Started with one van. Still answers the phone the same way.
Founded in 2014 by Dave Okonkwo, a heating engineer who got tired of quoting jobs he then handed to someone else to do.
True North Trades started as one Gas Safe engineer and a transit van covering boiler callouts around Walthamstow. Twelve years on, it's six tradespeople — two plumbers, two electricians, a heating engineer, and a generalist for everything that doesn't fit neatly into the other three — still covering the same patch of East London.
The rule that hasn't changed: whoever quotes the job is who turns up to do it. No van gets sent out with a stranger in it, and no job gets quoted by someone who then hands it to someone cheaper.
Four things that don't change per job.
Price before we start
Call-out fee covers the diagnosis. Anything beyond that gets quoted before a tool comes out of the van — not discovered on the invoice.
Whoever quotes it, does it
No subcontracting a job out once it's been priced. The engineer who assessed it is the one who fixes it.
Certificates issued, not promised
EICRs and Gas Safe records handed over on completion — not "we'll email it over," followed by three reminder calls.
Straight answers on coverage
If you're outside the 12-mile radius or it's not something we do, we'll say so on the phone — not after a wasted call-out.