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.
