LabourLink

About

LabourLink (booklabourlink.co.uk) is the UK trades marketplace you've been building — a platform connecting people who need small jobs done with local tradespeople.What it does:Targets micro-jobs under £500 across trades like plumbing, electrical, handyman work, painting, and gardeningUses postcode-radius search so customers find nearby tradespeopleHandles payments through Stripe Connect with an escrow model, so money is held until the job's doneTradespeople get a PIN-protected inbox to manage job requests and messagesSupports photo uploads (for job descriptions or proof of work)Sends automated emails via EmailJS for booking confirmations, updates, etc.Has an admin panel for you to manage the platformTech stack:Full-stack vanilla JS single-page application, backed by Supabase for the database/auth layer, deployed on Netlify.Where things stand:You've done a fair amount of critical reassessment on it. A legal review flagged FCA perimeter issues (because you're handling client money via escrow, which can brush up against payment services regulation) and T&Cs that need proper legal sign-off before this could operate safely. Separately, you stress-tested the business model itself and found some structural weaknesses — disintermediation risk (tradesperson and customer exchange details and cut you out after the first job), thin unit economics, and a tough SEO battle against entrenched incumbents like Checkatrade.