Mr-Skill.co.uk revolutionary service platform start-up

National Homebuilding and Renovating show, NEC Birmingham, 10-13th April 2008

Mr-skill.co.uk is set to revolutionise the service sector. It is the first ever UK-based internet service platform, launched by a group of Law and International relations students from the University of London. The inauguration of Mr-Skill took place at the ‘National Homebuilding and Renovating’ show, held at the NEC in Birmingham from the 10th to 13th of April.

Mr-Skill is a web-based service that operates similarly to the Ebay online goods platform. It works in a straight-forward manner: imagine a couple needing the floor of their 15-year old house retiled; picture a keen botanist wanting to keep her garden’s flowers, bushes and hedges trimmed and maintained, envisage a plumbing problem that needs immediate attention; consider an overwhelmed hostess struggling to find a catering team on time for her 30-head party… each of these situations – and many more – can be effortlessly resolved thanks to the Mr-Skill online platform. Clients who need a job done – ranging from house-painting, home removal, cleaning services, to dog-walking, website design and even tutoring, can benefit from using Mr-Skill.

The process is quick and simple: members of the public describe their required service on the user-friendly website, after which contractors, suppliers and businesses view the jobs and place bids to perform the service. The bidding mechanism enables customers to obtain the most competitive price with the best contractor in their category. Once the bidding has ended, the customer is free to select, depending on price and qualification, the contractor that he sees fit for the job. Advantageously, the service is entirely non-binding for the customer. For instance, if customers are dissatisfied with the offers resulting from the bidding process, they are free not to opt for any of the contractors who have placed a bid.

Other perks for clients include excellent value for money as a result of the competitive bidding process: customers can achieve up to 30% savings, compared to the price quoted by their local contractor. The benefits for contractors are also substantial: by registering on the Mr-Skill platform, contractors can expand their client base, as well as fill in vacant time slots in their day.
In essence, Mr-Skill appeals to clients and service professional alike by providing an online platform which circumvents tedious telephone-registry browsing and tiresome negotiations.

Mr-Skill addresses clients’ concern for high quality service professionals: the website is designed to make the contractors’ credentials appear online in order to help clients make an informed decision on which contractor to choose. As a result, contractor’s public liability insurances, qualifications and Government-sponsored approval schemes (such as TrustMark) are viewable by the customer. Moreover, the website includes a mutual review section, where customers give feedback and issue ratings on contractors they have previously hired, and vice versa. This means there is no compromise to be made on quality service and reliability.

Mr-Skill is entirely free of charge for customers. For contractors, the introductory offer consists of granting free lifetime membership to the first 1,000 contractors who register on the Mr-Skill website (www.mr-skill.co.uk).

Manning the ‘Mr-Skill’ stand together with his fellow lawyers-to-be colleagues on the first day of the ‘National Homebuilding and Renovating’ show, Managing Director of Mr-Skill Ltd., Henning Thole, explained: “Mr-Skill is a new concept which we have today begun to introduce to the public in the UK. Our primary goal at this stage of the project is to increase awareness with a particular emphasis on recruiting more contractors. Quality service professionals are a prerequisite for the competitive bidding process; therefore by engaging more contractors, we will establish the foundation of our system.” Thus, amid the biggest names in the house-building industry in the larger-than-life Hall No.5 of the nation’s main exhibition centre; a dynamic team of students were proactively informing passers-by about Mr-Skill, raising awareness, and encouraging potential clients and contractors to spread the word.


If you like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Henning Thole, please call Anouck Bronée at 07969323262 or email Anouck at [email protected].

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