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Working for Bovis Lend Lease in the city, I was really aware of the amount of materials we were chucking away. All the materials would be specified by the architect so what we used on one project could not be used on another. If we had wanted to send £100 worth of stuff across site we would be spending £200 to do it. Throwing it away was always the cheapest option.

On one job we were stripping out vast areas of raised access flooring, which they can’t recycle. But on the previous job I’d been on we had to buy some for a temporary office we put up. Demolition companies have got their network of people who can recycle the obvious things but it seems to be closed to anybody else who’s not in the know. It seemed to me there was this link missing.

I met my business partner (and now fiancée) through my brother-in-law. We got talking about this missing link and together we came up with the idea of a website, where builders who are prepared to give surplus materials away, or charge a small amount of money. We were not going out when we hatched the plan but things have moved forwards since then.

The hardest thing was developing the functionality of the website while keeping it as simple as possible. It was really difficult. I was getting involved in an area in which I had no experience.

We are not really focusing on the principle contractors. We expect medium-to-small companies to be the sellers. The people who would take the stuff would be the smaller builder, self-builders or DIY-ers.

I don’t think we are going to make any money for a couple of years. The money we make through selling listings (£2.95 each) we will push back into marketing. We funded it all personally. Looking back now , if we had known it would cost so much it might have been a barrier. But

I feel strongly that it’s something I am really keen to make work.