I expect you have heard of property developer, entrepreneur and TV presenter Sarah Beeny. As she explained in a recent interview in The Daily Telegraph, she knew that she wanted to go into property development from a young age.

While friends and contemporaries were studying hard at university, Sarah was checking out the property market ad by her mid-20s had an established property development business. A chance meeting and conversation at a hen party resulted in a successful screen test and when her first TV show Property Ladder appeared her career really took off.

Although Sarah was quite happy to tackle most renovation works herself, she knew she had to outsource the electrical and plumbing work to professionals. She says that this “taught me another golden rule to renovation: it’s really hard to find good tradespeople.”

Sarah then went on to lay out her top tips for finding reliable tradespeople:

1. Asking friends who live in the same area is always a good bet. It isn’t always successful though as not everyone might have the same standards as you and you may find you have a substandard job done and an awkward situation with your friends.

2. Ask for recommendations at your local builders’ or plumbers’ merchants. They can often be the source of good, reliable workmen.

3. Visit local building sites that look well run and ask who they use as subcontractors.

4. Online forums can be a valuable source so check those out.

So from a tradesperson’s point of view, you should be getting good testimonials and checking your rep on online forums. Keep on good terms with your local suppliers and if you are working onsite make sure your vehicle is sign written and left in a highly visible spot.