Origin Story

It's important to know who you're listening to so here's a bit about my story and why you should care...

The Start

I started off my career as a project manager for a design agency working with international clients.

Then I got made redundant….and although I didn’t know it at the time, it was the best thing that ever happened to me.

I began refurbishing hotels in Yorkshire, pulling together the team of tradesmen I had developed over the past couple of years whilst I was developing buy to let properties with my dad on a part time basis.

Learning phase

Over the next few years, I learned the trades myself through many varied projects, refurbishing hotels, bars, London apartments and large domestic houses around Yorkshire.

I loved learning all the trades, and I’ve always thought that learning is a lifelong pursuit.

I always knew that after I had gained the necessary skills, I wanted to do something more, so I started to build my own team.

But….

I was frustrated trying to find decent tradesmen.

The struggle

You may have suffered this frustration as well (and if you haven’t then good luck with your 1st project!)

I waited in for people that never showed up and kept me waiting when I had other stuff to do.

I waited in for people to get back to me when they said they would (and they never did)

I cleared up after tradesmen who have left the place in a complete mess at the end of the day because they just didn’t know the difference between a site & a home.

I remedied others people’s shoddy work.

I went through the small claims court to reclaim money owed to me.

It seems that in the corporate world professionalism is standard but in construction, it’s very much an option.

In building my current team I have hired and trialled hundreds of different local tradesmen across many different disciplines over the past decade and I can honestly say that I’ve been genuinely impressed by the skill and attitude of only a few.

I’ll reiterate that point.

A few.

Probably about 5%.

1 in 20

That means that if you have the same luck as me in sourcing quality tradesmen that you can expect 1 in every 20 people you call to invite into your home to be what I would call ‘truly excellent at their job.’

And don’t forget, for a turnkey bathroom or en suite installation you may need several tradesmen:

A labourer for ripping the old bathroom out
A builder for fitting windows, knocking down adjoining walls and doing structural work
A joiner to build stud walls, hang doors and fit skirting boards & architraves
A plumber to fit the bathroom suite & amend drainage work
A tiler to prepare & then tile the walls and/or floor
An electrician to install lighting, fans, underfloor heating, shaver points etc
A plasterer to overboard & skim the ceiling or board out & skim the walls
A floor fitter to fit vinyl flooring or equivalent
A painter & decorator to paint the walls and ceiling or woodwork to a high standard

Who has the time or inclination to try and find that many people, especially in a field that’s so beset with problems?

It’s like looking for a needle in haystack, and I do not envy homeowners tasks today, especially as they often do not even know what’s involved in the task they are hiring for (unless they are being helped along by us of course!)

I went through more people than you can imagine and had to deal with more incidents than you would believe.

So when I reiterate that I truly know how tough it is to find great tradesmen you know I’ve been there and bought the t-shirt.

I could write a book on all the terrible work that I’ve seen that has cost homeowners just like you untold emotional distress and unnecessary financial hardship.

The solution

I wanted to start a company that did things differently.

In 2014 I decided to specialise in bathroom installation as I already had excellent working relationships with a few key suppliers in this area, and had a tight knit team well versed in the standards I expected.

I rebranded as ukbathroomguru with a slight tongue in cheek mentality.

It wasn’t that I thought I knew everything (far from it), but the name suited my idea of being a teacher and educating clients about how to get the best work done.

Despite the name, we are a humble team of tradesmen on a mission to deliver beautiful bathing spaces, but we never forget the origins of the company name and the high standards it alludes to.

Now, we design & plan beautiful bathrooms, ensuite and cloakrooms.

Our website has also helped hundreds of thousands of homeowners who have come to learn about everything relating to bathroom installation….

We’ve written many consumer guides that are available for download here.

We help people through 1 to 1 virtual consultation to plan their own projects regardless of who the eventual fitter will be.

We also recently moved into the online space.

We teach people how to execute their own projects (or even DIY them) via our flagship course.

For those closer to home, we operate a turnkey, done for you installation service.

We install hundreds of bathrooms, en-suites & cloakrooms every year and have several fitting teams working across Leeds and York.

We develop talent..

Since our inception I have kept my team small and focused on delivering high standards.

I’ve recruited people from disparate fields and trained them up. One of our fitters used to lay patios and build engines, and now he’s one of the most valuable people on site: Need someone to weld a beam into place when knocking down a wall? Or perhaps someone to re-lay a patio when we’ve had to dig a trench for a drainage pipe when installing a downstairs loo……He’s your man.

We’ve developed young talent and taken on a coupe of apprentices in the past two years as well.

Plus we’ve developed relationships with some key local suppliers to help our customer procure high quality goods from firms with excellent aftercare.

Although no-ones perfect, I think we’ve got a good balance of skills capable of carrying out any bathroom remodel, new en suite or downstairs toilet to a high standard.

Our ethos:

Everything we do (and don’t do) is done for a reason: to ensure that our installations are the best that they can be, and that they will last for years and years. And we publish the things that we do that others don’t, in our consumer guide to comparing quotes which can be downloaded here.

We deliver quality projects one at a time and that’s why we don’t flit from job to job, leaving unfinished work around every corner with customers pulling their hair out from having to flush their loo with a bucket for 3 weeks over xmas (a true story from a local plumber I subcontracted for in Leeds).

Basically, we do things the right way and we walk away from jobs that would compromise that ideal (and we teach people remotely how to do the same thing)

I hope this gives you a sense of me & my company

Maybe we can help you with your project in some way

Chris

Let Us Help You Plan With A Free Consultation.

PS. We’ll also send you our in-depth PDF guide which contains everything you need to know about this kind of job with loads of pictures, case studies and example budgets.