More than one in five UK homeowners opted for gas and heating engineers as the nation’s most trustworthy tradespeople in the 2016 poll, released by HomeServe during Gas Safe Register’s Gas Safety Week.
Electricians (11%) rated second among more than 2,000 UK homeowners questioned in the OnePoll survey, followed by plumbers (eight per cent), painters and decorators (seven per cent), landscape gardeners (six per cent) and joiners (five per cent). The 2016 list is propped up this year by pest controllers and builders, at 3.5% and 3.55% respectively.
Trustworthiness (67%) is the most important attribute expected of traders by homeowners – with honesty, reliability, high quality workmanship and qualifications also ranking highly in the HomeServe-commissioned study.
However, it appears traders can leave the jokes at home – as smart clothes, compassion, good humour and a smile are deemed to be least important.
In total, 85% of homeowners who responded in the study deemed qualifications and accreditations to be essential ingredients (either extremely/very important) for choosing their trusted traders of choice.
Jonathan Samuel, chief executive at Gas Safe Register, said: “Having any kind of work done can be stressful, and knowing that the person who is undertaking work is a suitably qualified professional like a Gas Safe registered engineer is a great help. We always say, ‘trust the triangle’, and always use a Gas Safe registered engineer.”
The study also shows that when it comes to the tricky decision about picking a trader, knowing them personally (39%) and word of mouth recommendations from family and friends (36%) prove to be the most popular choices.
For more information on the Trusted Trader 2016 study findings, visit: http://ketchup.homeserve.com/.