Northern Ireland embraces TrustMark

A high profile media campaign has boosted awareness of TrustMark in Northern Ireland, helping people to find reputable tradesmen to work on repair, maintenance and improvement work in and around their homes.

Media coverage created almost 11 million opportunities for people across the province to listen to, watch or read about TrustMark.

There was a huge public response to the information broadcast on all the local BBC radio and TV programmes, as well as the articles in the Belfast Telegraph and other newspapers.

The number of visitors to the TrustMark website shot up, with 8,000 people looking at the site in the first week of February and 5,000 people conducting a search for a TrustMark trader. Top of their list were builders, roofers and electricians. More than 2,500 tradespeople also downloaded information on how to join the scheme.

The promotional campaign followed research that revealed Northern Ireland tradesmen are suffering a customer confidence crisis. The problem of rogue tradesmen is costing Northern Ireland £81 a minute in botched jobs.

The public’s worrying lack of trust is down to rogue traders letting down an industry actually filled with reputable professionals with high standards according to Ian Livsey, Chairman of TrustMark. He is confident that the promotion of TrustMark in Northern Ireland will lead to an overall rise in quality.

He comments: “The problem of botched jobs by rogue traders costs the public in Northern Ireland nearly five thousand pounds a day. It is a serious problem and TrustMark is here to provide a serious solution. We came to Northern Ireland to tell the public that they have a choice – they can now get the information they need about reputable tradespeople. We also came to give the best tradesmen a much-needed confidence boost.”

Northern Ireland Finance Minister, David Hanson MP, also spoke up to support the scheme: “The work of TrustMark is very important. Rogue traders do immense damage to the image of the construction industry and cause financial and emotional distress to householders. It is essential that we take steps to protect the public and help them to select competent, approved tradespeople.”