← Embedded Finance Index 2026

Checkatrade

“Can the UK's incumbent trade-directory become the transactional operating system — payments, lending, product commerce — for home improvement?”

Founded1998
HQPortsmouth, Hampshire, United Kingdom
FoundersKevin Byrne
Latest roundAcquired by Brookfield (2022, via HomeServe)
IndustryMarketplace / Two-sided
The story

Founded 1998 as a paper directory of vetted local tradespeople, Checkatrade evolved into the UK's largest home-improvement platform connecting homeowners with 44,000+ trades. After being acquired by HomeServe in 2017 and rolled up into Brookfield's portfolio in 2022, the company has aggressively expanded beyond lead generation into embedded finance and adjacent commerce: launching Checkatrade Pay in 2025 to facilitate customer-to-trade payments, Checkatrade Shop as a marketplace for products, and Checkatrade for Business to serve larger property/facility buyers. The strategic bet is to become the operating layer for UK home improvement, monetising transactions rather than just membership subscriptions.

Last 12 months
2025-11
2025-03
2026-04
Product timeline
1998
Founded as Scout in Selsey, West Sussex by Kevin Byrne· launch
2017
Acquired by HomeServe· acquisition
2019
Headquarters relocated from Selsey to Portsmouth· pivot
2022
Brookfield acquires HomeServe, taking Checkatrade private· acquisition
2025
Launched Checkatrade Labs incubator, drone/AI roof surveys· product
2025
Launched Checkatrade Pay (in-app card acceptance / payment links for trades)· payments
2026
Launched Checkatrade Shop (marketplace for products from sellers) and Checkatrade for Business· product
The stack
2 layers disclosed in Checkatrade’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
Checkatrade Pay (self-operated)
Accounting
in the full report
Accounting gap: significant
1 more provider across 1 layer, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.