About TradeKind
TradeKind is a Sussex-only trades directory built to help homeowners find local tradespeople more safely, clearly and confidently.
The platform covers East Sussex and West Sussex, including Brighton & Hove as a single location area. It is designed for homeowners who want a simple way to find local trades, view their profile, understand what they do, and request them directly without needing to search through unrelated national listings.
TradeKind starts with a simple idea:
Local trade profiles should be useful, public, easy to find, and built around trust.
Many tradespeople do not have a proper website. Some rely only on social media, word of mouth, WhatsApp, or old directory listings. TradeKind gives each approved trade business a public profile that can act like a small website, showing what they do, where they work, what categories they cover, photos of work, reviews when available, and their trusted network.
Sussex first
TradeKind is focused on Sussex first.
The launch area is:
- East Sussex
- West Sussex
- Brighton & Hove
The reason is simple: local trust works best when the area is focused. A national platform can be useful, but it often becomes broad, noisy and impersonal. TradeKind is being built around local density, local search, and real Sussex trade relationships.
Over time, TradeKind may expand beyond Sussex, but the first priority is to build a strong, useful Sussex directory before widening the area.
What makes TradeKind different
TradeKind is not just a list of tradespeople.
It is being built as a trust network.
The key difference is the Fleet system.
A Fleet is a trade business’s trusted working network. It can show:
Team
Team members are internal workers connected to the business. They may be employees, regular workers or people working under the same business identity. They are shown as part of the business, not as separate independent businesses.
Partners
Partners are independent tradespeople or trade businesses that the main business regularly works with and trusts. Partners keep their own TradeKind profiles, reviews and identity. They are linked through the Fleet as trusted collaborators.
This matters because many good trades do not work alone. A decorator may regularly work with a plasterer. A builder may rely on trusted plumbers, electricians, roofers and carpenters. A homeowner often wants to know not only who the business is, but also who they trust and work with.
TradeKind makes those relationships visible.
Public trade profiles
Each approved trade business can have a public profile page on TradeKind.
A profile can include:
- business name
- trade categories
- Sussex towns/areas served
- business description
- work photos
- reviews when available
- verification or approval status
- Fleet connections
- a Request This Trade button
These profiles are designed to be indexable by Google. That means a good TradeKind profile can become a useful local search result for the tradesperson, not just a hidden listing inside a platform.
Request This Trade
Instead of showing private phone numbers and emails publicly, TradeKind uses a Request This Trade system.
A homeowner can visit a trade profile and submit a request. The request is saved securely and sent to the relevant trade business.
This protects the platform from becoming just a scraped list of phone numbers and helps keep future marketplace features possible.
At launch, requests are free for tradespeople. TradeKind may later add paid marketplace features, but the first phase is about building trust, useful profiles and local coverage.
Reviews
TradeKind is designed to avoid fake or weak reviews.
The long-term review rule is simple:
A review should only be allowed after a job has been marked complete by the trade and confirmed by the customer.
This helps keep reviews connected to real completed work instead of random testimonials or unverified comments.
During the early directory phase, some profiles may include admin-added or trade-supplied starter review information where clearly appropriate, but the long-term direction is confirmed job-based reviews.
Homeowner safety
TradeKind does not perform the work itself and does not guarantee the quality, pricing, availability or suitability of any trade business.
Homeowners should still make sensible checks before hiring anyone, such as:
- checking experience and previous work
- asking for a written quote
- confirming insurance where relevant
- checking qualifications for regulated work
- agreeing scope, price and timescales clearly
- avoiding large upfront cash payments without protection
TradeKind’s role is to make discovery, comparison and contact easier while building a stronger local trust layer.
For tradespeople
TradeKind is also designed to be valuable for tradespeople.
A good profile can help a trade business:
- appear on local Sussex trade pages
- get a public profile without needing a full website
- show work photos and service areas
- receive direct requests from homeowners
- build local visibility
- show trusted Team and Partner relationships through Fleets
The first phase is free because the priority is building a strong directory and useful local network.
The long-term vision
TradeKind begins as a free Sussex trades directory.
The planned direction is to grow carefully into:
- a lead marketplace
- a quoting and messaging system
- lead unlocks
- trade dashboards
- profile management
- Fleet-based trust networks
- job history and verified reviews
- eventually, a fuller operating system for local trade businesses
But TradeKind should not rush into complexity too early.
The first goal is to build something useful, trustworthy and searchable for Sussex homeowners and local tradespeople.