Checkatrade.com

Checkatrade.com is the trading name of Vetted Ltd and a subsidiary of HomeServe. The site operates as a directory of vetted and recommended tradespeople. It was founded by Kevin Byrne and originally headquartered in Selsey, West Sussex, before moving to Portsmouth, Hampshire in 2019 following its acquisition by HomeServe.

Vetted Ltd
Checkatrade
Limited company
(subsidiary of HomeServe)
FoundedSeptember 1998 (1998-09) in Selsey, West Sussex
FounderKevin Byrne
HeadquartersPortsmouth, Hampshire,
UK
Key people
Mike Fairman (CEO)
Revenue £29.7 million (2019)[1]
Number of employees
circa 400 (2019)[1]
ParentHomeServe
Websitecheckatrade.com

History

Checkatrade, originally founded as "Scout", was established in September 1998 by local resident Kevin Byrne after rogue traders descended on Selsey following a localised tornado.[2][3] Byrne set up Scout as a printed directory of local tradespeople he had personally vetted to complete jobs in the Selsey area.[4]

Byrne soon changed the company name to "The Trade Register", but a government rule later forbidding the use of the word ‘register’ in a company name saw the change to "Checkatrade" in 2005.[5] Checkatrade has been registered with Companies House as Vetted Ltd since 2001.[6]

In February 2017, HomeServe acquired a 40% stake in Checkatrade, holding an option to extend that to 75% within the following 2 years.[7][8] By November 2017 HomeServe had acquired the remaining 60% for a further £54m.[9] In 2018, Mike Fairman was appointed as CEO.[10][11]

Checkatrade relocated to Portsmouth during 2019.[12][13][14] As of March 2019, Checkatrade employed over 400 people and had 36,000 vetted trade members.[1]

Awards

In 2014 the Checkatrade website won a Queen's Award for Enterprise, being commended in the Innovation category.[15] Later in 2014 Checkatrade was recognised by The Times in their "Britain’s Best Small Companies to Work For" awards.[16]

Partnerships

A number of UK councils' trading standards departments have previously partnered with Checkatrade including Nottinghamshire, East Sussex, Suffolk, Kent, Surrey and Buckinghamshire.[17][18][19][20][21][22] After an elderly woman was targeted by con men in Kent, resulting in her losing over £1,000, the Police issued a recommendation that residents use tradespeople in the Kent Count Council trading standards approved trader scheme, created in conjunction with Checkatrade.[23]

Sponsorships

Checkatrade were the primary sponsor of the English Football League Trophy, from the 2016/17 season to the 2018/19 season. The Checkatrade Trophy involves clubs from League One and League Two, plus 16 under-21 teams from the Premier League and EFL Championship clubs.

Between 2013 and 2018 the Broadfield Stadium, home of Crawley Town FC, was renamed "The Checkatrade.com Stadium" as part of a sponsorship deal.[24]

In early 2018 Checkatrade became sponsor of the PDC darts tournaments.[25]

References
  1. "Annual Report 2019". Companies House. 2019-03-31. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  2. Burrell, Ian (1998-01-09). "The night the Selsey twister wrecked a town". The Independent. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
  3. "Checkatrade leaving Selsey - the story so far". Chichester Observer. 2018-10-10. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  4. "Interview: Kevin Byrne, Checkatrade – Meet the entrepreneur taking on cowboy builders". www.managementtoday.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
  5. "Set up a private limited company". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
  6. "VETTED LIMITED - Overview". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. 2001-09-11. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  7. Williams, Christopher (2017-02-02). "HomeServe seeks digital future with Checkatrade investment". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
  8. Thompson, Jennifer (2017-02-03). "HomeServe pays £37m for major stakes in trade checking sites". Financial Times. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
  9. Robinson, Jon (2017-11-21). "HomeServe takes complete ownership of Checkatrade". Insider Media Ltd. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
  10. Craven, Neil (2018-09-08). "Giffgaff's 'Gaffer' is poached to run Checkatrade website". This is Money. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  11. "Heating Ventilating & Plumbing". www.hvpmag.co.uk. 2018-09-10. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  12. "Checkatrade set to leave Selsey". Chichester Observer. 2018-10-09. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  13. "Popular trade website Checkatrade to leave Selsey HQ". Spirit FM. 2018-10-10. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
  14. "Registered office address changed". Companies House. 2019-10-30. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  15. "List of 2014 Queen's Awards for Enterprise winners". Financial Times. 2014-04-21. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
  16. Boztas, Senay (2014-03-08). "United teams thrive on the extra pressure". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
  17. Surrey County Council, County Hall. "Approved traders". www.surreycc.gov.uk. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
  18. Web Team, East Sussex County Council. "Businesses approved by Checkatrade – Approved traders". East Sussex County Council. Archived from the original on 2019-05-14. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
  19. Council, Nottinghamshire County. "Approved Trader Scheme". Nottinghamshire County Council. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
  20. "Trading Standards scheme operators". www.kent.gov.uk. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
  21. "Checkatrade | Community Directory". infolink.suffolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
  22. "Checkatrade: In partnership with Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards". www.checkatrade.com. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
  23. Hunter, Chris (2019-01-14). "Elderly woman targeted by rogue traders". Kent Online. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
  24. Long, Michael (2013-09-02). "Crawley Town in Checkatrade.com naming rights deal – SportsPro Media". SportsPro. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
  25. Allen, Dave (2018-03-28). "Checkatrade Extend PDC Partnership". PDC. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
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