TrustMark, the Government endorsed quality mark for tradesmen, has recorded its highest number of tradesmen details displayed on its website, trustmark.org.uk. More than 2.3 million search results were given to homeowners who used TrustMark’s website and telephone helpline to find local tradesmen to carry out work on their properties or gardens since the start of the year, an increase of 22% compared to the same period in 2012.
Increased searches were particularly pronounced for some trade categories, including handymen (55%), window installers and glaziers (36%), carpenters and joiners (35%), painters and decorators (33%) and roofers (24%) seeing the largest rise, mostly due to homeowners choosing to renovate and refresh their properties rather than move on.
June saw the greatest number of firms displayed and all trades were up by 48% compared to the same month last year and 42% since 2011. Builders, electricians and handymen were the most sought after trades.
Stuart Carter, Head of PR & Marketing at TrustMark, said: “This could be the best time for years for homeowners to spend, mend and extend their properties. Our high number of tradesmen details displayed since January show that many people are still requiring professional experts to do their work and the trades that have seen the highest increase demonstrate that homeowners are staying put to update and renovate their homes.“
All TrustMark firms’ technical skills have been independently checked through on-site inspections to ensure a high quality of workmanship and trading practices. TrustMark is the only scheme that requires qualified inspectors to do these visits, so that technical competence is checked as well as business practices and customer satisfaction.
TrustMark currently has around 14,900 registered businesses, with some being registered under more than trade giving a total of over 23,500 licensed trades represented nationally.