At XS Trade we are obsessed with waste. We hate it. And so should you. 
 
Throwing away perfectly good materials should be against everything any self-respecting business stands for. Would you throw £50 notes out of your car window every few seconds?  
 
Frankly, it is the same thing. And the real tragedy is there could be someone five miles away who needs the very same materials you are lobbing in a skip. It just makes no sense. 
 
My company once had a big job in central London. It was a significant building and bespoke light fittings were ordered in Austria on a six-week lead. They were the Rolls Royce of light fittings. Made to order. Really advanced tech. Cost? A cool £100k.
 
But then the client changes its requirements. Which is fine, but we are left with a handful of these wonderful fittings. They were just too expensive to bin. I even put them on eBay, but they were too niche, too bespoke.  
 
We still have them. They’re in our lock up. I won’t thrown them away, because there IS someone out there who can take them off my hands. And they’ll be cheap, too… 
 
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There are two million people in Britain’s building industry - and each and everyone of us has to think more about our impact on the environment The waste of building materials is pretty scandalous.

We'’ve all been on jobs and seen skips filled with perfectly reasonable equipment. Brand new doors, electrics, tiles, slabs, joist … just everything you can think of. I’ve done it. And I always feel guilty. But, sometimes - well, it is easier to discard unused materials than carry it around until you find a new home - or job - for it.

Most of the time it is paid for, afterall. But did you know that £1.5 BILLION worth of materials is thrown away every year in Britain? That figures makes you sit up and take notice, doesn’t it. And I know that I have thrown stuff away before that I could have used on another job just weeks later. That can be so frustrating.

So that’s why I have launched XS Trade. If you have materials, just put them on the website and wait for the calls to come in. Because someone will always want what you have.

Ask them to #MakeMeAnOffer

My main motivation is to stop this unnecessary waste. Yes, I would like XS Trade to make a profit at some stage, but that will only come if people start trading – and saving – with each other. That would be a win-win situation for all.

Click here for more details http://www.xstrade.co.uk

Here is a story of pure frustration. 
 
There was a job in Holborn with very expensive metal ceiling grids in the reception area. But due to an ‘architectural oversight’ it was decided that the reception was going to be all plasterboard. So the builder - who had spent around £1,650 on these grids - sent them back north to where they came from. That cost him, incidentally, a cool £650 in handling and delivery charges- just so he could get £1k back. 

Galling, I’m sure you’ll agree. But then this is the REAL choker.  
 
Twenty-four hours later there was a U-turn and they reverted back to the original plans. I’m sure this sounds familiar to many of you. So the poor guy ends up ordering them again. The cost went to the client, but all the same. What a waste! 
 
And we hate waste at XS Trade….  
 
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​Let me tell you when I first realised a need for XS Trade.

Well, I say it was the first time, it was probably the hundredth time - but it was the moment that tipped me over the edge and pushed me to take action. I was working with a major client and, as part of the project, ordered a number of industrial electrical switches - each worth well over £1,000.

As it transpired - and many people reading this will have been there - I over ordered. Well, that’s to say the client decided they didn’t need them all. That is their right as the customer. Things change. But two were left over. Nearly £3,000 worth of perfectly good gear. It had already been paid for, of course, so I could have just scrapped it and got on with my life.

But there is something very wrong about that. It was then I thought there had to be a better way. I read that 13 per cent of all building waste is scrapped. That’s a shocking stat. Every conceivable building material is included in that. And when you think - particularly for the smaller businesses, but also for the big boys - that margins on jobs can be so tight. Imagine if you could pick up some materials that would otherwise have been dumped below the market value just to add that little extra to your bottom line.

You’'re also doing your bit for the environment too - and we know how important that is these days, particularly in the building industry. So, whether you just need half a dozen paving slabs or five pallets of bricks, XS Trade might just be able to do you a favour. And save you money in to the bargain.

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Oh, and if anyone needs any industrial switches… I still have them! #MakeMeAnOffer