5th January 2021
New government announcement – what it means for tradespeople
Hello,
Following the most recent government update, I’m sure like me you listened to Boris’ announcement around the Covid guidance with your business at the forefront of your mind.
The positive news is that the guidance across the four nations continues to permit tradespeople to work in people’s homes, as long as you do so safely, and trade merchants will remain open. Each nation however has its own specific guidance.
Checkatrade.com continues to see good levels of consumer searches and demand. To benefit you, our members, we will continue to invest in advertising activity to stimulate greater customer demand. The ambition is to drive awareness and encourage more customers to use Checkatrade.com, to find and connect with reputable trades like yourself.
Alongside our advertising, we are using our website to share some work we did with the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. We aim to continue to give customers confidence that our members will take every measure required to work safely in their home. You can see the guidance we’re sharing here – please feel free to direct your customer there to give them additional reassurance, too.
Finally, in supporting you personally –
- Whilst most of you may be able to continue working as usual, we appreciate that the latest restrictions will impact some trades. We would like to reassure you that we’re here to support you and our Membership Advice team can be reached on 03330 329557. Do call us and talk to us about your situation.
- Take the time to look over your profile to get yourself in the best possible position for being chosen by the customers continuing to use Checkatrade.com for all their home improvement needs. Review your profile text, refresh your photos and keep your reviews current. Updating your page to be Covid-relevant is advised to show customers how you’re operating as a business safely during the current climate.
- You can keep up to date with the current government guidance in your region via the official government website links below –
Kind regards
Mike Fairman
CEO Checkatrade
2nd November 2020
You can continue to work in people’s homes
Hello,
Saturday’s government announcement, although not unexpected, was the last thing we all wanted to hear. The 4-week lockdown in England will start on Thursday at 12.01am and we understand that you may be concerned about the impact it could have on your ability to work.
The really good news is that, this time, the government have specified that you can continue to undertake work in other people’s homes – www.gov.uk/guidance/new-national-restrictions-from-5-november#stay-at-home. We know that our members have already changed working practices to accommodate safe working in the home. We urge you to continue with these additional safety measures – as a reminder please see our recommendations to facilitate safe working in other people’s homes https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/message-from-checkatrade-about-covid-19/.
We continue to see record demand from homeowners and we’ll be doing everything we can to make sure this continues. We will communicate with consumers promoting that homeowners can continue to have trades work in their homes, and why it’s even more important to choose a Checkatrade vetted member, so they can feel confident that all work will be undertaken safely.
Whilst we hope that you will be able to continue working as usual, we appreciate that the latest restrictions may be a cause of concern and we would like to reassure you that we’re here to support you if needed. Our Membership Advice team can be reached on 01243 608 190.
From all of us at Checkatrade, we hope you’re staying safe and well.
The Checkatrade Team
13th October 2020
Keeping in touch
Hello,
Following the latest government update, we understand that some of you will be concerned about the impact on consumer demand, as well as your ability to continue working and keeping yourself and your family safe and well.
Currently consumer demand remains high across the whole of the UK, but we will continually monitor this to see if the new measures have any negative impact.
Many of our members in Liverpool are likely to be affected by the new lockdown restrictions and it is reasonable to expect similar measures to be introduced to other areas also in the coming weeks. Please do make sure you call us if you are impacted and need our support. Our Membership Advice team can be reached on 01243 608 190
Kind regards
Mike Fairman
CEO Checkatrade
30th September 2020
Keeping in touch
Hello,
Whilst the recent government announcements haven’t introduced any further restrictions that should impact you being able to work in your customers homes, we will continue to keep a close eye on any further developments.
Since lockdown we have seen a massive increase in customer demand, with over 9.8 million visits to Checkatrade.com since the beginning of June and almost 900,000 homeowners contacting Checkatrade trades in August alone. Hopefully you’ve been seeing the benefit of this, but I understand that not all trades have experienced ‘normality’, and increased safety measures and government guidelines over the past few months have prompted huge changes in the way you go about your work.
I’m sure you’ll now also be concerned about the impact of this second wave on consumer demand, as well as your ability to continue working and keeping yourself and your families well. The reassuring news is that the rule of 6 guideline does not currently impact carrying out jobs in customers’ homes – clarification on this can be found on point 2.10 of the government update here.
Following the most recent government updates and any that are sure to follow, we will continue to monitor the impact on the trade industry – as well as consumer demand – to make sure that we can keep supporting you.
To keep up to date with the current government guidelines on working in other people’s homes please click here. If your business circumstances become affected by Coronavirus and you’d like to discuss your membership, remember that our Membership Advice Team are here to support you.
Kind regards
Mike Fairman
CEO Checkatrade
Industry recovery – 18th June 2020
Hello,
I’d like to share a positive update following on from our message to you in May. We’re delighted to be seeing extremely strong recovery in terms of consumer interest, searches and contacts. In fact, last week Checkatrade generated 40% more leads than our average week in February pre-Covid-19 – that’s over 100,000 leads in just one week.
In May and June we ramped up investments in TV advertising and, as of 18th June, we’ve begun a national campaign across Channel 4 and Sky TV to remind customers across the whole of the UK that Checkatrade is the place to go to find trades for all their home improvement needs.
I understand that many of you are back to work and filling up your diaries, though I appreciate that individual circumstances mean that some of you have not yet been able to make the transition back into ‘normality.’ I would like to remind you that our Membership Advice department continue to be available to support you with advice on how to optimise your membership to it’s full potential and increase your chances of benefiting from those ever-increasing homeowner searches.
Thank you for continuing to work with us throughout these difficult times – we look forward to playing a part in helping your business to thrive as the trade industry continues to recover.
Kind regards
Mike Fairman
CEO Checkatrade
Helping trades get back to work – 13th May 2020
Hello,
Mike, CEO of Checkatrade here. This is an update to let you know that I’ve been working with the Government to help you, along with your fellow trades, to get back to work as lockdown eases.
The Government reached out because they recognised the importance not only of getting the home improvement and repairs industry back on track, but doing so in a way which keeps both you and your customers safe.
Helping you get back to work
- We’ve put together new guidelines for trades working in homes based on current Government guidelines; Just click here to read.
- We’ve developed a new video and blog for consumers to help clarify how you and your customers can work together to create working environments which are as safe as possible for everyone involved. Feel free to share these with your existing and new customers. Click here to read the homeowner advice article and see below for the video.
- Look out for our new TV campaign starting later this week. To keep supporting you during these challenging times, it will help your customer know that they are once more able to invite trades into their homes where safe to do so bearing in mind the latest government advice.
I’m incredibly proud to be part of an industry which has followed advice on social distancing so closely, and sacrificed so much in order to protect our NHS and vulnerable people. That is why I’m delighted to be able to play a part on getting it back on its feet.
Please get in touch with us if you’ve got any questions or check out the governments website here.
Kind regards
Mike Fairman
CEO Checkatrade