Checkatrade, MyBuilder, and Bark are the biggest names in UK trade lead generation, but they work completely differently and suit very different businesses. There’s also a newer kind of platform worth knowing about, Tradehand, which handles your job admin as well as sending you the work. Here’s an honest breakdown of all four so you…
Checkatrade costs up to £200/month, locks you into a 12-month contract, and makes it deliberately difficult to leave. Is it still worth it in 2026? The honest answer: it depends – and for many tradespeople, it isn’t. How Checkatrade Works Checkatrade is a membership directory. You pay a monthly or annual fee to be vetted…
Ask ten tradespeople whether they need a website and you’ll get ten different answers. Some will tell you they’ve never needed one – they’re fully booked on word of mouth. Others say their website is their best source of new work. Both can be true depending on where you are in your business and what…
Getting MCS certified or OZEV approved is only half the job. The other half is making sure the customers actively searching for qualified green energy installers in your area can actually find you. Most tradespeople who get certified don’t update their marketing to reflect it – and then wonder why the enquiries aren’t coming in….
Pricing green energy work is one of the areas where tradespeople most commonly get it wrong – either leaving significant money on the table by undercharging, or losing jobs by quoting in a way that confuses customers about grants and net costs. Both mistakes are avoidable once you understand how the pricing and grant structure…
Green energy installation jobs are more complex to manage than a standard callout. A heat pump installation might involve an initial survey, a detailed quote with grant paperwork, a site survey visit, materials ordering, a multi-day installation, commissioning, MCS certificate generation, and a final invoice – all tracked across weeks or months. An EV charger…
If you want to install heat pumps or solar panels and access the government grant schemes driving customer demand right now, MCS certification isn’t optional – it’s the gateway. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme’s £7,500 heat pump grant is only available when an MCS-certified installer carries out the work. Without certification, you’re locked out of the…
The UK government has committed to one of the most ambitious clean energy programmes of any country in the world – and for skilled tradespeople, the financial opportunity is enormous. This isn’t theoretical: the work is here now, the skills gap is real, and the government is spending billions to create demand. The tradespeople who…
It’s one of the most common questions sole trader tradespeople ask: do I actually need an accountant, or can I just do it myself with software? The honest answer is it depends on where your business is and how complicated your finances are. This guide gives you a straight verdict on when an accountant earns…
Most self-employed tradespeople pay more tax than they need to – not because they’re doing anything wrong, but because they’re not claiming everything they’re entitled to, or not structuring their finances to take advantage of the allowances HMRC makes available. Here’s what you’re actually entitled to. Claim Every Allowable Expense The single biggest opportunity for…