Southport first
The site is focused on Southport and the surrounding local area. Each category is built around the actual services people search for, then populated with participating local businesses rather than thousands of national listings.
About Southport Trades
A deliberately local way to find Southport businesses.
Southport Trades is being built around one simple problem: people often know the type of business they need, but still have to work through search results, directories and individual websites before finding somebody who is available and interested in the job.
Our aim is to make that first connection easier without becoming another national pay-per-lead marketplace.
Why the site exists
Local search should make it easier to reach local businesses.
Southport Trades is an independent local website built specifically around Southport. The idea is deliberately simple: create genuinely useful pages for individual services, give local businesses enough room to present themselves properly, and make it easier for a customer to send one clear requirement when they do not want to ring several companies separately.
We are not trying to become a national marketplace containing thousands of businesses. Categories are deliberately limited, profiles are intended to be useful rather than token listings, and the platform is being built around direct contact between the customer and the business.
One enquiry, several opportunities to respond
Customers can contact a listed business directly or submit one shared requirement. Participating businesses receive that requirement by email and can opt into WhatsApp alerts so it is visible quickly.
A simple model for businesses
Businesses receive the first six months free. Membership is then £50 a year, with all matching leads included. There is no separate charge for each enquiry and no Southport Trades commission on work won.
A proper profile, not just a directory row
Member pages can show the business logo, services, coverage, experience, portfolio-style content, phone number and a prominent clickable link back to the member's own website.
Built around local businesses
Useful for customers. Fair for the businesses receiving the enquiry.
The platform is designed to avoid the parts of lead marketplaces that can frustrate small businesses. Members are not asked to buy credits for each opportunity, and there is no percentage commission added if they win the work. During active membership, matching enquiries are included.
WhatsApp is deliberately prominent because many trades and small businesses spend their day away from a desk. Email still provides the full copy, while the WhatsApp alert helps make a new opportunity visible quickly.
What Southport Trades is — and is not
The introduction is ours. The decision is yours.
- Southport Trades is not the contractor carrying out the work.
- Businesses decide which enquiries they want to respond to.
- Customers decide which business, if any, they want to appoint.
- Quotations, contracts, payments and guarantees are agreed directly between customer and business.
- Customers should make their own checks on qualifications, insurance and suitability where relevant.
- Customer contact details submitted as a lead are not published publicly.
Why WhatsApp is part of the model
Local trades are rarely sitting behind an inbox all day.
The website still sends email, but participating businesses can also opt into an immediate WhatsApp alert. That makes the system better suited to how small local businesses actually work: on site, travelling between jobs and often managing enquiries from a phone.
Have a question?
Speak to Southport Trades directly.
Use the dedicated contact page for membership questions, missing-trade suggestions or anything about the website itself.