A builder's
holding company
for practical businesses.
L.I.S.Trade designs, builds and runs services and software for small businesses and the people they serve. We pick problems worth solving, ship the smallest useful thing, and let the work speak for itself. Three ventures live — and the founder available for hire.
Three ventures.
All live.
Each L.I.S.Trade venture is its own product with its own customers, its own brand and its own P&L — built to stand on its own and pay its way. Two services for businesses, one consumer product. All shipped, all working, all open for what's next.
TradeWeb Launchpad
Websites for UK tradespeople who currently send customers to Facebook or Checkatrade. We build the real site for their business — using public info, their branding, their services — and send them the link. £1,295 setup, no demo fee, ownership from day one.
Visit TradeWeb Launchpad → Live · Accepting briefsApp Development
Custom web and mobile apps for ambitious small businesses. React, TypeScript, Supabase, Anthropic AI integration, mobile-first PWA delivery. Production-grade work that ships — see TasteReel for proof.
Brief us on your app → Live · Try it nowTasteReel
AI-powered movie & TV recommendations that actually learn your taste. Rate films 1-10, the app infers a 10-dimensional taste profile, then surfaces watches with witty, specific reasons. Built end-to-end by us. Free to try.
Open tastereelapp.com ↗Need senior product or BA hands
on contract?
Beyond the ventures, the L.I.S.Trade umbrella also houses Ian's own contract work for businesses that want a senior operator rather than a productised service — embedded in your team for a sprint, a project, or a longer engagement.
Ian — Product & BA contracts, through L.I.S.Trade Ltd.
Senior product and business-analysis experience available on day-rate or fixed contract. Engaged through L.I.S.Trade Ltd — clean invoicing, professional indemnity, and a single point of contact for everything that runs under the umbrella.
"Most small businesses are under-served by the people meant to be helping them."
L.I.S.Trade started with a simple observation. Tradespeople, sole traders, family-run shops — the backbone of the British economy — keep being sold either expensive bespoke work they don't need, or cheap subscription products that own them more than they own the product.
There's a middle path. Premium quality, fair price, total ownership. Built fast, built once, built to be the customer's asset rather than the supplier's recurring revenue stream.
That's what we build. One service at a time. One customer at a time. Every venture under L.I.S.Trade has to earn its place — and earn its customer's trust — before we move on to the next.
Four principles.
No exceptions.
These aren't slogans. They're the rules we ship by. Every venture passes through them. If something we build can't sit comfortably with all four, we don't ship it.
Show the work first
Demos, prototypes, working drafts. Anyone we ask for money sees what they're buying before a penny moves.
Customers own what they pay for
No subscription locks where the customer disappears the day they stop paying. Cancellable doesn't mean rentable.
Small, fast, finished
We ship narrow products well rather than wide products half-built. Each venture stays focused on its sharpest problem.
Honest about price
Pricing on the website. Pricing in the pitch. No "request a quote" theatre. Customers deserve to know before they call.
Got a problem worth
building for?
Customer enquiry, partnership, idea, or just curious about what we're working on. Drop us a note — we read every one and reply within two working days.