Useful Information
Stay ahead of the competition with our Useful Information page, packed with essential marketing resources for trades. Each month, we bring you fresh insights on social media, design, video, stock photos/graphics, and more, helping you elevate your brand and attract more customers.
We provide expert advice, signpost you to the best tools and websites, and break down pricing options—from free solutions to premium services—so you can make informed decisions that suit your budget.
Keep your marketing sharp and up to date—explore this month’s resources now!
Tip: Tap the buttons above to jump to each section.
Social Media
Keeping your social media active and engaging doesn’t have to be time-consuming. This section covers the best apps and software to help you schedule posts, plan content, and manage your online presence with ease, so you can focus on running your business while staying visible to potential customers.
Buffer
Buffer is an easy-to-use social media scheduling tool that helps you plan and publish posts across multiple platforms. It provides analytics to track engagement and is ideal for businesses that need a simple interface.
Pricing:
- Free Plan: Includes up to 3 social channels with basic features.
- Essentials Plan: £5.10 per month per social channel, includes scheduling, analytics, and publishing features.
- Team Plan: £10.20 per month per social channel, supports team collaboration with additional features.
- Agency Plan: £102 per month for 10 social channels, designed for agencies with multiple clients.
Sprout Social
Sprout Social is a premium social media management platform that offers in-depth analytics, team collaboration, and scheduling. It’s ideal for businesses looking for advanced tools to manage social media and track customer engagement.
Pricing:
- Standard Plan: £187 per month per user, includes 5 social profiles and basic features.
- Professional Plan: £300 per month per user, includes 10 social profiles and advanced tools.
- Advanced Plan: £404 per month per user, includes 10 social profiles and comprehensive analytics and automation tools.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a comprehensive social media management tool that supports scheduling, content curation, analytics, and team collaboration. It’s ideal for businesses of all sizes and offers features to manage multiple social media accounts efficiently.
Pricing:
- Professional Plan: £82 per month, includes 1 user and 10 social accounts.
- Team Plan: £207 per month, includes 3 users and 20 social accounts.
- Business Plan: Starting at £608 per month, includes 5 users and 35 social accounts, plus advanced reporting and approval features.
- Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing for larger organisations with advanced needs.
Later
Later is a visual social media planner that focuses on scheduling and managing posts, particularly for platforms like Instagram. It's designed for businesses that want an easy-to-use interface with drag-and-drop features.
Pricing:
- Free Plan: Includes 4 social profiles and 30 posts per month.
- Starter Plan: £8.33 per month, includes 6 social profiles and 60 posts per month.
- Growth Plan: £16.67 per month, includes 12 social profiles and 150 posts per month.
- Advanced Plan: £33.33 per month, includes unlimited social profiles and posts, plus advanced analytics.
Design
Creating eye-catching visuals is key to standing out on social media and marketing materials. Here, you’ll find a selection of user-friendly design tools to help you craft professional-looking graphics, logos, and promotional content without the need for advanced design skills.
Canva
Canva is a popular design tool that allows users to create stunning graphics, posters, and flyers. It offers a range of templates, a drag-and-drop interface, and an easy-to-use platform for both beginners and experienced designers.
Pricing:
- Free Plan: Includes access to thousands of templates, photos, and graphics, plus limited storage.
- Pro Plan: £9.99 per month, includes unlimited access to premium templates, images, and additional storage.
- Enterprise Plan: £15.99 per user per month, includes advanced collaboration features and brand management tools.
Crello
Crello is a graphic design tool similar to Canva, offering a wide selection of design templates for social media posts, flyers, and other marketing materials. It also supports animated designs for a more dynamic visual experience.
Pricing:
- Free Plan: Includes access to thousands of templates and design elements, but with limited features.
- Pro Plan: £7.99 per month, includes unlimited access to all templates, animations, and premium assets.
- Team Plan: £12.99 per month, includes collaborative features for teams and advanced brand management.
Adobe Express
Adobe Spark (now known as Adobe Express) is a versatile design tool from Adobe, offering templates for social media posts, flyers, and more. It's perfect for users who want professional-quality designs with minimal effort.
Pricing:
- Free Plan: Includes basic tools and templates, with access to Adobe's image library.
- Premium Plan: £9.99 per month, includes access to premium templates, stock photos, and custom branding tools.
- Business Plan: £16.99 per user per month, includes advanced collaboration and branding features for teams.
Fotor
Fotor is a powerful online design tool that allows you to create graphics, flyers, posters, and other promotional materials. It also includes a photo editing suite, making it ideal for users who want to design and enhance their visuals in one place.
Pricing:
- Free Plan: Offers basic design tools with limited templates and features.
- Pro Plan: £7.99 per month, includes access to premium templates, advanced editing tools, and unlimited cloud storage.
- Business Plan: £17.99 per month, includes collaborative tools and additional features for teams.
Video
Video content is a powerful way to showcase your work, attract customers, and build trust. This section provides tools to help you edit, enhance, and create high-quality videos, whether you’re filming quick job updates or professional promotional content.
Adobe Premiere Rush
Adobe Premiere Rush is a simplified version of Adobe Premiere Pro, designed for creating and editing videos quickly. It’s perfect for users who want professional-quality edits without the complexity of advanced software. It offers powerful editing tools, colour correction, and easy export options.
Pricing:
- Free Plan: Includes access to basic features with limited exports.
- Individual Plan: £9.99 per month, includes access to all features and cloud storage for project syncing across devices.
- All Apps Plan: £20.99 per month, includes Premiere Rush along with access to other Adobe Creative Cloud apps like Photoshop and Lightroom.
Filmora
Filmora is an intuitive video editing tool that allows users to create professional-looking videos. It offers a range of effects, transitions, and templates, and is suitable for both beginners and experienced video editors. It also includes features for social media video creation.
Pricing:
- Free Plan: Includes access to basic features, but with watermarks on exported videos.
- Annual Plan: £39.99 per year, removes watermarks and offers additional features like advanced editing tools and effects.
- Lifetime Plan: £69.99 one-time payment, includes all features and future updates.
InShot
InShot is a mobile app for video editing that’s popular for its ease of use. It’s ideal for quick video edits, adding text, music, and transitions, and is often used for creating engaging content for social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Pricing:
- Free Plan: Includes basic editing features with watermarks on videos.
- Pro Plan: £4.49 per month or £14.99 per year, removes watermarks and provides access to premium features like advanced effects, music, and video export options.
Animoto
Animoto is a cloud-based video creation platform designed to help users make videos quickly by combining photos, video clips, and music. It's ideal for businesses creating marketing videos, slideshows, or social media content without needing advanced video editing skills.
Pricing:
- Free Plan: Includes basic video creation tools with a watermark and limited features.
- Professional Plan: £7.99 per month, includes access to premium features, music, and high-quality exports.
- Business Plan: £19.99 per month, includes team collaboration tools, branding options, and priority support.
Stock Photos/Graphics
Not every post or project requires custom photography. In this section, you’ll find resources for high-quality stock images, icons, and graphics, perfect for enhancing your website, social media, and marketing materials while keeping your branding consistent.
Shutterstock
Shutterstock is one of the largest and most well-known stock image libraries. It offers millions of photos, vectors, illustrations, and videos. With powerful search features and a vast collection, it's perfect for businesses in need of diverse high-quality images for social media, marketing materials, and more.
Pricing:
- Free Plan: Limited access to a small selection of free images.
- Essentials Plan: £29 per month for 10 images/month, with flexible licensing options.
- Team Plan: £179 per month for 750 images/month, including team collaboration features and bulk downloads.
- On-demand Packs: Starting from £41 for 5 images, with additional options for buying single images.
Depositphotos
Depositphotos is a stock image website offering millions of photos, illustrations, vectors, and videos. Known for its user-friendly interface and affordable pricing, it's a great option for businesses looking for high-quality visuals at reasonable rates.
Pricing:
- Free Plan: Limited access to a small selection of free images.
- Monthly Subscription: £19.99 per month for 10 images/month.
- On-demand Credits: Starting from £0.78 per image when buying credits in bulk.
- Extended Licenses: Available for £50+ depending on the use.
Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock offers millions of high-quality images, videos, templates, and 3D assets. It integrates seamlessly with Adobe Creative Cloud apps like Photoshop and Illustrator, making it a great option for users who already use Adobe products.
Pricing:
- Free Plan: Limited access to a small selection of free images.
- Standard Plan: £29.99 per month for 10 images/month, includes access to a vast library of photos, vectors, and more.
- Premium Plan: £79.99 per month for 40 images/month, includes access to premium assets, including higher-quality content and exclusive designs.
- Single Image Purchase: Starting from £7.99 per image.
Freepik
Freepik is a popular platform offering a huge selection of free and premium graphics, vectors, and illustrations. It’s widely used by businesses for creating promotional materials, social media posts, and website graphics, with the option to download resources in various formats.
Pricing:
- Free Plan: Access to a limited selection of free images, with attribution required for use.
- Premium Plan: £7.99 per month, includes unlimited downloads and access to high-quality premium assets without the need for attribution.
- Team Plan: £14.99 per month per user, includes additional features for teams and organisations.
Quoting & Invoicing Tools
Managing quotes and invoices efficiently is essential for any tradesman. This section provides a list of apps and software designed to help you create professional quotes, send invoices, and track payments with ease.
Whether you’re looking for a simple, free tool or a feature-rich solution with VAT and CIS compliance, these options will help streamline your financial admin and keep your business running smoothly.
Checkatrade Invoicing
Overview: Exclusive to Checkatrade members, this tool simplifies the creation of professional quotes and invoices, integrating seamlessly within the Checkatrade trade app.
Key Features:
Quick generation of quotes and invoices.
User-friendly interface tailored for tradespeople.
Integration with other business management tools.
Pricing: Free for Checkatrade members.
INV24
Overview: INV24 is a free invoicing software tailored for UK tradesmen, facilitating the management of invoices, customers, and stock.
Key Features:
Unlimited invoicing capabilities.
Customer and product databases.
Invoice delivery via email.
Payment reminders and discount options.
Pricing: Free version available.
Powered Now
Overview: Designed specifically for UK tradesmen, Powered Now offers invoicing and quoting features that streamline payment processes.
Key Features:
Quick creation of professional invoices and quotes.
Customisable templates with company branding.
Integration with payment systems like SumUp for instant payments.
Support for VAT, CIS, and Domestic Reverse Charge (DRC).
Pricing: Offers a free trial; further pricing details available upon request.
Pipe App
Overview: Pipe App's Quotation Software enables tradesmen to create, send, and track professional quotes efficiently.
Key Features:
Customisable quote templates.
Integration with invoicing and job management features.
Automated follow-ups and tracking.
Pricing: Offers a 14-day free trial; further pricing details available on their website.
Job Management & Scheduling Tools
Keeping track of jobs, appointments, and customer bookings can be a challenge for busy tradespeople. Job management and scheduling tools help streamline operations by offering features like real-time job tracking, automated reminders, digital job sheets, and team coordination.
These platforms improve efficiency, reduce missed appointments, and ensure smooth communication between you, your team, and your customers. Whether you’re a solo tradesperson or managing a growing business, the right tool can save time and keep your workflow organised.
Tradify
What it does: A job management tool designed for tradespeople, offering scheduling, quoting, invoicing, and job tracking all in one place.
Key Features: Job scheduling, real-time tracking, automated invoicing, and team management.
Pricing: Starts at £21 per user/month (14-day free trial available).
BigChange
What it does: A UK-based job management platform designed for trades and service businesses. It helps with job scheduling, invoicing, team management, and CRM.
Key Features: Drag-and-drop scheduling, job tracking, digital job sheets, and real-time reporting.
Pricing: Custom pricing based on business size and requirements.
Jobber
What it does: A field service management app that streamlines scheduling, job tracking, customer communication, and invoicing.
Key Features: Custom job scheduling, automated reminders, GPS tracking, and payment processing.
Pricing: Starts at $19/month (approx. £15) with a free trial available.
Commusoft
What it does: A UK-based job management software built for trades and field service businesses to help with scheduling, tracking, and customer management.
Key Features: Smart scheduling, automated job reminders, customer CRM, and invoicing integrations.
Pricing: Starts at £30 per user/month.
Trade Organisations and Certifications
Trade organisations and certifications are vital for any professional tradesperson looking to build credibility, ensure compliance, and access valuable industry resources. These organisations provide support, guidelines, and recognition to help tradespeople stay up-to-date with safety standards, legal requirements, and best practices.
Being accredited by recognised bodies like Gas Safe, NICEIC, and CHAS not only boosts your reputation but also demonstrates to potential clients that you are committed to quality, safety, and professionalism.
These certifications are often essential for winning contracts, particularly with larger organisations that require proof of compliance with industry standards. Whether you’re an electrician, plumber, or any other trade professional, these accreditations will help you stand out in a competitive market.
Gas Safe Register
Description: The Gas Safe Register is the official list of gas engineers who are qualified to work safely and legally on gas appliances. It’s a legal requirement for anyone working with gas to be on the Gas Safe Register.
Price: Membership fees vary based on the type of registration, but costs typically start from around £400 annually.
Federation of Small Businesses
Description: The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is a UK-based organisation that supports small businesses with a range of services, including legal advice, insurance, and access to exclusive discounts. While not specific to a single trade, it’s invaluable for any tradesperson running their own business.
Price: Membership starts from £179 annually.
NICEIC
Description: NICEIC is a leading UK certification body for electrical contractors, providing accreditation to ensure that contractors are qualified to carry out safe electrical work. They offer certifications such as Part P for domestic installations and commercial qualifications.
Price: Membership fees start from around £350 per year, with costs varying depending on the size of the business and the number of operatives.
Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme
Description: CHAS is a health and safety accreditation scheme that ensures companies meet required standards for safe working practices. It’s a highly regarded certification for businesses wishing to demonstrate their commitment to health and safety, especially when bidding for work with larger organisations.
Price: Membership starts from around £150 per year.
Digital Business Banking
Managing your business finances just got easier with digital banking solutions designed specifically for UK businesses. These platforms offer user-friendly features like invoicing, expense tracking, and multi-currency accounts to streamline your finances and save you time.
Whether you’re a freelancer, small business owner, or growing company, these digital banks provide innovative tools to handle your business banking needs without the hassle of traditional banks.
Monzo
Features: Monzo's business account offers easy-to-use banking, with features like expense categorisation, automated tax calculations, and instant notifications. Monzo also provides the ability to send and receive payments, track cash flow, and manage invoices.
Costs:
Free: Monzo Business Lite (no monthly fee, limited features)
£5/month: Monzo Business Pro (includes features like multi-user access and integration with accounting software)
£15/month: Monzo Business Premium (adds extra features such as in-depth reporting and higher transaction limits)
Starling Business
Features: Starling Bank’s business account offers a range of features designed for sole traders, partnerships, and limited companies. It includes invoicing, VAT reporting, and the ability to manage multiple sub-accounts for better budgeting. Starling also offers competitive international payment rates.
Costs:
Free: Starling Business (includes all basic features with no monthly fee)
£7/month: Starling Business (for added features such as integration with accounting software and mobile cheque deposit)
Tide
Features: Tide offers simple business banking with features like automatic expense categorisation, invoicing, and integration with accounting tools. It also allows you to create separate virtual accounts to organise your spending (e.g., tax savings, salaries).
Costs:
Free: Tide Business (basic account with essential features)
£9.99/month: Tide Plus (includes additional features like credit card, advanced invoicing, and priority customer support)
£19.99/month: Tide Premium (offers even more advanced features, such as enhanced reporting, cards for employees, and faster payments)
Revolut Business
Features: Revolut Business offers a global business banking solution with multi-currency accounts, card payments, expense management, and integration with accounting tools like Xero. Revolut also provides international payments at competitive exchange rates and robust reporting tools.
Costs:
£0/month: Revolut Business (basic plan with essential banking features)
£7.99/month: Revolut Business Grow (adds additional features like multi-user access, international payments, and spending analytics)
£25/month: Revolut Business Scale (for larger businesses needing advanced tools like financial forecasting and priority support)