TrustMark Blog

Today, the third Monday in January, marks what is considered by many to be the most miserable day of the year. With Christmas behind us for another year, there’s little to brighten up the dark nights and long days. If you find yourself feeling down today, we suggest keeping yourself busy and making some noticeable improvements to your home to make you feel good, which don’t have to cost to earth!

2016 has certainly been an interesting year for the trade industry here in the UK, with Brexit causing uncertainty in the economy and the Bonfield Review on each home matters being published last month. But as we draw the curtains on it talk now turns to New Years’ resolutions.

TrustMark appointed Hunt ADR Limited to be its mediation provider for disputes between TrustMark members and their consumer clients. We were also appointed to provide TrustMark with guidance on arbitration, including nominating arbitrators. Several months and mediations on, this blog looks at one recurring theme which, overcome, could make the mediation process far more useful to TrustMark and its members.

How things have changed over the years for both consumers and businesses when it comes to banking. I can’t remember the last time that I wrote a cheque and I’m not sure that I know where my chequebook actually is. These days, all my payments are made by credit card or via internet banking. I can access my bank account via my computer or phone and, after tapping in a few passwords, I can send money to whomever I owe. It is fast, convenient and time saving. I’m sure that businesses appreciate the ease with which they can pay suppliers and also the ease with which customers can now pay them.

8.4 million people in the UK, the equivalent of the entire population of London, are currently finding it hard to afford to eat. FareShare strives to fight food hunger and tackle waste in a bid to redistribute food to give it to those who need it the most. In the past year alone, FareShare Southern Central have supplied 1,169,047 meals to communities, schools and households.

In November 2016, we launched our national Trading Standards Approved scheme for tradespeople in the UK. Working with our primary authority partner, Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading standards, we are now able to offer all TrustMark Registered Firms a scheme that gives them national recognition with local reassurance.

Being a hard-working tradesperson can be frustrating when you’re constantly faced with negative views from the media and the public. So it might be surprising to learn that 9 out of 10 jobs go off without any complaints. This year we’ve been trying to educate the public that the current image of the ‘white van man’ is woefully out of date. It’s time to change the ‘cowboy builder’ stereotype, and challenge some common misconceptions that we can all be guilty of making when we think of tradespeople.

Trading Standards Officers have enormous responsibility for enforcing a vast array of regulations and I think that is why I still find my job so interesting after all these years. To illustrate the point, we had an obscure enquiry this week about the rules regarding the marketing of baby milk, which had us scratching around the office looking for the relevant legislation.

As TrustMark nears a close on its 10th Anniversary year, we nostalgically look back on how we got to this point. This year we’ve been campaigning heavily to promote reputable tradespeople, and shone light into the daily activities of our ten TrustMark Ambassadors, all of whom excel in customer service, trading practices and standards of workmanship.

It’s that time of year when our thoughts turn to Christmas and how we are going to decorate our homes to get us into the festive spirit. I am actually ahead of the game and dug out my external lights from the garage at the weekend. I wasn’t sure if they needed replacing – they are about ten years old and I remember that a few of the lights weren’t working last year. They are the LED variety and plug into the mains but operate at a low voltage via a transformer kept indoors.