Once upon a time, we kept those thick yellow books stuffed into a drawer. The Yellow Pages were a staple for finding people, businesses, contact information, and more.
However, we have now gone from those hefty books to the internet. Everything we used to search for, dog-eared or highlighted, can now be found on online.
When searching online for a general trade you will more than likely stumble upon directories such as Checkatrade. The cost to join Checkatrade averages around £700 (+VAT) for an annual subscription. These costs would as some point have to be passed onto the customer. Checkatrade is also owned by Homeserve which provide plumbing and drainage cover. From this stand point we already have a conflict of interests.
They also claim that all of their registered trades are “fully vetted” however just recently, a building firm whose owners were jailed over “bodge” roof repairs remained listed on an online trade directory after they were sentenced. Customers were able to find them through Checkatrade even while legal proceedings were active against them in 2022 and 2023. Full article can be found here
