Fergus, the software designed to save plumbers hours of time on admin, has launched its platform in the UK. Headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand, Fergus was founded in 2014 by veteran plumber Dan Pollard, when he set out to solve the admin problems that had plagued his business for years. Since then, the company has transformed the way trade businesses in New Zealand and Australia operate and has become recognised globally.
“Made for the trade, we exist to make your lives better, freeing up time you would otherwise have to spend on business admin,” says James Chillman, UK Country Manager. “Fergus will literally save you hundreds of hours a year in wasted admin time.”
Currently serving over 18,000 tradespeople in eight countries, Fergus’s mission is to provide heating and plumbing businesses with access to software tools to organise their business without burying them in admin. The Fergus app also ensures healthy finances and that you get paid quickly; all aspects of a job that need to be done to get paid are in the workflow and, as the only system tracking labour and materials back to the job in real time, Fergus ensures each job is profitable.
“Despite the digital revolution of the past 30 years, most tradespeople – over 75% in most markets according to our internal market research – are still using manual, often paper-based systems and processes to manage their business. This ultimately leads to poor cash flow, lower profits and significant stress on the business owner,” continues James. “The trades have effectively been left behind and ignored by the software industry, predominantly because the average size of trades businesses was considered too small to matter. Fergus is designed specifically for the trade and has all the user friendliness built in you would expect for those company owners looking to spend less time on admin and more time doing the things they enjoy.”
In late 2021 Fergus opened offices in Manchester to provide support for tradespeople in the UK and, with this market growing rapidly, in June 2022 the company announced it has raised AUS $15M in funding. This investment is earmarked for further product innovation and geographic expansion in the UK as the company seeks to provide access to its platform globally.
The installer’s view
Based in Edinburgh, Allied Trade Plumbing & Heating (pictured) has used Fergus to grow and manage the team. “The beauty of Fergus is that even before a job even starts, we know how much money we’re going to make on it – it puts us in a position where we always win,” says Allied Trade Plumbing & Heating founder Cameron Burt.
