Local Heroes

What Local Heroes does

Local Heroes was a UK-based digital marketplace, founded in 2016 and wholly owned by British Gas, that connected residential homeowners with vetted independent tradespeople — branded as 'Heroes' — for home repair and maintenance services spanning electrical work, boiler servicing and repair, plumbing, and appliance repairs. The platform functioned as a self-serve online booking interface where customers selected a service category, were matched with an available vetted tradesperson, and paid through the Local Heroes payment infrastructure, with funds held for 7-10 days after job completion before disbursement to the Hero. Completed work was backed by a 12-month guarantee underwritten by British Gas, which served as the core trust mechanism and key differentiator versus unvetted local alternatives.

The business model was lead generation and marketplace intermediation: Local Heroes acted as an introductory business, supplying customer leads to independent tradesperson businesses and earning commission or lead fees per matched job. The Heroes were not employees or subsidiaries but independent private businesses, so the company's economics scaled with lead volume rather than direct service delivery. Distribution was single-channel — the Local Heroes online platform — and the geographic footprint was UK-domestic only.

The platform ceased accepting new jobs on 20 October 2023 following a strategic decision by British Gas to concentrate growth investment in its directly-operated British Gas services business. A 15-day wind-down window was provided for in-flight jobs, recent customers retained their 12-month guarantee, and trade counter-parties were informed that they would continue operating independently without Local Heroes as a lead source. As of the latest available data, Local Heroes is a closed business with no forward operations.

Name

Local Heroes

Legal name

Local Heroes

Website

https://localheroes.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Local Heroes was a British Gas-owned UK digital marketplace, founded in 2016 and closed in October 2023, that matched residential homeowners with vetted independent tradespeople for electrical, plumbing, heating, and appliance repair services, backed by a 12-month British Gas guarantee.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Lead Generation / Marketplace Commission: Local Heroes acted as an introductory business supplying leads to tradesperson businesses (Heroes) who may not have otherwise been aware of customers. The platform generated revenue by providing customer leads to registered tradespeople, who were then matched to customers needing their services. The platform facilitated payment processing, holding funds for 7-10 days after job completion before paying Heroes.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Core offering

Local Heroes operated an online marketplace that connected UK homeowners needing home repair and maintenance services (electrical, plumbing, boiler/heating, and appliance repairs) with vetted independent tradespeople referred to as "Heroes". The platform handled booking, facilitated payment between customers and tradespeople, and provided a 12-month guarantee on completed work backed by British Gas. The platform ceased accepting new jobs on 20 October 2023.

Product overview

Local Heroes was a single unified marketplace platform that connected customers with tradespeople (Heroes) for home services. The platform served as an introductory layer, matching customers with independent tradesperson businesses and facilitating bookings and payments. The platform closed on October 20, 2023, with customers redirected to British Gas services for future bookings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Local Heroes Platform Online marketplace platform that matched UK homeowners with vetted independent tradespeople ("Heroes") for home repair and maintenance services including electrical repairs, boiler repairs, boiler servicing, plumbing and appliance repairs. The platform handled booking and payment processing and was backed by a 12-month British Gas guarantee on completed work. The platform stopped accepting new jobs on 20 October 2023.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves4 records

Broad incumbents

• Thumbtack: US-headquartered home services marketplace connecting consumers with local professionals across hundreds of categories including the trades covered by Local Heroes. Comparable marketplace model and revenue structure but US-focused with broader scope.
• TaskRabbit: General home services marketplace (owned by IKEA) covering handyman, cleaning, furniture assembly, and home repair tasks. Operates in the same marketplace category as Local Heroes but with broader task scope and stronger consumer brand.
• British Gas Services: British Gas's core services business (boiler, plumbing, electrical, appliance repair) which absorbed Local Heroes customers upon the platform's closure. Operates in the same UK home services category but as an employed-engineer model rather than a marketplace.
• Angi: Large US home services marketplace (formerly Angie's List) covering plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and appliance repair. Directly comparable to Local Heroes in trade verticals served and marketplace model, but operates at significantly larger scale and US-only.

Direct peers

• TrustATrader: UK directory marketplace for vetted tradespeople covering home repair, maintenance, and improvement services. Directly comparable to Local Heroes in scope of trades, vetting approach, and customer segment.
• Bark: UK-headquartered services marketplace that connects consumers with local professionals across home services and adjacent categories. Comparable business model to Local Heroes with broader professional services scope.
• Rated People: UK marketplace that matches homeowners with local tradespeople across similar trade categories. Directly comparable business model to Local Heroes, with comparable target customer and trade-side supply.
• Checkatrade: UK home services marketplace that connects consumers with vetted tradespeople across similar categories (plumbing, electrical, heating, appliance repair). Closest direct competitor to Local Heroes in the UK, with a deeper trade network and longer operating history.
• MyBuilder: UK online marketplace where homeowners post jobs and tradespeople bid for work. Operates in the same UK tradesperson marketplace category as Local Heroes with a comparable reverse-auction model.

Regional players

• Hipages: Australia's leading tradesperson marketplace connecting homeowners with tradies across similar categories to Local Heroes (plumbing, electrical, HVAC, building). Comparable marketplace model but operates exclusively in Australia rather than the UK.

Market position

Strengths2 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/localheroesuk
• Facebookfacebook.com/mylocalheroesuk

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Local Heroes