Green shoots for UK’s domestic services sector with tradesmen bookings up 45%
Britain’s multi-billion-pound domestic services industry is showing the green shoots of recovery with jobs and bookings almost back to pre-Covid levels.
Last week, one of the UK’s biggest domestic services firms, Fantastic Services, saw bookings for tradesmen jump by a third (31%) on the week before, with the number of bookings also 45% higher than it was a month ago.
The figures suggest that consumers are becoming more relaxed about domestic workers visiting their homes, offering signs of hope for an industry hit hard by the Covid pandemic and resulting lockdown.
Fantastic Services also saw cleaning jobs reach their highest level since before lockdown, with the number of jobs completed last week marking a 72% increase on lockdown lows experienced in April.
The company carried out 6,917 jobs last week across all of the services that it offers on its platform, the highest weekly total since before lockdown. The figures are a hugely encouraging sign for the company, which saw a 60% slump in demand for domestic services when lockdown was introduced.
However, customer confidence still hasn’t fully returned – recent research carried out by Fantastic Services found that among people who have hired a cleaner in the past, since Covid struck, 31% are too nervous to have one in their home.
Rune Sovndahl, CEO and co-founder of Fantastic Services, said: “We aren’t out of the woods yet by any means, but it’s very nice to see the number of jobs and bookings creeping up each week and long it may continue. This industry was hit particularly hard by Covid. Bookings basically off a cliff a few months ago and it has felt like a long road back, but confidence is definitely returning. This is great news for us and great news for the tens of thousands of people who make a living by working on jobs in people’s homes.”
