One company, several trades, based in Manchester

Why we built it this way

Property problems rarely belong to a single trade. Water that comes through a ceiling has usually passed a light fitting on the way. A door that has been forced needs a locksmith for the frame and a glazier for the panel beside it. A roof that has leaked for a season leaves a plumber, a roofer and a decorator with work to do, in that order.

The usual answer is to ring three companies, wait for three visits and reconcile three invoices. We thought there was a better one. Prime Fix 24/7 is a holding company: each trade is run as its own operation, by people who do only that trade, but they share a depot, a dispatch desk, a rate card and a phone number. When you ring, the right engineer turns up, or two do, and you get one invoice for the lot.

What holds it together

Three things. The first is qualification. Plumbers who touch gas are Gas Safe registered. Electricians work under NICEIC approval and certify their own work. Glaziers, locksmiths and roofers are trained and time-served in their trade, and nobody crosses trades on a job. A plumber does not have a go at the electrics.

The second is transparency about money. Our rates are published on the pricing page, standard hours and out of hours stated separately, and we tell you the price before an engineer is dispatched. Planned work is quoted in writing, free, with no obligation. We think this is the single thing that most separates a company you would use twice from one you would not.

The third is the people. Every engineer is named on this site, DBS checked, in uniform and carrying identification. Reviews name the customer and the engineer, so you can see who did the work that someone is describing. You will find them on our engineers page.

Where we are

We work from a depot in Manchester and cover the city, Greater Manchester and north Cheshire. Twelve priority areas, from Ancoats and the Northern Quarter out through Didsbury, Chorlton and Sale to Altrincham, Hale, Bowdon and Wilmslow, get our fastest response. Elsewhere, we give you a realistic arrival time rather than a hopeful one.

We are not the cheapest option in every case, and we do not try to be. We are the one you ring when you want it done properly, once, by someone whose name you know, at a price you agreed in advance.