44 | AUGUST 2020
Skills
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
ONE FIFTH OF TRADESPEOPLE
WORRY THEIR WORKING
PRACTICES ARE OUTDATED
In a recent survey it was revealed that
1/5 of tradespeople are concerned
that the way they are currently
working is outdated and 10 per cent
admitted that they barely use any
technology as part of their daily work.
These findings come from a
new survey by Dakea, a leading
manufacturer of high-quality,
affordable roof windows that
are built for the trade, which
questioned 500 roofers, installers
and local contractors around the
country about how effectively
they utilise modern technology.
25 per cent of the respondents
said that they believe the entire
trade industry needs to be better
at adopting tech in the workplace
and a further 1/5 acknowledged
that they don’t use technology
effectively in their day-to-day job.
With the pressures caused by
COVID-19 forcing new approaches
to work, these results have
highlighted that some tradespeople
might struggle to replace
face-to-face activity with digital
alternatives.
However, there are those in
the trade who are embracing
the advantages that technology
can bring. The two main business
benefits that tradespeople
said they got out of such modern
working methods included
achieving time savings (47%) as
well as financial gains (37%).
29 per cent of tradespeople
said that they actively keep up
with the latest advances, with the
most popular reasons for using
technology being:
• Browsing merchant/manufacturers
websites (66%)
• Purchasing products (61%)
• Completing finances (40%)
• Online training/webinars
(34%)
• Admin (31%)
• Accessing loyalty schemes
(26%)
Undertaken as part of Dakea’s
‘Trade Matters’ campaign, the
survey identifies the areas where
the trade industry needs the
most support in order to help
the everyday life and businesses
of roof window installers in the
UK.
To make sure that tradespeople
can get to grips with the technology
they need to know, Dakea
has created a selection of free
guides that includes advice on
the websites, apps, tools and tech
that can help them save time,
learn new skills and drum up
business opportunities.
The guides are of real relevance
right now, with many
tradespeople having used the
lockdown period to learn new
skills (31%), catch up on admin
(31%) or update social media
profiles and reviews so that they
can better generate business at a
later date (26%).
Mhairi McDougall, Country
Manager UK and Ireland at
Dakea, said: “With the current
pressures on the construction industry
forcing trade professionals
to work in new and innovative
ways, it’s imperative that they
have the skills required to work
faster, quicker, better and safer.
“Technology is at the heart of
this, as by understanding what’s
out there and how it works, installers
and local contractors can
make a real difference to their
day-to-day work in a number of
ways. Just one example of this
is the amount of time that can
be saved by embracing digital
advances, whether it’s avoiding
the need to travel to the customer
by having a video call, using software
to simplify financial admin
tasks or using social media sites
to attract leads.”
Dakea discussed the survey’s
findings with a group of builders
and installers to see what they
thought about the opportunities
provided by new technology.
Roofer Mark Trinder said: “If
you’ve got a five-storey building
it could take £20,000 just to put
a scaffold up to inspect the roof,
however with a drone you can
do it straight away. You might not
see everything but, for example,
you could fly a drone up to see if
there is simply a broken tile and
if there is, then it would save you
the time and effort of putting the
scaffolding up.”
Find out more about the survey
and download Dakea’s free
guides on technology at
www.tradematters.co.uk
About Dakea
Launched in 2012, Dakea
is a provider of high-quality,
affordable roof windows.
The business, which
is owned by Altaterra, is
well-established in working
with merchants and
installers across Europe.
Covering 90 per cent of
market demand, Dakea
delivers the best quality
and price on the market
when it comes to roof
windows and installation.
It’s an expert product
made with smart professionals
in mind and comes
with a 20-year guarantee.
Working directly
with customers, Dakea is
committed to developing
and improving its product
to meet the needs of
professionals. It is focused
on providing education,
added-value, and support
to professionals.
www.dakea.co.uk