About Us
Meet the founders
We built Automate The Trades because we understand the trades industry from the inside out - and we know technology can make it better.
Charlie Arthur
Founder
With 17 years in plastering and painting, Charlie learned the trade under an accomplished plasterer before taking his skills international. Based in London, he worked his way up to project manager at Grosvenor Estates, running large-scale plastering and painting jobs across prestigious Mayfair properties. That experience gave him the confidence to start his own company back home. Charlie thrives on the complexity of running a business and brings natural people skills that keep clients and contractors coming back.
Chris McKinnel
Founder
With over a decade of experience building systems, leading teams, and helping organisations unlock the full potential of cloud technology, Chris has worked across digital agencies in the UK and DevOps leadership roles in Africa. He's seen what works and what doesn't - and now he's focused on one thing: helping trades businesses get the most out of technology.
Why We Built It
Built from real trade-business friction
Automate The Trades was not created as a generic software product looking for a market. It came out of the day-to-day frustration of quoting, scheduling, chasing paperwork, and trying to keep a trade business organised while also running jobs, managing clients, and working with contractors.
Trade knowledge meets systems thinking
The product sits at the intersection of two realities: how trade businesses actually operate on the ground, and how well-designed systems can remove admin drag. That is why the platform focuses on practical workflows like creating quotes quickly, turning accepted quotes into jobs, keeping contractors informed, and making invoicing less painful.
Designed for New Zealand trades
ATT is built around New Zealand business realities: Xero-heavy workflows, local pricing expectations, and the way small and mid-sized trade businesses handle jobs, deposits, variations, subcontractors, and customer communication. The goal is not more software for the sake of it. The goal is fewer moving parts and a cleaner operating system for the business.
What We Care About
The kind of product we are trying to build
Less admin, better visibility
Trade businesses rarely fail because they cannot do the work. They struggle because too much information lives in phones, inboxes, notebooks, spreadsheets, or in one person's head. We want the system to make the business clearer, not heavier.
AI that is practical, not decorative
We are interested in AI where it saves time on real tasks: quoting, categorising, drafting, tracking, and organising information. The benchmark is simple: does it reduce work for the business owner, or is it just another feature to learn?
Ready to streamline your trades business?
Get in touch or start your free trial today.