How to Find Good Tradesmen to Hire, and Keep the Good Ones

Ask any growing builder what holds them back and most say the same thing: not the work, the people. They cannot find good tradesmen to hire.

You can win a £150K job, but who is going to build it? The good trades are busy, the ones who are free are free for a reason, and the last new starter lasted two weeks.

You will not fix this with one advert. You fix it with a small recruiting system. Know what you need and look where good trades actually are. Test before you commit, and run a company good people want to stay with. If you want help building that system, book a free strategy call.

Decide exactly who you need

"A good builder" is not a role. Before you look, write down:

• The trade and level. Multi-trade, second-fix carpenter, site lead, plasterer.
• Employee or subcontractor. Every week under your direction, or booked per job? See employ or subcontract.
• Rate or salary you can actually afford on your current prices.
• The work. Type of jobs, area, typical job size, how long.
• What they must be able to do alone, without you on site.

If the person you need is really someone to take work off you (admin, a site lead), start with hiring your first employee.

Where good tradesmen actually come from

The best trades rarely answer job adverts. They move through people they trust.

• Your best trades. Ask the electrician or plasterer you rate most who they would work with. Good people know other good people, and they will not recommend someone who makes them look bad.
• Merchants and trade counters. Staff know who comes in every morning, who pays and who is always on a job.
• Other contractors. Builders you are friendly with often have someone good between jobs.
• Local trade groups online and job boards. Fine for volume; filter hard.
• Apprentices and improvers. Slower, but you train them your way. Most of the cost is funded: see can't find workers for the CITB grants.

Write the advert like a good quote: trade, area, day rate or salary, type of work, how long, how and when you pay. Vague adverts ("busy building firm seeks trades") attract vague people.

Test before you trust

1. Photos and a reference. Recent work on their phone, and a contractor (not a mate) who will vouch for them.
2. Cards and paperwork. Insurance for subbies, any cards your sites require (for example CSCS), right to work for employees, CIS verification before you pay a subbie.
3. A paid trial day or a small job. Watch the things that matter: on time, tidy, asks the right questions, finishes properly.
4. Then a bigger job, with a site lead checking stages.

If someone you already took on isn't working out, read what to do after a bad hire.

Make them productive in weeks, not months

New starters fail when nobody tells them how you work. Give every new person:

• A one-page "how we work" sheet: start times, daily photo report, how variations work, who to call about what.
• The checklists for the jobs they will do: set-up, deliveries, snagging, handover.
• One named person to ask for the first two weeks, who is not you.

How fast teams can be built

With the right structure, owners build teams fast. Oleg built a team of 10+ people within two months of starting his own company. Dima, an electrician, hired about ten people in about four weeks. Individual results, not typical or guaranteed.

Help building your team

Sviat Jay runs Craftex, a London design and build company, and mentors owners one-to-one himself. Some owners need help finding people; others have people but no way of running them. He starts with whichever is holding you back.

The flagship is one-to-one, by application; smaller firms start in small groups (max 10–20) with regular one-to-ones. Built for results in about 4 months, not 1–3-year programs. To talk it through, book a free strategy call.