Meet Jodie: the AI agent that does the admin for UK trades

What is Jodie?

Jodie is the AI agent inside Traddie, the app UK tradespeople use to quote, book jobs and get paid. She is the office help most trades never had: you tell her what needs doing in plain English, and she does it in your Traddie account.

Type "who owes me money?" and she lists every overdue invoice with how late each one is. Type "chase Aire Valley Gym" and she finds their invoice, checks it is still unpaid, writes the reminder and shows it to you. Type "order 10 double sockets and 100m of 2.5mm twin and earth from Screwfix" and she fills the basket. Every time, nothing is sent and nothing is spent until you say yes.

She is built into the Traddie app on iPhone and Android, and she comes with the Pro and Team plans.

What is an AI agent, and how is it different from a chatbot?

A chatbot answers. An agent acts. Ask a chatbot such as ChatGPT to chase a customer and it writes you a polite email, which you then copy, paste, find the invoice number for, look up the customer's address for and send yourself.

An AI agent does the whole job. It works out what you are asking for, looks things up in the systems it has access to, takes the steps needed, checks the result and reports back. That is what "agentic AI" means: AI that can use tools and complete a task, not only talk about it.

Jodie is an agent in that sense. She has access to your Traddie jobs, customers, quotes, invoices, payments, certificates and diary, plus the tools to act on them. The difference from a lot of AI you will have tried is that she works on your real business, not on a blank page.

Why trades need an agent, not another app

Admin is the part of the job nobody trained for. HeyBRB's UK Admin Drain Report 2026 found small business owners lose an average of 8 hours a week to repetitive admin, and 77% of the trades businesses it asked do that admin in the evenings, after a full day on the tools. Nearly half do it at weekends too.

Getting paid is the worst of it. Hiscox's first Late Payments Report, covered by Bytestart, found small businesses are owed £12,357 a year on average in late payments, chase 14 late payments a year, and wait around three weeks past the due date for each one to clear.

Most trades have already tried AI. When Google announced its AI training partnership with Screwfix in July 2026, it said 86% of construction workers are using AI on the job, but only 16% are getting significant value from it. A chatbot in a separate app can draft a message. It can't see who owes you, it can't send the reminder, and it can't put the job in your diary.

That gap is why we built Jodie into Traddie itself. Your jobs, customers and invoices are already there, so she can do the admin rather than describe it.

What can Jodie do?

Here is what Jodie can do today. Each one starts with a normal message, typed the way you would text someone.

• Order materials: fill a Screwfix basket for collection or delivery, build a shopping list for other merchants, or raise a purchase order to your own supplier.
• Tell you who owes you money, how much and how late, oldest first.
• Chase an overdue invoice, or every overdue invoice at once, with your usual reminder email and pay online link.
• Draft invoices for all your finished jobs in one go, at the right VAT rate.
• Add a job, move a job, change its status or add a note.
• Set a reminder that comes up as a notification on your phone.
• Send, resend or chase quotes, take a deposit, and turn an accepted quote into a job or an invoice.
• Log an expense or mileage, record a payment or a refund.
• Find a customer, add a new one or update their details.
• Send you a morning brief with your jobs and money, and nudge you about overdue invoices, quotes and certificates coming up for renewal.
• Explain how to do anything in Traddie, step by step, with a button that takes you straight there.

Order materials from Screwfix in one message

This is the one people ask about first. In the video below, the message is: order 10 double sockets and 100m of 2.5mm twin and earth from Screwfix for the Fenwick job. Jodie reads it, searches Screwfix on the phone for each item, and comes back with a list: two packs of five 13A double switched sockets for £23.98, and a 100m drum of 2.5mm twin and earth at £91.69. Total £115.67.

Tap to fill the basket and Screwfix opens inside Traddie, with both items added and set for collection at your local store. You check it, and when you are happy you swipe to pay. You pay Screwfix directly with your own Screwfix account and card, the same as you would on their website. Traddie doesn't see your login or your card.

Screwfix is the one Jodie can fill end to end today. She also knows Toolstation, CEF, Rexel, Denmans, YESSS Electrical, Wickes, B&Q, Travis Perkins, City Plumbing, Jewson, Selco, Edmundson Electrical and TLC Direct, and can build your list and open their site for you. If you buy on account from a merchant counter, ask her to raise a purchase order instead and she will draft one to your supplier for you to send.

Traddie isn't affiliated with Screwfix or any of the merchants above. Jodie simply uses their public websites the way you would.

Ask who owes you money

Ask "who owes me money?" and Jodie lists every overdue invoice with the customer, the amount and how many days late it is, oldest first, with the total at the bottom. On the demo account in the screenshot, that is eight invoices and £13,364.40.

Under the list are the sources she used, so you can see exactly where each number came from, and a button to chase the oldest one. You don't have to open the invoices screen, filter it and add it up yourself.

Chase overdue invoices automatically, without losing control

Say "chase Aire Valley Gym" and Jodie gets to work. Under "What I checked" she shows you every step: she read your message, found Aire Valley Gym in your customers, checked their invoices, found one overdue at 28 days, picked that invoice to chase and checked your Traddie role lets you send invoices.

Then she shows exactly what will go: who it is to, the invoice number, the amount left to pay and how late it is. It is your usual reminder email with the pay online link, so the customer can pay by card there and then. Swipe to send, or tap no. After you swipe she checks the invoice is still unpaid before it goes, so a customer who paid five minutes ago doesn't get chased.

She also knows when not to chase. In testing, an invoice marked as escalated in Traddie was left alone, with a note saying so and a link to change it if that was wrong. And if you want to clear the lot, ask her to chase everyone and she prepares a reminder for each overdue invoice for you to approve.

If your customer is another business, the law is on your side too. GOV.UK explains you can usually claim statutory interest on late business to business payments at 8% plus the Bank of England base rate, unless your contract sets a different rate.

Invoice all your finished jobs in one go

At the end of the week, type "invoice my finished jobs". Jodie looks for every finished job that hasn't been invoiced yet and drafts them all at once, with 20% VAT where you charge it, and shows you the list with a total before anything is made.

She is honest about what she can't do. Jobs with no price on them yet are listed separately as "not included, do in the app", so nothing goes out at £0. Say yes and she drafts the invoices, then asks if you want them sent. Drafts stay drafts until you tell her to send.

Move a job without opening the diary

Customer rings to push the boiler service back? Type "move the Kirkstall Bakehouse job to Tuesday at 9". Jodie finds the customer, finds their upcoming job and checks your diary for a clash on the new day, then shows you the job, where it is now and where it is going.

Nothing is sent to the customer from that card, so you can let them know in your own words. Tap "Yes, move it" and it is done.

Set a reminder like you would text a mate

"Remind me to ring Paul Fenwick back at 8:43pm." That is all it takes. Jodie confirms the time, and at 8:43pm a notification comes up on your phone. No separate reminders app, no alarm with a vague label you can't remember setting.

A morning brief and nudges you can switch off

Jodie doesn't only wait to be asked. Set up a morning brief and she sends you your jobs for the day and the money that is overdue at the time you choose, with the oldest late payer ready to chase in one tap.

She can also nudge you when an invoice goes overdue, when a quote has gone quiet, when a certificate is coming up for renewal, and with a short wrap up in the evening. You set quiet hours, so nothing arrives while you are with the family, and there is a daily limit so she never becomes another thing pinging you all day. Every nudge can be turned off in her settings.

Ask how to do anything in Traddie

New to Traddie, or setting something up for the first time? Ask Jodie. "How do I add my apprentice to the team?" gets clear, numbered steps and a button that takes you straight to the right screen.

It means you don't have to hunt through menus or wait for a support reply to get something set up between jobs.

Nothing sends until you say yes

Letting software send emails to your customers and spend money on your behalf needs trust, so we built Jodie around one rule: she prepares, you decide. These are the guard rails built into every action.

• Every action that sends, spends or changes something shows a preview card first. You swipe or tap yes, or you say no.
• Every answer has a "What I checked" list, so you can see how she got there, not just the result.
• Before a chase goes, she checks the invoice is still unpaid.
• When you buy materials you pay the merchant directly, with your own account and card.
• She follows your team roles. If an engineer can't see money or send invoices in Traddie, Jodie won't do it for them.
• She leaves escalated invoices alone, and says so.
• Quiet hours and a daily limit on nudges, all of which you control.
• The app tells you plainly that Jodie can make mistakes, and to check anything important.

What Jodie doesn't do

Being clear about the limits matters as much as the features. Jodie doesn't answer your phone or talk to customers on your behalf. She doesn't send, spend or change anything without your yes. She isn't an accountant: VAT figures she gives you are estimates from your Traddie records, not tax advice. And Screwfix is the only merchant where she fills the basket from start to finish today.

We add to her every week, and a lot of what she can do came straight from trades telling us what they wanted. If there is something you would like her to handle, tell her, or tell us.

Is Jodie the first AI agent for trades?

No, and we won't pretend she is. There are AI phone receptionists for trades, and some of the big field service platforms have started adding AI helpers of their own.

What makes Jodie different is where she works and who she is for. She was built in the UK for UK trades, inside the app where your jobs, quotes, invoices and certificates already are. She orders from the merchants UK trades actually use, prices things in pounds with UK VAT, and she is included in the plan you already pay for, not sold as an expensive add on.

How to get Jodie

Jodie comes with Traddie Pro at £19.99 a month and Team from £49.99 a month, and there is no extra charge for using her. If you are new to Traddie, the 14 day free trial when you download the app includes her, so you can try her on your own jobs before you pay anything. See the Traddie plans for everything else that is included.