the removal of two fittings from a qualifying channel with a pair of Irwin Vise-Grip Groovelock pliers, and once removed, tradesmen will move on to the next part of the challenge which will see them marking a board using a square and pencil. The markers will then be used as a guide for creating a clean cut with a Universal hand saw from the Irwin professional tool range after securing it in a one handed bar clamp to clamp it to the work surface. The competitor must then drill two holes in the board and slot it back into the qualifying channel. If the board fits snugly, the timer will be stopped and the competitor’s time will be recorded. Their time will then decide whether they have done a good enough job to be eligible to win the prize.

The next heat will take place at Howarth Timber in Thorne on 31st March. Tradespeople who wish to take part in the competition can do so by attending any of the events taking place across the UK and taking a completed Ultimate Tradesman Challenge entry form. The dates and locations of the different heats are available on the Irwin Tools Ultimate Tradesman Challenge website.

Do It Yourself Or Call In An Expert?

Danny — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:57:30 +0000

For years people all over the world are often faced with the same dilemma when it comes to renovation or redecorating work; do it yourself or get a professional trades person? In today’s financial climate this question has never been greater.

Whether it’s fitting a new kitchen, changing a light fitting, fixing your garage roof or any other job you could possibly need around your home you will no doubt ask yourself the same question. Now unless you are a self confessed handy man who is competent around the home there are some jobs you may not feel comfortable doing therefore calling in an expert is paramount.

There are pros and cons for both sides of the argument. In favour of DIY the number 1 main reason is always cost; why pay somebody to do a job you could possibly do yourself? On the other hand, tradespeople are fully qualified and often insured to do the job in hand and 9 times out of 10, unless you are unlucky enough to get a cowboy builder, the finish and quality of the job will be a lot better than one you could do yourself.

DIY will always be a favoured past time as long as people own homes but as your home is your pride and joy, you should treat it as so and employ a quality time served professional to take on that renovation job or repair. When you have decided that a professional trades person is the right way forward the hard part is often finding a quality tradesman in your area you can trust.

That is where local traders come in; just go to www.localtraders.com, fill in the form with brief details of your job and sit back and wait for a quality expert trades person local to you to call and give you a quote for the job.

Household Repairs – DIY or Call A Local Tradesman

Sarah — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 11:00:57 +0000

When things go wrong in your home, it can be difficult knowing whether to choose the DIY option and try and solve the problem of the leaking tap, repair that hole in your garden fence or fit a new carpet yourself or to pay a professional local tradesman to carry out a quality job for you.

Ten reasons not to choose the DIY option:

You have to buy tools that you would likely never use again.
Specialist products to do the job can be expensive.
You probably won’t use all of the products you buy, such as nails, adhesives or other DIY products which are then wasted or lie around in a drawer never to be used again.
You could end up creating more problems, for example damaging plasterwork which would then need to be repaired.
With the best intentions, you may never get around to starting the job.
You may start the job but not be motivated to finish it and a half done job could be worse than not starting it in the first place.
You may not have time to do the home improvements or repair job.
If you’re not experienced at the type of repair job you’re doing you might not be able to get a good quality finish.
It can take longer than you expect to carry out the work in your home if you don’t know what you’re doing.
You may end up stressed if things don’t go to plan.

Reasons to call in a reputable tradesman:

An experienced tradesman will complete the job quickly.
Time served tradesmen can offer advise about your repair job or renovation project.
If you have any problems afterwards, you can call your local tradesman back to advise or fix the problem.
You don’t have to spend your precious time doing DIY jobs.
A professional tradesman will complete work to a very high standard.
You don’t have to worry about whether you are doing the right thing as a local tradesman is an expert in their field.
Reputable tradespeople can source the correct products needed for the job so you don’t have to.
Tradesmen are often able to get discounts on products so you can save money.
Tradespeople will already have all the tools they need to complete your job.
Localtraders.com have an easy and hassle free way of getting in touch with the best local tradespeople in your area. Just submit your details and our tradespeople will contact you by phone or SMS to solve your DIY nightmare.

Driveway and Paving Rogue Traders Hit Portishead

Sarah — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:52:03 +0000

A Bristol paving company and its director misled Portishead residents over the past year for the cost of paving their driveways. Trading standard officers were called to five different residents in connection with work that had been carried out at their homes in various parts of Bristol.

The con-artist representatives (using the alias Tony Ford) had been called out to the resident’s homes to give quotations for block paved driveways, the valuations ranged from £3,000 to £6,000. Then two of the residents had returned home from work one day to find out that their drive ways had been ripped up hardcore had gone down and the work had already started on their properties without their permission.

The residents had no choice but to carry on with the company carrying out the work. As soon as the work had been completed at each of the properties (alias Tony Ford) demanded payment with an additional sum in each case, which was said to be for the VAT that had to be paid in addition to the quoted prices.

The two residents had felt intimidated by the rogue trader and ended up paying the additional amount, representing an over charge of £1,675 in total for the two properties combined. In addition to increased charges, a supplied quotation form had a MasterCard logo which falsely suggested that this would be a possible method of payment.

The two con-artists have now been sentenced for the misleading use of the MasterCard logo contained within the quotation. They also had to pay out the two client’s £1,675 compensation. They were also ordered to pay £7,124 prosecution costs.

With a large number of rogue traders in operation, it is more important than ever to track down a reputable tradesman so if you require work to be carried out at your home, it’s worth the effort to make sure that you are using a reputable, reliable good quality company. The easiest ways are to check them out make sure they are members of registered trade bodies if people claim they are or by letting localtraders.com put you in touch with a professional in your local area.

East Riding Council Teams Up With Police In The Fight Against Rogue Traders

Sarah — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 22:40:43 +0000

The number of con artists praying on the confidence of local residents and undermining the quality tradesmen who complete a professional job is on the increase. Trading standards are warning the public to be on guard against door to door traders, especially those in the business of paving, driveways, landscape gardeners, roofing as well as other home improvement trades.

The main focus tends to be on elderly and vulnerable members of society. Often properties that are noticeably unkempt are targeted. In the East Riding area of Yorkshire, Cllr Jane Evison, head of housing and public protection has teamed up with the police and other enforcement agencies as there has been a stream of complaints about rogue doorstop traders. Despite their efforts, Cllr Evison advised this action won’t solve the problem,

“…this in itself will not be enough to stop all instances of this disreputable type of trading so it is important that residents know their rights and are not afraid to refuse offers of goods and services by door to door salesmen.”

It is important that friends and relatives of vulnerable people help to advise them that there are a lot of reputable companies out there that will be able to carry out professional work for them. Localtraders.com can put you in touch with experienced and trustworthy local tradespeople so you can be confident that your relatives will get a quality job at a reasonable price.

Finding a Trusted Tradesman Should Be Your No.1 Priority

Sarah — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:49:41 +0000

Whether you’re looking for a reputable tradesman to carry out planned renovation work in your home or have an emergency situation like a leaking water tank or faulty gas central heating boiler, finding a trader you can trust is imperitive.

It can be stressful when things go wrong in your home. For most people it’s their worst nightmare to discover damp problems that could result in the disruption of having to take kitchens out, strip plaster off walls to put a moisture barrier in place or dig up a floor to install a damp course. We know how important it is that disruption is kept to a minimum and you can find a quality tradesman first time round.

As well as building work or emergency repairs being stressful, however, you also need to be able to trust the person you’re allowing to enter your home. This works both ways, because, as a tradesman, there’s little worse than having a customer watching your every move because they don’t want to have left valuables lying around. But trust doesn’t only cover being confident that you have a trustworthy tradesman in your home. You need to be able to trust your builder, tiler or bathroom fitter to complete work to a high standard. You want to be sure that if you have any problems with your new conservatory roof leaking or your block paved driveway drainage, the qualified professional you let into your home will be available to resolve your queries and answer your questions.

That’s why localtraders.com only work with the best 6 local traders in each area, so you know that when you contact us for a quote, you will only be contacted by recommended tradesmen from your local area. So sit back and relax knowing that our local experts can be trusted to give a professional service and the highest standard of workmanship.

The National Federation of Roofing Contractors

Craig — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:23:41 +0000

The National Federation of Roofing Contractors is one of the leading bodies in the roofing industry and claims to have over 60% of the roofing industry on-board as members. Are they a must have? What do they stand for? This will provide you with a brief insight into this roofing contractors trade body.

If you are considering using a roofer who is a member of the NFRC you can expect a roofer who delivers high quality workmanship and one who should adhere to a code of conduct laid down by the NFRC. If a roofer displays this logo, they will have had to prove to the NFRC that they have full comprehensive insurance cover, giving you piece of mind.

Each member is given a number which can be checked on the NFRC’s website. All members will offer a quotation service giving you a clear and concise breakdown of the work you have requested to be undertaken and a fixed price, or daily rate etc if this is more suitable. You may also receive an estimate based on work that may need to be carried out once inspections of the roof have being carried out.

If, for any reason, you cancel the job with the roofing contractor, you will be entitled to a refund of deposit etc, however any work that has already been carried out will be deducted from the amount. Work carried out by roofing contractors registered with The National Federation of Roofing Contractors will guarantee workmanship for a minimum of one year after completion. If you need further technical advice, NFRC offer a free advice service to customers of roofers who are NFRC members.

These are just a few points of interest from NFRC members. Remember when you need your roof repairing or fixing, shop around and speak to as many tradespeople as you can until you are confident and comfortable you have the right person for the job.

Submitting your details to localtraders.com will enable you to be contacted by up to 6 roofers in your area who will be happy to discuss you requirements and provide you with detailed price breakdowns for your project.

FMB – Federation of Master Builders

Craig — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:54:21 +0000

FMB – This stands for the federation of Master Builders; this trade association was set up around 60 years and today boasts as being the largest trade body within the building industry. This is a non profit making organisation and focuses on the small to medium sized building company.

What does this mean to you when you see that a builder is a member of the FMB?

The code of practice on their website details that they promote professionalism and high quality workmanship throughout; builders who display the FMB logo have met the criteria required by the FMB. When receiving a quote from a member you will always receive the price, a breakdown of what is involved with that and the form of agreement you will both enter into. The start date, length of time the job will take to carry out, and any details of insurance backed warranties and of course the payment terms. Some builders may decide to quote you on what is commonly known as day rates this is where you will pay for each day they, and others if agreed, will work on your project. If this is the case the FMB clearly state on their website that the builder should provide you with a copy of terms and conditions.

Once the job is completed and carried out you can expect a member of the FMB to leave your site tidy and free of any waste. All instructions and guarantees will be provided and a briefing on how to work/operate anything is required. Lastly a date is usually arranged so that the builder can return to finish anything that may require a touch up after the job has settled etc. This is sometimes not needed but a member of the FMB will always offer to do this to ensure your work is carried out and finished off at a level you are happy with.

Is it a legal requirement?

No, builders are not required by law to join the FMB, so if you do want building work carried out your builder does not have to be a member. Builders pay to join this company and do so because they feel it adds value to their company and give you trust and confidence when choosing a builder in your local area. However just because a builder doesn’t have this does not mean they will not themselves have high quality and standards when carrying out the work your looking to have done. Knowing some of the codes of practice a FMB member is expected to carry out means you are now a little more informed when looking for a free quote from a builder in your area.