LEADING price comparison website Local Surveyors Direct marks its tenth anniversary this month.

The Winchester-based company hosted a birthday celebration annual meeting at Victoria Hall in Sutton Scotney to mark its success to date.

The 10th anniversary celebration coincides with exceeding the £1m million turnover mark.

When chief executive JJ Heath-Caldwell started the business from his spare bedroom in 2005, the internet was still in its infancy and people relied on phone directories to find building surveyors and other property services.

JJ, a chartered engineer, said: “The internet as a search engine was very new. It was a very different world then.”

Today with his team of salespeople, JJ has successfully helped nearly 4,000 property professionals maintain an online presence by joining the website www.localsurveyorsdirect.co.uk which ranks high on Google.

Last year the company matched more than 130,000 potential customers with suppliers and, in most cases, provided instant estimates. Suppliers pay a small sum per lead generated.

The business started with just 100 building surveyors. Since then it has added thousands more and branched into other areas including: architects, structural engineers, electricians, mortgage brokers, legal conveyancing and removals.

JJ said: “We want to provide a one-stop shop for someone buying or selling a home, so they can find all the services they need as quickly as possible.”

He had the idea for the website after buying a couple of second-hand books online and realising the business model – a simple database - could be applied to other areas too.

JJ said: “I saw it was a fantastic opportunity and developed a detailed business plan but thought it might not happen as most businesses fail before they get started. However it worked straight away.

“Today the business has grown to over one million pounds turnover but I still run it from my spare bedroom,” said JJ who spends half of his time dealing directly with clients, who are often surprised to talk to the chief executive.

The internet entrepreneur said he had kept costs low and the business financially flexible by not having an expensive office or big salary bill.

Local Surveyors Direct has just two employees plus an eight-strong sales team who are self-employed and work part-time from home.