TrustMark Blog

As we all know, Christmas brings a plethora of extra jobs, buying presents for the family, to putting up decorations and, of course, cooking Christmas dinner. With such festivities taking place during this period, it is common for fire safety to take a back seat.

If you are a tradesman yourself, perhaps a sole trader or a small business owner, you will be well aware of the saturated market in which your business sits and how reputation and differentiation is everything to get that phone ringing off the hook. Perhaps you are part of an accreditation scheme, such as TrustMark, whereby you can display the ‘Government-endorsed standards’ logo across your paperwork and vehicle livery – but how else can you really make the most of your business assets and unique selling points?

Our advice to customers at TrustMark has always been to get a range of quotes when finding someone to carry out home improvements, to ensure you are getting a quality job at a fair price. Amongst this, we suggest a number of other checks you should be doing which will put safeguards in place for both the customer and the firm.

When looking to buy a new property, you may be impressed by an intelligent alarm system or movement sensitive lighting. But after these initial considerations have worn off and the routine of daily life sets in, how much ongoing attention do you pay to the home security measures you have in place? Would you be confident enough to say they’re up to scratch?

The word ‘fake’ isn’t a very popular one and by association we would team it with words like ‘cheap’ and ‘plastic’. But there is sometimes benefits to using fake, man-made products rather than the real deal. Take grass for example – fake grass is lower maintenance, some of them look as though they are real and they won’t change or die after a season of bad weather.

I recently returned from venturing north of Watford Gap for the annual Chartered Trading Standards Institute conference. It was, in fact, a long way north of Watford Gap – Harrogate in North Yorkshire to be precise. The weather was appalling with heavy rain every day and temperatures a good ten degrees below those in London.

Described by many as the most stressful milestone out there, moving house is not the kind of thing you want to make a habit of. Particularly if it’s your first house move, you may fall into the trap of some common pitfalls that make you want to throw all of your lovely belongings out of the nearest window. To stop that happening, we’ve put together this useful step-by-step guide which (touch wood) will make it all run smoother.

Whether you’re looking to get your garden ready for the long summer evenings or your thoughts have already turned to weatherproofing your exterior before the temperature turns. Now’s the ideal time to shift your attention to your external projects.