Plumbing · Edinburgh
247 Emergency Plumbers Edinburgh
- Tap-to-call button on the first phone screen
- Quote or contact form
- Gas Safe or electrical scheme shown
- Local business markup that tells Google what they do
Benchmark · UK trades · 2026
UK Trades Website Benchmark 2026: 780 businesses tested.
I spent more than 15 years as a plumber before I moved into marketing. I tested the websites of 780 UK tradespeople on speed, lead capture, trust signals, local SEO and Google reviews. Here is what the data shows, who is doing it well, and how to check your own.
| Businesses tested | 780 |
|---|---|
| Trades / cities | 8 / 12 |
| Independent / chains | 768 / 12 |
| Median score (independent) | 55 / 100 |
Tested November 2026. A benchmark of a stated sample, not a census. Individual scores are private.
Headline findings
What 764 independent tradespeople’s websites got right and wrong.
Headline figures are for independent businesses. Franchises and multi-location chains are compared separately below.
50%
show a tap-to-call button on the first phone screen
69% have one somewhere on the mobile homepage.
69%
show Gas Safe or an electrical scheme
Of the 287 plumbers, heating engineers and electricians. Only 4% show the registration number.
82%
have a quote or contact form
Only 1% offer online booking or scheduling.
7%
say how fast they reply
34% mention emergency or after-hours service.
68
median mobile speed score out of 100
12% score under 50. 16% score 90 or more.
31
median Google reviews
49% have fewer than 30.
The detail
Lead capture, trust, speed and local SEO.
All charts: 764 independent businesses. Each site was tested once on a phone-sized screen in November 2026.
A bare "fully qualified" or "registered" does not count. Gas Safe, WaterSafe, OFTEC, HETAS, MCS or an electrical scheme (NICEIC, NAPIT, Stroma and similar) has to be named. It was not checked against the register, and a plumber who does no gas work has no Gas Safe number to show.
Sites that returned no PageSpeed result are left out, not scored as zero.
Doing it well
10 tradespeople’s websites worth learning from.
The highest-scoring eligible independents on the rubric, in alphabetical order. Ranks and scores aren’t published, because the differences between them are within the margin of error.
Electrical · Bristol
Bristol Phoenix Group Ltd
- Tap-to-call button on the first phone screen
- Quote or contact form
- Gas Safe or electrical scheme shown
- Trade body or TrustMark-type scheme shown
Plumbing · Edinburgh
Celsius Plumbing and Heating
- Quote or contact form
- Gas Safe or electrical scheme shown
- Trade body or TrustMark-type scheme shown
- Local business markup that tells Google what they do
Roofing · Cheltenham
Cotswold Roofing & Guttering
- Tap-to-call button on the first phone screen
- Quote or contact form
- Says how fast they reply
- Local business markup that tells Google what they do
Plumbing · Cardiff
DM Pritchard Plumbing and Heating
- Tap-to-call button on the first phone screen
- Quote or contact form
- Gas Safe or electrical scheme shown
- Local business markup that tells Google what they do
Heating engineers and boiler installers · Nottingham
Gaswise UK
- Tap-to-call button on the first phone screen
- Quote or contact form
- Gas Safe or electrical scheme shown
- Says how fast they reply
Plumbing · London
Jennings Plumbing & Property Maintenance Ltd
- Tap-to-call button on the first phone screen
- Quote or contact form
- Gas Safe or electrical scheme shown
- Trade body or TrustMark-type scheme shown
Plumbing · Manchester
Kang Heating & Plumbing Ltd
- Tap-to-call button on the first phone screen
- Quote or contact form
- Gas Safe or electrical scheme shown
- Local business markup that tells Google what they do
Heating engineers and boiler installers · Leeds
Mr REACTIVE
- Tap-to-call button on the first phone screen
- Quote or contact form
- Gas Safe or electrical scheme shown
- Local business markup that tells Google what they do
Electrical · Newcastle
NE1 Electrical ltd
- Tap-to-call button on the first phone screen
- Quote or contact form
- Gas Safe or electrical scheme shown
- Local business markup that tells Google what they do
What they have in common: 9 of the 10 have a tap-to-call button on the first phone screen, 100% show Gas Safe or an electrical scheme where one applies (against 69% of independents), and 30% show a trade body or TrustMark-type badge (against 13%). Their median is 282 Google reviews against 31 overall, and a median mobile speed score of 93 against 68.
Google ratings are credited to Google and shown as of November 2026. Businesses are linked so you can see their sites. Being named means a site scored well on this rubric, nothing more, and the named group is mostly plumbing and heating, so read it as this sample, not a ranking of trades, cities or regions. I also run the Top5Trades directory; see the conflict of interest note below.
Independents vs chains
Franchises and chains score about the same.
12 franchises and multi-site chains (one website serving several postcode areas, or a known franchise name), scored the same way and reported separately so they don’t distort the independent figures.
| Independent | Chains | |
|---|---|---|
| Businesses | 764 | 12 |
| Median score | 55 | 55 |
| Tap-to-call, first screen | 50% | 67% |
| Service area pages | 48% | 50% |
| Booking tool | 1% | 8% |
| Median mobile speed | 68 | 60 |
| Median Google reviews | 31 | 41 |
The UK chain group is small, so read it with care. Chains lead on phone access and trail on speed. It includes some small multi-site companies that are not franchises.
By trade, city and region
How each trade, city and region compares.
Independents only. Each trade has 96 businesses, each city 64 and each region 192, so read these as a guide, not a verdict.
| Trade | Score | Tap-to-call | Quote form | Speed | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building | 52 | 35% | 81% | 64 | 17 |
| Carpentry and joinery | 50 | 31% | 79% | 70 | 16 |
| Electrical | 62 | 57% | 86% | 72 | 48 |
| Heating engineers and boiler installers | 62 | 64% | 81% | 70 | 58 |
| Landscaping | 51 | 35% | 82% | 68 | 26 |
| Painting and decorating | 51 | 35% | 80% | 70 | 20 |
| Plumbing | 64 | 70% | 82% | 67 | 68 |
| Roofing | 61 | 70% | 88% | 65 | 39 |
City by city
| City | Score | Tap-to-call | Quote form | Speed | Gas Safe / scheme | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 63 | 52% | 78% | 70 | 75% | 56 |
| Bristol | 53 | 53% | 72% | 71 | 71% | 28 |
| Cheltenham | 51 | 45% | 82% | 68 | 71% | 10 |
| Birmingham | 58 | 61% | 80% | 72 | 58% | 51 |
| Nottingham | 56 | 48% | 81% | 68 | 58% | 36 |
| Leicester | 54 | 52% | 82% | 68 | 74% | 20 |
| Manchester | 59 | 61% | 88% | 68 | 75% | 37 |
| Leeds | 56 | 48% | 86% | 70 | 67% | 34 |
| Newcastle | 55 | 48% | 81% | 67 | 67% | 27 |
| Glasgow | 54 | 41% | 86% | 64 | 75% | 35 |
| Edinburgh | 54 | 38% | 89% | 65 | 54% | 26 |
| Cardiff | 54 | 47% | 84% | 68 | 83% | 20 |
64 independents per city, 8 in each of the 8 trades. “Gas Safe / scheme” is the share of plumbers, heating engineers and electricians who show Gas Safe or an electrical scheme. The businesses were drawn from Google Maps results for that city and the postcode areas around it.
| Region | Score | Tap-to-call | Quote form | Speed | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South | 56 | 50% | 77% | 70 | 27 |
| Midlands | 57 | 54% | 81% | 70 | 36 |
| North | 57 | 53% | 85% | 68 | 32 |
| Scotland and Wales | 54 | 42% | 86% | 66 | 29 |
Score, speed and reviews are medians (score and mobile speed out of 100, Google reviews). Tap-to-call is the share with a tap-to-call button on the first phone screen.
What the website is built on
| Platform | Sites | Median score | Median speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| WordPress | 370 | 56 | 65 |
| Not detected | 241 | 54 | 73 |
| Wix | 85 | 57 | 75 |
| Squarespace | 38 | 48 | 58 |
| Next.js | 18 | 74 | 92 |
| other platforms (each under 8) | 12 | 49 | 70 |
Platform is detected from the page and is descriptive only, not part of the score. Platforms with fewer than 8 sites are merged, so don’t read this as one platform being better than another.
What to do about it
Six fixes that move your score.
Based on what separated the strongest sites from the rest.
01
Put your phone number where a thumb can reach it
Only 50% of independents show a tap-to-call button on the first phone screen, and 9 of the 10 named businesses do. See how we build websites for tradespeople that get the phone ringing →
02
Show your Gas Safe or scheme number, not just the badge
69% of plumbers, heating engineers and electricians show a Gas Safe or electrical scheme badge, but only 4% show the registration number a customer can check, and 13% of all trades show a trade body or TrustMark-type badge. Put your number and your badges where people can see them.
03
Make it easy to ask for a quote, and say how fast you reply
82% have a form, but only 7% say when you will hear back and 1% offer online booking or scheduling. See how we turn website visits into quote requests →
04
Tell Google what you do and where
Only 35% have local business markup, and 52% don’t name the areas they cover. See how local SEO gets tradespeople found in their own city →
05
Fix the mobile basics
The median mobile score is 68 out of 100 and 12% score under 50. Oversized photos and too many scripts are the usual cause.
06
Keep collecting Google reviews
The median independent has 31 Google reviews, and 49% have fewer than 30. A text with a review link after every job is the cheapest way to build this.
Methodology
How the benchmark was done.
Simple enough to repeat, and written down so you can check it.
01
Who was tested
780 UK trade businesses with their own website: plumbing, heating engineers and boiler installers, electricians, builders, roofers, painters and decorators, landscapers and carpenters and joiners, in 12 cities across four regions. Found through Google Maps searches only, then drawn at random: 8 independents per trade per city, plus a small group of franchises and chains. Not a random sample of all tradespeople and not a census.
02
What was checked
One load of each homepage on a phone-sized screen and one contact or quote page, in a real browser, with a clear user agent and a delay between requests. Google PageSpeed Insights on mobile, three runs spaced apart, median. Google ratings and review counts. Everything was collected in November 2026.
03
The score out of 100
Speed and mobile 25. Local SEO and technical 25. Lead capture 20. Trust signals 15. Google reviews 15. Anything that couldn’t be measured is left out, never counted as zero, and the Gas Safe and electrical scheme check is only applied to plumbing, heating and electrical. Businesses with less than 90% measurable are not eligible to be named.
04
How trust was judged
Gas Safe, WaterSafe, OFTEC, HETAS, MCS or an electrical scheme (plumbing, heating and electrical only), a trade body or accreditation such as TrustMark, FMB or NFRC, a guarantee, insurance and testimonials, read from the homepage text and logos. Checkatrade, TrustATrader and MyBuilder badges and manufacturer approvals are recorded but not scored, because they are paid-for. Only things a script can detect reliably are scored.
05
Who is named
The highest-scoring eligible independents, shown alphabetically with no ranks or scores. Ties at the cut-off are all included. Franchises and chains are scored and compared but not named. Everyone else is anonymised.
06
Conflict of interest
EightySix Digital sells web design, SEO and lead-capture help, so lead capture was deliberately weighted below speed and local SEO. I also run Top5Trades, a directory of tradespeople. Businesses in this study were found through Maps rather than the directory, and a listing there neither excludes nor favours anyone. I have no UK clients and built none of the sites tested. No named business was contacted.
Limitations
- The sample comes from Google Maps searches only. Maps favours businesses with a Google profile and a website and returns mostly city-centre results, so businesses with no web presence, suburbs, towns and rural areas are under-represented, and Northern Ireland is not covered. About 19% of the businesses Google Maps returned had no website of their own, and that is a floor, not a share of all UK tradespeople.
- One point in time. Websites and Google ratings change.
- Speed scores are lab tests. Some sites returned no speed result. Real-user data exists for only some sites and is labeled where used.
- Each site was tested once on a phone-sized screen, plus one contact page. Things deeper in a site, or shown only as images, can be missed. Detection is by text and code patterns and can miss unusual layouts.
- Gas Safe applies to gas work only, so a plumber who does no gas work has no number to show and the registration result understates compliance. Building, roofing, painting, landscaping and carpentry have no equivalent register and are not checked. Numbers were not checked against the registers.
- Franchises and multi-site chains are a separate group of 12, and the rule also catches some small multi-site companies that are not franchises.
- AI search visibility is not part of the score and has not been tested yet.
Free scorecard
Get your website scored against the benchmark.
Whether or not your business was one of the 780 we tested, I’ll run your site through the same checks and email you a private one-page scorecard: your score against the average, and your top three fixes. It isn’t published, and there’s no obligation.
What is the UK Trades Website Benchmark?
It is a test of the websites of 780 UK trade businesses on speed and mobile experience, local SEO, lead capture, trust signals and Google reviews. It covers plumbing, heating engineers and boiler installers, electricians, builders, roofers, painters and decorators, landscapers and carpenters and joiners in 12 cities. It is run once a year so you can see how the trades are changing.
Which businesses were tested and how were they chosen?
768 independent businesses (8 for each of 8 trades in each of 12 cities: London, Bristol, Cheltenham, Birmingham, Nottingham, Leicester, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Cardiff) plus 12 franchises and multi-site chains, reported separately. They were found through Google Maps searches and drawn at random. It is a benchmark of a stated sample, not a census and not a random sample of all UK tradespeople. Maps results lean toward city centres, so suburbs, towns and rural areas are under-represented, and Northern Ireland is not covered.
How is the website score worked out?
Out of 100: speed and mobile 25, local SEO and technical 25, lead capture 20, trust signals 15 and Google reviews 15. Anything that could not be measured is left out, never counted as zero. The full breakdown is in the methodology section above.
Why aren’t individual scores published?
To avoid shaming anyone. The report names only the businesses that scored best, in alphabetical order with no ranks or scores, and shows everyone else as anonymised averages. You can ask for your own private scorecard.
How can I get my own score?
Use the scorecard form on this page. Any business can request one, whether or not it was in the sample. You get a private one-page scorecard that shows your score against the average and your top three fixes, within 5 working days. Businesses outside the sample are scored afterwards using the same method and compared against the published results, and those scores are never added to the benchmark. It is free and it is not published.
What if something about my business is wrong, or I would rather not be named?
Get in touch through the contact page. I will check it, correct it, or remove you from the named examples.
Why isn’t AI search visibility in the score?
AI answers change between people, places and runs, so they are measured as a separate sample, not as part of the website score. That check hasn’t been run yet. If you want to know what ChatGPT and Gemini say about your business, ask about an AI visibility audit.
Is there a conflict of interest?
Yes, and it is disclosed. EightySix Digital sells web design, SEO and lead-capture help, so lead capture was deliberately weighted below speed and local SEO. I also run Top5Trades, a directory of tradespeople. Businesses in this study were found through Google Maps, not through the directory, and a listing there neither excludes nor favours anyone. I have no UK clients and built none of the sites tested.
Get more of your visitors to call or request a quote.
Part of a wider plan to get tradespeople more work. No bullshit, no jargon: tell me what you want to fix and I’ll tell you what it would take. I ran the same test in New Zealand and the United States.