Soaring TurtleSoaringTurtle

Why nobody comes out, and what four jobs change

The small-jobs problem is not a shortage of tradespeople. It is arithmetic. This page shows the arithmetic, then what a batched day does to it.

Why a ten-minute job can cost £160

When one of us needed an immersion heater fitted, ten minutes of work came to £160. Most of the bill was the plumber's time waiting for the tank to drain and refill, after a forty-minute drive each way.

Read the full note
1quoting visit, unpaid. Nobody prices a job they have not seen.
80 mindriving, for one address. Forty minutes each way, in our case.
2 h 20waiting, billed. A tank draining, sealant curing, a part being fetched.
1 daybroken, for one small job. A slot that could have held a bigger one.

What changes when four jobs share one day?

Put four small jobs in one village on one day. The drive is shared four ways. There is no quoting visit, because each job comes with photos and the tradesperson prices it before accepting the day. The waiting still happens, but it is spent at the next house: the drain-down starts at number 4 and the dripping tap at number 9 gets fixed while it drains.

The tradesperson gets a predictable, well-paid day with no admin. You get a date that holds and a price you knew before anyone came. Their hourly rate is the same as usual. What changes is that the whole day is paid work, so it's worth their while to come.

÷ 4the drive
0quoting visits
0 hwaiting billed
1day, paid on the day

What happens, in order

  1. 1
    You add your jobVillage, trade, a few words. An email if you want to hear when a day is booking. Nothing to pay.
  2. 2
    Your village reaches four in one tradeWe ask everyone on the list for photos and which weeks they could be in. For electrical work, a photo of the fuse board too.
  3. 3
    We check a tradesperson and offer them the dayThey price each job from the photos. You get a date two to four weeks out, a two-hour window, the price, and their name and photo.
  4. 4
    You confirm with a £15 booking feeRefundable within 14 days of booking. It is the only money we take. The work is paid to the tradesperson directly.
  5. 5
    The dayAn on-my-way message. ID at the door. If an earlier job runs long, we tell you.
  6. 6
    Done photo and certificateElectrical work comes with its certificate, kept on your page for when you sell. The next day in your village is easier to fill than the first.

Who comes to your house

We haven't booked a day yet. Before we do, every tradesperson will need insurance, a listing with the council's Buy With Confidence scheme or TrustMark, and registration with their trade body where there is one. We'll check each of those ourselves and keep track of when they expire. You won't pick from a list. We'll choose, and we'll stay accountable for that choice. How we'll check a tradesperson

  • Their name and photo will come with your confirmation, and they'll show ID at the door.
  • Nobody will knock without an appointment. Ever.

What it costs

Adding your job
And waiting for your village to reach four
£0
Booking fee, when your date is confirmed
Refundable if you cancel within 14 days of booking
£15
The work itself
Quoted per job from the photos, paid to the tradesperson on the day
Set by the tradesperson
We never hold the money for the work. We are a booking service, not a middleman.

The questions people ask first

Do I get to choose the tradesperson?No. We'll choose and check them, and we'll stay accountable for that choice. The moment everyone picks individually, the day falls apart into separate small jobs again, and nobody comes.
What if my village never reaches four?Nothing happens and nothing is owed. The map shows how close it is. Sending the link to a neighbour is the quickest way to move it.
Why do you want my email?Only to tell you when a day is booking near you, and to send the notes if you asked for them. It never appears on the map and we never pass it on.
Is this a marketplace or a lead site?No. Nobody pays to be listed, and your job is never sold. The tradesperson sees the day's jobs only once they have accepted the day.
What about Northern Ireland?The place list covers Great Britain for now. Use what you typed and we will place it by hand; Northern Ireland follows.
Who is behind this?Soaring Turtle, a small UK software company, testing the idea in one village before anywhere else. The company, not any one person, is the name on the door.

Add your job

Half a minute. Village, trade, a few words. Four in one trade and we go looking for a tradesperson there.