Ryan Notz: MyBuilder

Ryan Notz, 33
Company: MyBuilder
Web: www.mybuilder.co.uk

Former stonemason Notz knows how hard it can be for tradespeople to find steady work. Sick of agencies sending him out to jobs that didn’t match his skills, he set up MyBuilder, which allows consumers to post jobs online that tradespeople can bid for. Originally self-funded, Notz recently won European-wide funding competition Seedcamp, securing £50,000 and mentoring for a 10% stake.

He has since netted a further £500,000 from investors such as Bebo co-founder Paul Birch and construction giant Travis Perkins. Trading since October 2007, already 1,500 jobs are listed each month and more than 12,000 tradespeople have registered. Revenue is doubling month by month and Notz, who takes a 5% success fee for every completed job, expects turnover to hit £10m by 2009.