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On The Trade Legends Podcast this week, James from MKL sits down for an honest, unfiltered look at the chaotic graft of growing a trade business, surviving betrayals, and navigating life on the tools. We kick things off with his bizarre run of 21 jobs by age 21—including a brutal one-day stint as a minicab driver for an intimidating pirate of a boss—then get into how years of stacking shelves, pulling cables, and working on freezing factory lines shaped his approach to leadership and problem-solving. We pull no punches on the real graft it takes to find your feet in the trade after years of doing the jobs you hated. We also get straight to the harsh business lessons that catch so many tradesmen off guard: expanding too quickly, the trap of fake growth, and the nightmare of a trusted worker handing out his own cards to customers behind your back. James breaks down the financial hit of getting stitched up by both an accountant and bad clients, the harsh reality of running an AV and home-cinema installation firm, and why building a bespoke £20k–£50k cinema room means managing client expectations, custom lightboxes, and hidden cable routing. We also explore how running a tight ship with his daughter helped him cut overheads, ditch the lock-up unit, and regain total control of his business. Finally, we go deep into the personal mindset battles that rarely get talked about on site. James opens up about hitting rock bottom in an empty lock-up, turning severe dyslexia into his greatest superpower on client visits, and how dropping the ego and asking for help completely saved his sanity. We discuss his legendary Crunchie bar routine, how he defused road rage when an aggressive driver jumped out to fight him, and the invaluable apprenticeship rule: watch someone so closely you know their next move before they even ask.

On The Trade Legends Podcast this week, Joe Baker (Screed Papi), founder of Second City Screed & Resin, sits down for an honest, unfiltered look at the brutal realities of running a modern trade business. We tackle the diesel price crisis squeezing trades up and down the country, the reality of spending £300 a week just to keep two vans running, and his genuine, warts-and-all experience of trialling a new electric van on real-world jobs. From range anxiety and towing heavy pumps to the sheer cost of living, we pull no punches on why UK trades feel battered at every turn. We also get straight into the business graft: making the jump from screeding into high-margin resin driveways, the reality of managing subbies, and finding your own lane on social media without letting content take over your actual trade. Joe breaks down the trial and error of going viral with 3.3 million views, why overnight social media fame doesn’t pay the mortgage, and why honest branding and van signwriting are still the most powerful free marketing tools an honest business can have. Finally, we go deep into the personal battles that rarely get spoken about on site. Joe opens up about corporate burnout, battling severe alcohol addiction, and walking away from the edge of suicide on the M5 before completely turning his life around. We discuss learning to control the controllables, why he made the conscious choice to reintroduce alcohol after four and a half years of total sobriety, and his upcoming 400km solo charity bike ride for suicide prevention. This is raw, straight-talking advice for anyone on the tools navigating business, mental health, and life.

A former British Gas engineer turned self-employed plumber exposes what it's really like to take on the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, corporate heating giants, and rogue customers. We take it right back to the beginning: being written off on school report cards, surviving dead-end factory shifts, and the reality of a plumbing apprenticeship where 22 lads started and only one made it through. We unpack why the UK trade shortage is getting worse, how corporate targets are stretching gas engineers, and why proposed trade deposit schemes could finish small businesses. We pull back the curtain on working for British Gas and what it’s really like inside "the Amazon of the heating world," where details are micromanaged down to the second, and first-time fix targets are chased. He breaks down why he walked away from corporate security to back himself, the graft of posting a thousand leaflets just to win one boiler install, and the harsh truth about overheads, rogue customers, and why proposed holding deposits will destroy honest trade businesses. Finally, we get into what happens when an ordinary, straight-talking tradesman steps into the snake pit of Westminster politics. From viral Question Time moments and media scrutiny to running against the political establishment in one of the most talked-about by-elections in the country, this is an honest, no-nonsense look at why working-class voices matter and why more blokes on the tools need to stand up and have their say.

On this episode of the Trade Legends Podcast, we’re joined by Kieran from Kobo Crete, a Devon-based business making cast stone and polished concrete products. Kieran explains how he worked his way up from production planning to running a precast concrete factory, helping produce everything from railway bridge components to seating for the Kia Oval. He also shares why he moved his young family to Devon to start a new life.When the company he joined went into liquidation, Kieran found a job in another industry. Then Covid hit. He had to tell colleagues they were losing their jobs before being made redundant himself. With three months of gardening leave, he decided it was time to give Kobo Crete his full attention. What began as a side business delivering garden ornaments to nurseries and garden centres grew into a company making window sills, coping stones, kitchen worktops, sinks and its own polished concrete fireplace surrounds.Kieran is honest about how difficult that growth became. Strong early sales made the business look healthy, but when his wife Fran joined and got a clearer view of the figures, they realised they needed to change course. They reduced hours, tightened spending and began questioning whether every piece of equipment would pay for itself. At one point, Kieran had to ask family for financial help, something he found especially hard after years of working towards running his own business.We also discuss why being busy doesn’t mean you’re making money, the danger of pricing yourself wrong, and how social media videos of concrete pours brought Kobo Crete millions of views. Kieran shares what helped him through the toughest period: asking for help, keeping control of the numbers, setting targets and taking the business one day at a time. It’s a candid conversation about family, setbacks and what it really takes to keep a trade business going.

On this episode of the Trade Legends Podcast, we’re joined by Ben Rudman, a driveway and landscaping contractor whose honest, no-filter videos have made him one of social media's most relatable tradesmen. Ben explains how he started his business at just 20 years old with little more than a Vauxhall Vectra, a spirit level and his son’s car seat on the back seat. He opens up about struggling at school with undiagnosed dyslexia, why people wrongly assumed he wasn’t intelligent, and how discovering martial arts gave his constantly active mind somewhere to focus.Ben shares the brutal lessons he learned as his business grew, including stepping away from the day-to-day work and trusting the wrong people. One employee began taking customer deposits without Ben’s knowledge, while other workers used his tools and business name to complete private jobs behind his back. When customers began calling about work they believed they had already paid for, Ben used his own money to complete the jobs and protect the reputation he had spent years building. We also discuss late-paying customers, why workers should never have to beg for a pay rise, and why business owners must always make sure their staff are paid before themselves.We also discuss the financial mistakes tradespeople make, from wasting money trying to look successful to reaching retirement without an exit plan. Ben explains how seeing a successful local tradesman arrive in a brand-new Mercedes changed his outlook as a teenager, why he began investing in property, and how breaking his leg showed him the importance of emergency savings. From building a martial arts academy and raising children involved in MMA and football to learning Spanish and planning a future in Spain, this is an honest conversation about loyalty, family, money and the harsh realities of building a trade business.

On this episode of the Trade Legends Podcast, we’re joined by Stick and Jack from Trademark Digital, the no-b******t marketing agency helping tradespeople and construction brands connect with the people who actually buy from them. We start with the question every marketing agency is being asked: if AI can build websites, write social posts, create adverts and plan a business strategy, why do we still need agencies? Stick and Jack explain why AI is a massive opportunity rather than a threat, how they use it to work faster, and why it will never replace trust, personality or the human support people need when things get difficult.We dig into Trademark Digital’s rapid growth, the mistakes they made early on and why they changed their business model several times before finding what worked. They explain why traditional monthly retainers weren’t always affordable for sole traders, how that led to the creation of the Trademark Toolbox, and why its community has become far more valuable than they ever imagined. We also discuss tradespeople becoming personal brands, why 10,000 engaged followers can be worth more than 100,000 passive ones, the declining trust in influencer marketing, and why businesses can no longer judge creators by follower numbers alone.Stick also opens up about the reality of being a woman in a male-dominated industry, including being told she wouldn’t win a contract because she was female and sitting in meetings where questions directed at her were answered to her male business partner instead. Jack reflects on rebuilding his life after a stroke took him away from carpentry, while together they reveal the long days, constant travelling, missed family time, and moments when running the business nearly became too much. From viral posts and online hate to trade shows, networking and building a community people genuinely want to join, this is an honest conversation about showing up consistently, backing yourself and building a business around people rather than algorithms.

On this episode of the Trade Legends Podcast, we're joined by Karl Sparky, an electrician who's become one of the most recognisable sparks on social media. Karl left school with no plan beyond skateboarding and Tony Hawk's, scraped through his maths and English, and stumbled into electrical because he couldn't face sitting in an office. We take it right back to the start: stacking trolleys and working the music section at Asda, bouncing between three different companies during his apprenticeship as each one folded around him, and why he was determined to keep going when so many would have given up.We dig into Karl's first year of self-employment, and it's one of the toughest stories we've had on Trade Legends. Just months after starting his business, Karl lost his wife to cancer in January, leaving him running a company solo while raising his daughter. Karl is honest about learning the paperwork she used to handle, chasing ten grand in unpaid invoices while grieving, dealing with nightmare customers who don't care what's going on behind the scenes, and why he refuses to let anyone tell him how he should be coping. He shares what actually helped: good friends who check in, family who stepped up, live music, and a trip to Trade Wars that reminded him life's too short.We also get into the side of Karl most people know him for: the rage bait and the hate comments. From the volt stick video that had people threatening to report him, to why plumber wiring looks like a rat's nest (and why sparky work is often just as bad), Karl explains why he loves the hate comments, kills trolls with kindness, and how baiting the algorithm actually works. Plus his advice for apprentices: ask questions, don't show up with all the gear and no idea, and why a Tesco bag for life beats a brand-new tool bag every time.

On this episode of the Trade Legends Podcast, we're joined by Mike from Better Happy, an ex-Army Intelligence operative who's taken one of the more unusual routes into the world of trade business coaching. Mike joined the Army after waking up in a Worcester police cell with a hangover and no plan, spent five years in intelligence, including two tours of Afghanistan attached to the Special Boat Service, then left at 25 with money in the bank and no idea how to be happy. What followed was two and a half years living with monks in Thailand and Nepal, a stint on fishing boats in Australia, and a chance encounter with a Dalai Lama book in a Perth train station that completely changed the direction of his life. We take it right back to the start and unpack how a lad who was written off at school ended up building a business around one simple question: what would actually make you happy?We dig into Mike's five years running a CrossFit gym, a business that looked like a success from the outside, growing every year and loved by its members, while behind the scenes he was struggling to pay himself more than minimum wage and slipping into the first real depression of his life. Mike is honest about the assumption that nearly sank him: that passion alone would make the business work, and how being humbled by his own numbers sent him off to learn how high-level entrepreneurs actually think. That journey led to Better Happy, where he now systemises small and medium businesses to run without the owner, and to The Happy Electrician, the community he co-founded with Malcolm Duncan of Super Rod to tackle the thing electricians tell him they struggle with most: the loneliness of running a business on your own.Mike also delivers some home truths that plenty of tradespeople won't want to hear but probably need to, including why a lot of tradies are accidental business owners who might be better off employed, and why the first thing he does with any electrician is compare what they're taking home against what they'd earn working for someone else once you factor in the admin, the leads, the insurance and the company car.

On this episode of the Trade Legends Podcast, we're joined by our first-ever flooring guest, Dan from Wellington Flooring, who's spent 19 years in the trade and built one of the most recognisable flooring brands on social media. Dan fell into flooring by complete accident, turning down a job at Abbey Road Recording Studios at 16 because he didn't fancy the train to London, before a chance meeting with the fitter laying his mum's floor changed everything. We take it right back to the start and unpack how a nightclub worker with no plan became a showroom owner, from years on the tools and price work, to the moment in Covid when a friend showed him around a garden centre, and he realised he was more scared of missing the opportunity than taking it. We dig into the decisions that have shaped the business since: why going appointment-only at the showroom, something Dan was forced into rather than chose, turned out to be one of the best things that's ever happened to the company, cutting staff costs and time-wasters in one move. Dan is honest about the trap of building a brand that looks bigger than the business behind it, why he's his own worst enemy for jumping back on the tools, and how his business partner Nathan keeps him off them. We also get into the reality of the grind: same-day quotes, site visits on the way to the podcast, invoices paid at three in the morning, and why Dan's happy to break himself at 37 for a few more years to get Wellington where it needs to be. Dan also breaks down why image sells as much as skill: the matching vans, the uniforms, the showroom he designed on paper himself, and why customers spending serious money on floors want to see a clean van on the drive. He explains why tradesmen who say they can't afford a videographer are usually pricing their jobs wrong, and why the quote "you lose a job to someone worse than you if they market themselves better" has stuck with him for years.

On this episode of the Trade Legends Podcast, we're joined by landscapers Nathan and Joe from Slade Landscapes, a Surrey-based duo who've turned a landscaping business into one of the most-watched trades accounts on social media. Nathan came into the trade the long way round, leaving school to train as a plumber before falling into landscaping and going out on his own at 24, while Joe nearly ended up behind a desk at the Home Office before deciding an office job wasn't for him. We take it right back to the start and unpack how two lads with no real plan built something that's now trebled in size, almost entirely off the back of the content they post.We dig into the business admin nobody teaches you when you start a trade, the VAT registration that catches people out, the self-assessment, the business rates and the quarterly tax that so many new trade businesses never see coming until it's too late. Nathan is honest about the mistake that's caused him the most stress in nine years of running the company, and it isn't the work; it's the schedule: booking too many jobs in, letting the diary run away from him, and pushing customers back until it starts costing him. We get into why he now tells clients they'll wait nine months or take their deposit back, and why making people wait is often the clearest sign your work is good enough.Nathan & Joe also break down the hidden costs of scaling a landscaping business: the labour, the overheads, and the numbers that have to come out of pure profit just to keep the wheels turning, and why staying small and in control has been a deliberate choice rather than a limitation. Nathan and Joe explain how they've kept the work coming through referrals and social media rather than pouring money into advertising, and why, even now, some of their biggest videos are the ones they nearly didn't bother posting.

On this episode of the Trade Legends Podcast, carpenter Ben Bailey returns four years after his first appearance, and a lot has changed. When we first had Ben on the show, he'd just started out and was working with clients from Made in Chelsea. Since then, he's gone from cutting MDF under a gazebo on his driveway to running his own dedicated workshop, building bespoke carpentry and fitted furniture for celebrities and professional footballers, all sparked by one Instagram DM he thought was his mates winding him up. We dig into the real cost of hiring your first employee, the van insurance, tool insurance, training and overheads that most tradesmen never factor in until it's too late, and why getting your first hire wrong can seriously damage a small trade business. Ben explains why he turns down enough work to hire four people tomorrow, yet still chooses to stay small, and we debate whether "hire slow, fire fast" is the right approach when your lead times stretch past a year. We also break down the hidden costs of taking on your first unit or workshop, the business rates, electric bills and running costs that land after you've signed the lease, and why those unexpected bills kill so many new trade businesses in their first year. Ben shares exactly how he made the step up without taking a huge risk: renting a single spare workbench from a local firm and working on it until 11 pm after his day job, before finally committing to his own space. Along the way we cover starting a carpentry business during Covid, using social media and Instagram to win work and attract celebrity clients, working with tool brands, staging show homes for developers, quarterly tax and the admin nobody teaches you, and the family side of self-employment, why Ben structures his whole business around the school run, and why he'll never miss a sports day for a job.

This week on the Trade Legends Podcast, landscaper and content creator Tom joins us for his long-awaited return, and he doesn't hold back. It's been nearly three years since Tom last sat in the studio, and in that time his life has changed beyond recognition. Tom opens up about the moment, two years ago to the day we recorded this, when he hit rock bottom. He talks honestly about the help he got, the people who stepped up, and how he pulled himself back. This isn't a sob story. It's one of the most genuine, hopeful conversations we've had on the podcast, and Tom tells it the way only he can. Since we last spoke, Tom has gone from around 1,000 followers to closing in on 24,000, picked up brand deals and ambassadorships, and completely transformed how his landscaping business operates. He tried scaling up with a team of three, decided it wasn't for him, and went back to working solo, finishing every job ahead of schedule and making just as much money with far less stress. He also lost seven and a half stone. At his heaviest, he was 22 stone, and the weight he lost was equivalent to the combined weight of his two boys. We touch on Mounjaro, the journey that came with it, and why there's a part two coming on that topic alone. We round off with Tom's take on dodgy customers versus dodgy tradespeople, why he now takes a 50% deposit without exception, and what he'd tell himself ten years ago, starting out in the trade. If you're going through a difficult time, please reach out. Samaritans are available 24/7 on 116 123.

This week on the Trade Legends Podcast, Toni from ALO Electrical has spent over 15 years building a fire and security business from the ground up, and in this episode, he holds nothing back. Toni left school without grades, enrolled on a BTEC business course, bought a motorbike the same day and never went back. He ended up becoming a chef before retraining as an electrician in his 20s, inspired by a family member in the trade. His first job interview involved being handed a plug and told to wire it on the spot, and that moment stuck with him. He went self-employed in 2009, founded ALO Electrical, and has been building it ever since. But it hasn't always been smooth. Toni opens up about a large-door entry and auction system job at a stately home — £14-15k of work — that didn't pay for 9 months. Lying awake at night, wondering where the money was coming from. And how that experience made a 50% deposit on every job completely non-negotiable from that point forward.Toni also get's into the real challenges of taking on apprentices as a smaller firm, what colleges are getting badly wrong about preparing young people for the trades, and the hidden electrical dangers Toni regularly finds on site that builders have left behind, including a fire alarm system in an HMO that had been relocated, cabled chopped off, and left dead in the wall with tenants still living there. We round off with a conversation about the financial burden on self-employed people right now, and why understanding your own numbers is the single most important thing you can do as a trades business owner.

On this week's episode, Al sits down with Jermaine from Stately Home Developments, a luxury renovation and construction brand built from the ground up over the last five years. Jermaine's path into the trades is one of the most unexpected we've come across. Starting out on weekends with his granddad doing kitchen and bathroom fits in East London, he quickly realised construction was where he belonged. But before going all in, he took a serious detour into the world of acting, extra work on Spider-Man sets, BBC and ITV productions, film festivals, networking with directors, and eventually a gig in Atlanta after living in Malta and South Africa. When Covid hit, he came back to the UK and went full steam ahead with Stately Home Developments, and hasn't looked back. In this episode, we cover how social media has transformed the way he wins work, why putting your face to the brand gives you the upper hand before you even arrive on site, what he learned watching a terrible builder somehow win premium jobs, the real cost of running a construction business on relationships and mental load, and why investing in yourself early is always cheaper than waiting. Follow us on Spotify and YouTube, and use the link below for discounts from our sponsors, Powered Now and Pocket Receptionist.

On this Episode of Trade Legends, we talk about how Britain needs 25,000 new electricians a year. We're producing maybe 5,000. Mark Allison has spent 20 years in the electrical industry and is now on a mission to fix the training crisis from the inside, hands-on, accredited, no shortcuts. We get into the £12k course scams robbing people blind, why employers have stopped taking apprentices, what the government keeps getting wrong, and why the next decade is going to make electricians seriously wealthy, if they're ready for it.