Built from experience. Shaped by frustration. Made to do things a little differently.
WHERE IT STARTED
The idea for MyTradeSearch started in 2018, while working for myself and seeing first-hand how difficult — and expensive — advertising could be for a small or newly established business.
Some platforms wouldn't accept newer businesses. Others restricted who could join, charged for leads that went nowhere, limited categories or areas, or tied businesses into lengthy contracts.
There had to be a better way to get good businesses in front of people.Getting seen shouldn't cost a fortune.
Choosing someone shouldn't mean piecing together information from ten different places.
Rogue traders and cowboy builders shouldn't define an industry full of decent businesses.
Search online and you'll find directories, review sites, sponsored results, trade associations, social media recommendations and businesses all presenting information in different ways.
What gets checked, what doesn't, what a badge actually means and why one business appears above another isn't always obvious.
We thought customers deserved clearer information — without pretending a website could make the decision for them.
In 2024, MyTradeSearch was developed further as part of a university degree project.
That meant looking beyond the original idea of simply building another business directory and asking a bigger question:
How could we build something genuinely useful for customers, trades and suppliers without simply copying the directories already out there?
THE IDEA GREW
MyTradeSearch launched around a pretty simple idea: make it easier for businesses to be seen, give customers more useful information, and don't make either side jump through unnecessary hoops.
New business or established name — you're welcome here.
A genuinely useful listing without having to pay us.
We don't sell you somebody's enquiry and hope you win the job.
What you earn from a job is yours. We don't take a percentage.
Useful information for customers without pretending we can choose for them.
Paying for a check pays for the checking process. It doesn't buy approval.
We're not trying to reinvent the trades.
MyTradeSearch will keep changing as we learn what works, what doesn't and what the people using it actually want. We'll get things wrong, we'll listen, and we'll keep improving it.
