Operator-led notes from running a UK trades platform — market reality, the economics of the no-show, and the quiet ways big software extracts value from small shops.
Subscribe to the newsletter →Most job management platforms will not tell you the price without a demo call. Here is why the category gates its pricing, what those calls really cost a working owner, and the five numbers that make vendors comparable in minutes.
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England's rental rules put every private tenancy on a five year EICR cycle, and electrical firms keep losing the dates between three vans and three paper systems. Here is the fix.
Every CP12 your engineers sign creates a twelve month anniversary, and the gas team that holds the date keeps the landlord. Here is how to stop those dates slipping, with and without software.
Subbies or payroll is really a question about the business you are building. Both regimes plainly, the reclassification trap, and what each one does to your rota.
The amount question, answered properly: commonly seen ranges by job type, what consumer law expects, when to stage payments, and when to skip the deposit entirely.
The question gets asked in every trade forum and never properly answered. What actually changes at employee one, the three software categories, and how to choose by leak, not logo.
Your customer books her dentist, her MOT and her Friday table online. Here is what she quietly expects from you, what phone-only loses, and when phone-first is still right.
We sell one of these systems, so this guide does something unusual: five questions that expose any vendor, two competitors we genuinely rate, and who should not buy ours.
One plain sentence at the moment the customer is happiest, said as a favour they can do you, not a corner you have backed them into. The wording and the timing.
Save the day first, then the relationship, then fix the system so the next cancellation costs you an hour instead of a Tuesday.
Public liability cover is rarely required by law, and almost always required by reality. The difference between PL and employers' liability, and what actually decides your cover level.
A callout fee filters out time-wasters and pays for your van time, but get it wrong and you lose good jobs to the firm down the road. Here's a no-nonsense framework for deciding whether to charge one on small jobs, and how to present it so customers say yes.
The one-page quote format that gets a yes: what to include, how fast to send it, and the mistakes that quietly lose you jobs.
If you've got Xero, do you still need a booking and job system, or is that paying twice? Here's a straight comparison of what each one is for, where they overlap, and when a UK trades business genuinely needs both.
Cash and bank transfer are costing you more than card fees do. The real options, what the fees actually buy, and the questions that sort the market.
Facebook wins you the recommendation. The website wins you the stranger. Why the answer changed as your business grew, and what a trades website actually needs to do.
A fair emergency rate is your normal rate plus a stated multiplier for unsocial hours, told to the customer before you leave the house. The full framework.
Publishing prices filters out the customers who were never going to pay your rate and wins the ones who value certainty. Where it works, where it does not, and how to do it safely.
You cannot answer with both hands in a ceiling. You can control what happens in the next two minutes. The auto-reply, the callback rules, and the system behind them.
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Gas work runs on annual cycles, so the right booking software is really a reminder engine. What to look for, what to ask, and where each option fits.
Winning repeat business from existing customers is the cheapest way to get new jobs
One well-timed message recovers jobs you had written off. The exact wording, the right day to send it, and when to let a quote go.
What a trades service plan is (and what it must never be), how to price one from real costs, and how to sell it without being salesy.
The three habits that turn one-off jobs into a repeat book: proper records, well-timed follow-ups, and making the rebook effortless.
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What booking software should actually do for a plumbing business, the questions to ask before you sign up, and an honest look at where each option fits.
Every UK trade loses jobs to a phone that rang while both hands were busy — here's what's actually happening, and what to do about it.
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The bit that stops most trades owners hiring is not finding someone — it is the fear of getting the legal side wrong. Here is the honest map: employed vs subcontractor, CIS, and the employer checklist.
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The three prices nobody puts on one page: the sticker price, the hidden costs, and the cost of the admin you keep doing yourself. Real numbers, including our own.
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A straightforward look at what booking and job management software actually needs to do for a UK electrical business — job scheduling, certificates, deposits, and no double-entry — and how the main options compare honestly.
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When a homeowner searches for a plumber, electrician, or builder near them, three names appear before any website. Here is how to make yours one of them — the three honest levers that move the needle.
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Most tradespeople do excellent work and then never ask for a review. Here is the exact timing and wording that turns finished jobs into five-star Google reviews — without being pushy or chasing people twice.
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The most reliable ways a UK trades business gets a steady flow of work — from owning your customer relationships to showing up on Google, without paying for leads you don't control.
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A straightforward guide to how booking and job management software actually works for UK trades businesses — what to look for, what to ignore, and how to pick the right tool for your size.
Arguments about callout charges almost never happen because you charged one. They happen because the customer didn't know. Here's the wording that closes that gap — in three formats, ready to copy.
Read enough one-star reviews across UK trade platforms and the same pattern emerges. Understanding it is the most useful thing a trade business owner can do before signing anything.
Most complaints that blow up started as a fixable problem nobody addressed in the first 24 hours. Here's the right response — what to say, when to offer a partial refund, and when to stand firm.
Verbal agreements are legally valid in the UK but almost impossible to enforce in a dispute. Here's when a written confirmation is enough, when you need more, and the four things any job record must include.
A customer refusing to pay is one of the most stressful situations in the trade. Here's the exact sequence — from the first call to a County Court claim — plus what to do before the job so it almost never gets this far.
If you haven't put your prices up in 12 months, you've taken a real-terms pay cut. Here's a clear framework for deciding when to raise, by how much, and how to tell existing customers without losing them.
Most UK tradespeople undercharge by 20–40% because they price what feels fair, not what it costs to run a business. Here's how to calculate an hourly rate that covers your real costs, pays you properly, and doesn't scare off the customers you actually want.
A last-minute cancellation feels like bad luck. The numbers say it's structural — and it's fixable with one change made at the moment of booking, before the van ever leaves the yard.
Every lead you buy is a customer you rent — then pay for all over again next time they need you. Here's how the lead-directory model quietly keeps UK trades on a treadmill, and what owning your own customers, booking page and data actually looks like.
There's nothing wrong with a spreadsheet, until it quietly starts costing you jobs, evenings and double-bookings. Here's an honest look at when a spreadsheet is genuinely enough for a UK trades business, and the clear signs it's time to switch.
Late payment is the UK's quiet small-business killer, and chasing it eats your evenings. Here's the end-to-end system trades owners use to get invoices paid on time, from the deposit before you start to the final polite nudge that actually works.
Most UK trades owners know a deposit would cut no-shows and protect the diary, but worry it looks pushy or breaks the rules. Here's the plain-English, legally-aware way to start taking deposits before a job, the day you read this.
We started The Gazette for one reason: the trades are the most under-served corner of UK software, and the loudest voices in the room are the ones selling lock-in.
So this is the other side. What the numbers actually say, what a fair deal looks like, and what we’re learning building in the open — published only when there’s something worth your time.
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