Online platform YourPro is entering the Irish market with a service promising results to both tradespeople and their customers.
The group, which was founded in Greece in 2015, is looking to sign up 600 tradespeople across a range of disciplines. It says its technology has helped make scheduling more efficient for tradespeople, increasing their sales 20-30 per cent.
While a recent survey carried out by the company online showed strong demand for home renovation services, 25 per cent of respondents said waiting times were a real headache, noting that it could take up to a month for a tradesperson to come to their home.
The YourPro service matches qualified tradespeople with consumers in their local area. There are a number of similar services already in the Irish market, including onlinetradesmen.ie and localheroes.ie
YourPro says it spotted a gap in the market where tradespeople spent too much time juggling the scheduling jobs and other administration tasks. The group, which operates in Greece, Cyprus and Portugal, said it had chosen the Irish market for its next phase of expansion because Irish tradespeople were "more tech-friendly that many other European markets".
"Having trialled our services in central Dublin at the end of 2021, we saw a tremendous response from consumers and tradespeople, with over 4,500 jobs posted on the platform already," chief executive Andreas Grammatis said.
“We’re now expanding right across new home services categories.”
He said there were more than 90 job categories of trades available via the service.
Efficiencies
From the perspective of the tradespeople, he said YourPro could help them grow their businesses.
“Already our registered tradespeople are gaining efficiencies across their job schedules, allowing them to take on more work without compromising quality and standard of services,” he said.
“By removing low-value administrative and back-office tasks that can eat into the day of tradespeople, we enable them to focus on the jobs at hand and increase their capacity. This is good news for Irish consumers also, who can access skilled, professional and reliable tradespersons who can meet their home improvement needs.”
The Irish market for home improvement, urgent repairs and renovation is estimated to be worth €3.2 billion annually, the company said.
The platform will initially roll out services across the Greater Dublin Area, with plans to expand throughout the State. YourPro says it is investing €1 million initially to establish its operation here.
