The Purpose of Trade Associations
There are, broadly speaking, two types of trade associations. The first is probably the more well known – the type of (probably) non profit organisation that is funded by member businesses keen to further the interests of a particular industry sector in wider society. They might engage in political lobbying, shared advertising, public education drives: anything that benefits the industry holistically. Examples are the Farmer’s Association and MusicUK. Both of these organisations are dedicated to representing businesses within their respective sectors to provide the best possible conditions in which to conduct business.
However, the type of trade association that I wish to discuss here is an entirely different beast, and one that might be more familiar under the term of ‘guild’ (although that would be somewhat anachronistic and possibly misleading). These are associations of tradespeople (like Association of Master Tradesmen) from various crafts that work to provide work for their members, and offer a seal of trust and approval to members of the public looking to hire tradespeople.
As far as the general public are concerned, the problem with hiring tradesmen comes from the market being almost entirely comprised of freelance sole traders. This offers very little indication of how good or trustworthy they might be, and very little recourse beyond litigation should they not live up to expectations.
A trade association lives and dies by its reputation, and as such will work very hard to make sure all of its members live up to the standards that it wishes to project. As such, there will very likely be stringent entry requirements and spot checks of all members’ work to make sure no one is sullying the reputation of the trade association.
Being part of such an association obviously makes life much easier for the members as well who benefit from being associated with a trusted name and authority, and since trade associations like these most often earn their money not just from membership fees, but commission on work sourced, they will provide an excellent source of work for their members as they strive to find as much work as possible.
As such, they provide a useful dual purpose. They provide a centralised source of trusted, quality tradesmen for the public to go to, and a steady supply of work for their members. For anyone who has ever had the hit and miss experience of hiring tradesmen straight from the phone book will understand how valuable that is.
Processing your request, Please wait....
