What Is TradeKind? A Sussex Marketplace for Homeowners and Local Tradespeople

TradeKind is a Sussex marketplace that helps homeowners find local tradespeople and gives trade businesses a clearer way to present their work, manage enquiries and build their reputation.

Homeowners can post a job, browse approved public profiles or request a particular business. Tradespeople can create a detailed profile, choose the services and areas they cover, and receive relevant opportunities through the platform.

TradeKind is starting across East Sussex and West Sussex rather than trying to cover the whole country from day one. Brighton & Hove is included within TradeKind’s East Sussex coverage.

Why TradeKind exists

Finding the right tradesperson is not always as straightforward as it should be.

A homeowner may know that something is wrong without knowing whether they need a roofer, builder, drainage specialist or another trade. They may find several businesses online but struggle to work out which ones cover their area, what services they actually provide or how best to contact them.

Local trade businesses face a different problem. Many do excellent work but have an online presence spread across social media pages, old directory listings and websites that no longer reflect the business properly. Some rely almost entirely on word of mouth, which can make it difficult for new local customers to find them.

TradeKind was created to bring those two sides together in a more useful way.

The platform has been shaped by around 30 years of practical experience in the home improvement industry, including work in roofing, scaffolding and decorating. That experience has shown how important local reputation, clear communication and realistic service areas are to both homeowners and tradespeople.

TradeKind is therefore designed around a simple idea: help homeowners take the next sensible step, while giving genuine Sussex trade businesses a useful public presence they can manage themselves.

TradeKind at a glance

Question	Answer
What is TradeKind?	A Sussex marketplace connecting homeowners with local tradespeople
Who is it for?	Homeowners looking for help and trade businesses looking for relevant local enquiries
Where does it operate?	East Sussex and West Sussex, with Brighton & Hove included within TradeKind’s East Sussex coverage
What can homeowners do?	Post a job, browse public profiles or request a specific business
What can tradespeople do?	Create a profile, choose services and service areas, manage enquiries and build their reputation
Are profiles reviewed?	Yes. TradeKind manually reviews profiles before they become publicly visible
Does approval guarantee the work?	No. Approval is not a guarantee of workmanship or a personal recommendation
Does it cost tradespeople to join?	TradeKind is currently free to join, with no setup fee, subscription or commission

TradeKind is more than a list of business names and phone numbers. It supports different ways of finding and contacting a trade, depending on how much the homeowner already knows.

How homeowners can use TradeKind

Every home repair or improvement begins differently.

Sometimes you know exactly what needs doing. Sometimes you only know the symptoms. In other cases, you may already have a particular local business in mind.

TradeKind gives homeowners three ways to begin.

Post a job

Posting a job is the most direct route when you want to describe what needs doing and make the opportunity available to suitable tradespeople.

You do not need to write a technical specification. A clear description of the problem, the location and any useful details can help relevant trades understand whether the job is suitable for them.

For example, you may have water staining on a ceiling without knowing whether the cause is damaged roofing, blocked guttering or a plumbing problem. You can describe what you can see rather than trying to diagnose it yourself.

Relevant trades can then review the opportunity and decide whether to respond. Posting a job does not guarantee that a business will be available, but it gives you a practical place to start.

Browse local trade profiles

You may prefer to look around before submitting a job.

The Sussex Trades Directory lets you browse approved public profiles and learn more about the businesses listed on TradeKind.

Depending on what a business has added, its profile may show:

• the services it provides
• the Sussex areas it covers
• business photos and examples of work
• frequently asked questions
• customer reviews
• a link to its own website
• Team members and Partner trades in its Fleet
• a way to send the business a request through TradeKind

This route is useful when you want to compare several local options or understand a business before making contact.

Request a specific business

If you have already found a business you want to approach, you do not need to post a general job.

Approved profiles include a Request This Trade option. This lets you send the details of your job to that particular business through TradeKind.

The business can then review the request and choose whether to respond. Its private phone number and email address do not need to be displayed publicly for you to make contact.

Which route should you choose?

Your situation	Best starting point
“I need someone, but I have not chosen a business”	Post a job
“I want to compare local businesses first”	Browse Sussex trades
“I already know which business I want”	Use Request This Trade on its public profile
“I am not completely sure which trade I need”	Describe the problem when posting your job
“I only want businesses that cover my area”	Browse by trade and Sussex location

Whichever route you choose, it is still sensible to discuss the work properly before making a decision. Ask questions, confirm the scope and obtain a written quote where appropriate.

How TradeKind works for local tradespeople

TradeKind gives Sussex tradespeople more than a basic directory entry.

A public profile can become a central place to explain what your business does, where you work and how homeowners can approach you.

Tradespeople can add and manage information such as:

• business name and description
• trade categories and services
• Sussex towns and service areas
• logo, cover image and work gallery
• frequently asked questions
• business website
• reviews and reputation information
• Team members and Partner trades
• relevant job and direct business requests

Profiles can also be shared directly with existing or prospective customers.

For example, a decorator based in Lancing could show examples of interior and exterior work, select the Sussex towns the business genuinely covers and answer common questions about preparation or estimates. A homeowner can then understand the service before sending a request.

TradeKind does not publicly display a trade’s private phone number or email address on its profile. Homeowners make contact through the platform instead.

This gives tradespeople greater control over how their business details are presented while still providing a clear way for local customers to get in touch.

TradeKind is currently free for Sussex tradespeople to join. There is no setup fee, subscription or commission, and businesses do not need to pay to unlock the profile features currently offered.

Businesses can learn more on the TradeKind for Trades page or create a free profile.

Approval, trust and sensible expectations

Every TradeKind profile is manually reviewed before it becomes publicly visible.

This review helps TradeKind prevent obviously unsuitable, incomplete or misleading profiles from being published without any oversight. It also helps maintain a more useful directory for homeowners.

However, it is important to understand what approval means.

An approved profile means the business has passed TradeKind’s publication review. It does not mean that TradeKind guarantees:

• the quality of future work
• the accuracy of every claim made by the business
• the availability of the tradesperson
• the price or timescale of a job
• a particular result
• that the business is suitable for every project

TradeKind is a marketplace that helps people find and contact each other. It is not a substitute for the homeowner making an informed hiring decision.

Before agreeing to significant work, homeowners should consider:

• discussing the job directly with the business
• asking for a clear written quotation
• checking who will carry out the work
• confirming relevant insurance, qualifications or registrations where required
• agreeing payment stages and timescales
• reading genuine customer reviews
• avoiding pressure to make an immediate decision

Tradespeople are also responsible for keeping their profile accurate, selecting realistic service areas and communicating honestly with homeowners.

This balance matters. TradeKind wants to make local connections easier without pretending that an online profile can remove every risk involved in hiring someone to work on your property.

Why TradeKind is starting in Sussex

TradeKind is deliberately launching across Sussex before expanding further.

Local trade work is shaped by geography. A business may comfortably cover several nearby towns but not want enquiries from the other side of the country—or even the other side of the county. Homeowners also generally want someone who genuinely works in their area, rather than a business appearing in local searches without practical coverage.

A Sussex-first approach allows TradeKind to build around real local service areas.

It also means the platform can concentrate on:

• attracting genuine local trade businesses
• improving coverage trade by trade and town by town
• keeping public profiles useful and accurate
• understanding what Sussex homeowners need
• providing support from a Sussex-based team
• improving the marketplace before expanding more widely

TradeKind does not claim that every trade is already available in every Sussex town. It is a new marketplace, and coverage will grow as more suitable businesses join and complete their profiles.

That is a more honest approach than presenting TradeKind as a complete national network before the local foundations are in place.

What makes TradeKind different

TradeKind combines several features that are not normally found together in a basic trade directory.

Three ways for homeowners to begin

Homeowners are not forced through one journey. They can post a job, browse profiles or request a particular business.

Sussex-focused service areas

Trade businesses choose the locations they genuinely cover, helping homeowners find more relevant local options.

Reviewed public profiles

Profiles are manually reviewed before publication rather than appearing publicly without oversight.

Private trade contact details

A business can receive requests without publishing its private phone number or email address on its profile.

Profiles built around real businesses

Tradespeople can show services, work photos, FAQs, reviews, areas covered and a link to their own website.

Fleets

A Fleet can show the people and relationships behind a trade business.

Team members are people within the business. Partners are independent approved trades the business regularly works with or recommends. This can help homeowners understand the wider network involved in completing different types of work.

Local support

TradeKind provides support by phone, email and through the platform. It is intended to feel like a Sussex service rather than an anonymous national database.

TradeKind is still at an early stage. It does not yet claim complete coverage, guaranteed responses or national scale. Its purpose is to build something genuinely useful for Sussex homeowners and tradespeople, then grow on stronger foundations.

For homeowners, that means a clearer choice between posting a job, browsing local businesses and requesting someone directly.

For tradespeople, it means a free public profile, control over service areas and a practical way to receive relevant local enquiries.

That is TradeKind: a Sussex marketplace built to help local homeowners and tradespeople find the right way to connect.