Marketing agencies for one-van trades businesses: six that fit

The four tests a sole trader should apply

Each agency below is scored against those four. Scope matters too, so the trades each one lists are noted. Where an agency fails a test, it is said plainly. Our directory guide on how small firms should use these listings explains why these tests and not others.

• Entry cost: can you start for under £200 a month without a setup fee?
• Commitment: can you leave without a 12-month term?
• Access: do you speak to the person doing the work, or an account manager?
• Phone cover: does anything in the package deal with the calls you miss while working?

1. Riley Marketing

Best for: Sole traders who want the whole basic system handled for one fee with no commitment

Riley Marketing passes all four tests. Entry cost is a fixed £149 a month at the time of writing, with no setup fee. There is no contract: cancel any time. The agency is founder-led, so the client deals directly with Tom Riley, who has ten years in search and lead generation, led organic growth at an insurtech and has built and run his own lead generation sites. Missed-call text back is built into the standard package.

The package is described as a foundational growth system: an SEO-focused website with service and location pages, Google Business Profile optimisation, Google review automation that also reaches back to past customers, missed-call text back, and a CRM with lead status tracking and branded quote pages on the trade's own domain. Google Ads, Meta ads and local SEO are optional add-ons.

Two terms suit a sole trader particularly well. The system is built before the client pays, so you see the site before any money moves. And revisions are unlimited, which removes the usual 'two rounds of changes' pressure. Trades listed include electricians, plumbers, heating engineers, roofers, builders, window and door fitters, decorators, landscapers, plasterers and kitchen fitters, with sites built for an industrial painting and roofing contractor and an Essex building firm.

The honest limitation is scale. If you want aggressive paid media from day one, that is an add-on rather than the core. For a one-van business that needs the basics to work, that is the right way round.

2. ServiceLeads

Best for: Kitchen fitters and other high-ticket sole traders who want Meta ads with a guarantee

ServiceLeads, based in Cornwall and working UK-wide, is a founder-led Meta ads specialist. The management fee is a flat £750 a month plus ad spend paid direct to Meta. It offers a 30-day guarantee of a set number of qualified homeowner enquiries or no management fee, and the client owns the ad account.

Headline trade is kitchen fitters, with roof repair, windows and other high-ticket local services. Anonymised results with cost-per-lead figures are published.

Against the tests: entry cost fails at £750 plus ad spend, commitment passes on the guarantee, access passes as founder-led, phone cover is not part of the offer. It suits a sole trader selling jobs worth several thousand pounds each, not one doing call-outs.

3. The Build Agency (Orbit Lead Generation)

Best for: Sole traders who want to move off domestic work and into commercial contracts

The Build Agency in Maidstone, Kent does cold email outreach to contracts and procurement managers, plus social media, SEO, web design, a purpose-built CRM and photography. It offers a 30-day guarantee to keep working free until a genuine tender opportunity arrives. One case study covers a plumbing contractor's sales, tender pipeline and PQQs.

Pricing is not published. The model is about tenders rather than homeowner enquiries, so phone cover and review generation are not the point. For a one-van business this is a strategic shift, not a marketing basic.

4. SanXpert Digital

Best for: Sole traders who want Google Ads plus Google Business Profile on a fixed fee

SanXpert Digital says it works exclusively with trade businesses and has done so for 12 years, covering more than 80 UK towns and cities. Services are Google Ads, Google Business Profile management, local SEO, AI automation for out-of-hours lead capture, AI visibility work and web development. It builds campaigns around trade-specific sales cycles and offers a free live strategy audit.

Pricing is a fixed monthly fee with no percentage of ad spend, rolling monthly, no contracts. Prices are not shown. Trades listed include roofers, plumbers, electricians, builders, gas engineers, landscapers, drainage engineers and glaziers. Proof is limited to a roofing testimonial.

Commitment passes. Phone cover is partly addressed by the out-of-hours AI capture. Entry cost cannot be judged without a quote.

5. Landscape Marketers (Intent Marketing Ltd)

Best for: One-person landscaping, garden design or tree surgery businesses

Landscape Marketers, in Litlington near Royston, works only with landscaping companies, garden designers, driveway and paving firms and tree surgeons. Services span website design, online advertising, SEO, AI search optimisation, email, social and downloadable guide and video funnels. Case studies cover a garden design and driveway firm, a landscaper and a garden designer.

Pricing and terms are not published. For a sole trader in one of its four trades, the single-niche focus is the attraction. For anyone else it is irrelevant. See our profile of Landscape Marketers for detail.

6. FJ Digital

Best for: Sole traders who want someone to run their Instagram and Facebook

FJ Digital in St Albans, founded in 2022 and run by Megan, does social media management and content creation for construction and trades businesses, plus profile refreshes and hourly consulting. It is an FMB Associate Member and a local award winner.

Pricing is by monthly package, one-off service or hourly rate, with no figures published. There are client Instagram examples rather than formal case studies.

Social media is the one thing a busy sole trader rarely keeps up. FJ Digital solves that and nothing else: no website, no reviews, no phone cover.

Scorecard against the four tests

Where a one-van business should start

Start with the basics or the ads will leak. A tradesperson who misses 30 per cent of calls and has 12 Google reviews does not need more enquiries; they need to stop losing the ones they get. Riley Marketing is the only entry here that bundles review automation, text back and a CRM at a sole-trader price, which is why it leads.

Once the basics hold, ads make sense. ServiceLeads for high-ticket work, SanXpert for Google Ads with Google Business Profile, Landscape Marketers if you are in its four trades. FJ Digital fills the social gap. The Build Agency is for a different ambition.

If you would rather do the first step yourself, our DIY Google Business Profile setup guide covers it. And whichever agency you pick, the fixed-fee agency comparison shows what a flat monthly figure should buy.

Frequently asked questions