THE
FUTURE OF
plumbing
keeping people & pipes connected One company is engineering a revamp of the trades industry to eliminate the stress associated with waiting in for tradespeople WORDS BY KERRY SMITH
Y
ou’ve taken the morning off to wait in at home for a tradesperson to come and service the boiler, fix the heating, or sort that dripping tap. Most of us are familiar with the anxieties this entails: when will they arrive? What if I don’t hear the doorbell? Will they even turn up? Work needs me back in the office as soon as possible. Will I make my appointment later? Arranging repairs and maintenance around the home is a common stress for homeowners and tenants. And now, with the added concerns around coronavirus transmission and social distancing, the process has become even more anxiety-provoking. Iwona Walsh, a local landlord, explained: “I suppose what’s previously irritated me, is when [contractors] don’t turn up when they’re supposed to turn up. [I’d rather be] actually dealing with the property management side; when you’re not having to chase someone you can tick the box, complete the task and move on to the next thing.” And as Mandy Woodman, another local landlord, told us: “[Contractors] like to do the big jobs, but don’t want to come and do the small jobs.” Brits spend an average of 15 days of their adult lives waiting in for tradespeople, according to a study conducted by TrustMark. Sham Singh, Director of Leicester-based company CRS Gas & Heating, acknowledged the issue: “There is a stigma attached to tradespeople that we are unreliable, we won’t answer the phone, turn up on time, or even turn up at all. And too often previously this has been the case. “Our customers lead busy, fast-paced lives. They don’t
82 | NICHE
need the extra stress of waiting around for a tradesperson. Our customers have a delivery arriving, they need to pick something up from the shop, they’ve had to take time off from work to wait in for us, they need to get their kids from school, and so on. “We’re aware there are a multitude of things people have to consider when booking an appointment with a tradesperson. And the situation can sometimes be even more stressful for tenants, when the landlord might have booked the tradesperson and the tenant is unsure of who is coming to their home.” After seven years of working as a gas engineer, Sham set up CRS Gas and Heating in 2007. Keen to transform the reputation of the industry, he set about building an ethos that remains firm over a decade in business later. He told me how CRS aims to provide a service in which the work is completed to the highest standard, but also where the whole process is as smooth and as stress-free as possible for the customer. He believes the key to this lies in communication. There can be issues such as when companies are too busy to correspond with customers in a timely fashion, or when communication between three parties is necessary, such as is the case when working with
Expecting poor service shouldn’t be the norm, let’s all raise the bar together