Thank you for downloading the Bottom Line podcast. This week, Stephanie Flanders and her guests ponder the do's and don'ts of marketing.

And they talk about mess. Is a cluttered desk really a sign of a cluttered mind?

Hello and welcome to the bottom line. I have three guests from quite different businesses today.

Shirts, home repairs and online gaming. But the one thing that unites them is marketing.

On today's show, we'll delve into the art of marketing, the art of finding and keeping hold of your customers.

We'll also talk about being messy. Can a disorderly approach to business sometimes help you clean up?

But before any of that, let's first meet my guest this week.

And we have returning to the programme Richard Harpin,

founder and chief executive of HomeServe,

an international emergency home repairs company.

Now Richard, remind us, what are the services that you're offering to people?

We cover things like plumbing and drains, so a blocked drain, electrical wiring emergency,

a boiler that's broken down. What kind of competitors do you have? I mean, I know you just

sort of described yourself as an AA for the home, but who else is out there doing this?

We've got a very good competitor in the UK, which is British gas. Fortunately, in most of the international markets that we operate in, there isn't a single

competitor that we're competing against head to head. We have a lot of people on this program who

are reaching out to China or emerging markets because they're the ones that are growing,

but you've been branching out into Spain and America.

I mean, these are not booming economies at the moment. How's it been?

No, but they share the same consumer need, which is that homeowners find it difficult to get a tradesman,

particularly when they have an emergency, and that same needs crosses boundaries.

So we've been focusing on the bigger countries in Europe and the big opportunity,

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