You’re good at the work. We make sure the work finds you.
Missed calls while you’re on the tools. Quotes that take a week. A competitor with 200 Google reviews to your 12. Every one of those is a job going elsewhere — and every one is fixable.
Most of your competitors are invisible online. That’s the opportunity.
No website
Two-thirds of UK trade firms have no website.¹
Customers who can’t find you can’t hire you — and the firms that do show up collect the work. We build sites that win jobs, not brochures.
Social media
47% of tradespeople say social media wins them work — but 85% say they don’t know how to use it well.²
A fortnightly photo of a finished job beats an empty page. We set up a presence you can run from your van.
Google & maps
84% of customers check Google reviews before they choose.³
An unclaimed or empty Google Business Profile hands the job to the firm above you. We claim, complete and optimise your profile (Bing included).
¹ Local Business Marketing UK Trades Website Report 2026, 73,676 Companies House-registered trade businesses. ² IronmongeryDirect tradesperson survey 2020, n=500. ³ BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2025 (US, n=1,026). Construction digital adoption: DBT Longitudinal Small Business Survey 2024 (58% vs 69% all-sector).
Where trade businesses lose jobs
- Your website doesn’t work on a phone — which is where every customer is.
- Past customers forget you — repeat work goes to whoever stayed in touch.
- Your reviews don’t match your work — 15 years of quality, 9 reviews to show for it.
- Enquiries wait days for a reply — the first firm to answer usually wins the job.
- Calls go unanswered while you’re on site — with us, your phone always gets answered and the job gets booked in.
- Quotes take too long — the customer’s already said yes to someone faster.
- You’re invisible locally — people search for your trade in your town and find everyone but you.
Put a number on your own leaks
You have just read seven ways jobs go elsewhere. The first two — calls nobody answers and quotes that go out late — you can price in two minutes, in your own numbers.
See what missed calls are costing you — free calculator →What this looks like in practice
We’re currently working with a Chester-based construction firm that ran entirely on phone calls, word of mouth and a paper diary — and was spending £300–£600 per quote with a quantity surveyor, including on jobs that never went ahead. We’re rebuilding how work reaches them: a site that turns visitors into properly qualified enquiries, every enquiry scored and answered automatically, follow-ups that happen without anyone remembering to send them, and site visits only for jobs worth visiting.
Why I do this
“My father ran his own building company. I remember him on Sundays and late into the evenings with his rough, scribbled notes, working on quotes and invoices while my mother typed them out on a typewriter. Thirty years later, I was getting quotes for an extension on my own house — and three of the companies sent theirs through on a Sunday evening. The technology has improved, but the problem hasn’t: quoting takes time, effort and energy, and it isn’t the work you’re an expert in. That’s why I work with contractors: to simplify all of it, and give you your evenings back, or more time on the job.”
— Russell Knight, Founder
Start with the audit: We’ve already done the homework
If we’ve contacted you, it’s because we’ve already looked at your business the way a customer would — and found something worth telling you about. The free audit turns that into a plain-English report: where you’re losing jobs, what it’s costing, and what we’d fix first. From there, a fixed written proposal — no surprises, and you own everything we build.
Consulting clients also get early access to Priceloom, our same-day quoting app for trades.
Not ready to talk? See what missed calls are costing you — free calculator →
Frequently asked questions
How do I stop missing calls when I’m on the tools all day?
Divert unanswered calls to a system that picks up for you. An AI phone answering service greets the caller, takes the job details and books the visit into your calendar while you stay on the tools — with a WhatsApp or text summary sent to you straight away. Knight Li Group, a UK consultancy, sets this up for trades businesses as part of its free audit-first approach.
Why am I losing jobs to competitors who quote faster?
Because most customers say yes to the first credible quote, not the best one. If your quotes take days while a competitor replies the same afternoon, the job is gone before yours arrives. The fixes: quote templates, price lists for common jobs, and quoting automation that turns site notes into a sent quote the same day. Knight Li Group builds quoting and follow-up automation for UK trades firms.
Is an AI receptionist worth it for a small UK builder?
Usually, yes — if you miss calls. For a small builder the cost of an AI receptionist is typically less than the margin on a single job per month, and it answers every call, including evenings and weekends when many domestic customers ring round. The test is simple: check your missed-call log for a fortnight. Knight Li Group’s free audit includes exactly that check.
How can a plumber get more Google reviews without sounding pushy?
Ask at the moment the customer is happiest, when the job’s just finished, and make it one tap. A text with a direct link to your Google Business Profile review form, sent automatically after each completed job, converts far better than asking in person and hoping. Keep it short, never offer incentives (against Google’s rules), and reply to every review you get.
How quickly should a trades business respond to a missed call or enquiry?
Within minutes, not hours. Enquiries go cold fast — a customer who rings three plumbers usually books the first one who responds. An instant text back (“Sorry I missed you — on a job. What do you need?”) keeps the enquiry alive even when you can’t talk. Automating that response is one of the cheapest fixes in the trade, and Knight Li Group sets it up as standard.
What should a small contractor automate first?
The leaks, in order: missed-call response first, then quoting and follow-up, then review requests. Those three cover the fastest routes from enquiry to booked job. Automating marketing before them is paying for attention that leaks straight out. Knight Li Group’s free audit walks every route a customer takes to a business and ranks the fixes by return.
What’s the best way to handle after-hours or on-site enquiries?
Have something answer even when you can’t: AI phone answering or an instant text-back for calls, plus an autoresponder on WhatsApp and Facebook messages that captures the job details. Most domestic customers ring in the evening after work — a firm that responds at 7pm wins jobs a 9am call-back never sees.
Do I really need a website as a tradesperson?
Yes — and most of your competitors still don’t have one: 67% of UK trade firms have no website of their own (Local Business Marketing, 2026). That’s an advantage waiting to be taken. A simple site with reviews, photos of finished jobs and a clear way to book is often the difference between being found and being skipped. Knight Li Group builds job-winning websites for UK trades businesses as part of its audit-first approach.
Is social media worth the effort for a trades business?
Yes, if it’s kept simple. 47% of UK tradespeople say a social media presence wins them more work — yet 85% admit they don’t know how to use it effectively (IronmongeryDirect, 2020). You don’t need to be an influencer: regular photos of finished jobs and prompt replies to messages are enough. Knight Li Group sets up a social presence trades owners can run from the van.
Does a Google Business Profile actually bring in jobs?
Yes — it’s often the first thing a customer sees. 84% of consumers use Google to check reviews before choosing a business (BrightLocal, 2025). A claimed, complete profile with photos and fresh reviews puts you in the map results and “near me” searches; an empty one hands the job to the firm above you. Knight Li Group claims, completes and optimises Google Business Profiles for UK trades — Bing included.
How can I get my business to appear in AI searches?
Make your business easy for an AI to verify. 54% of UK adults now use AI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini (Ofcom, 2025), and 45% of consumers say they’ve used AI for local business recommendations — up from 6% a year earlier (BrightLocal, 2026, US data). Assistants recommend firms they can cross-check: a complete Google Business Profile, recent reviews, identical details across directories, and a website that answers questions in plain language. Knight Li Group sets up that whole stack for UK trades businesses — it’s a standard part of the audit.
How much does it cost?
The audit is free. Anything after it is quoted fixed, in advance, and you choose what to take on — no subscription, no obligation. Because Knight Li Group fixes leaks in order of return, the first fixes typically help pay for the ones after. The audit report is yours to keep either way, and any work after it is priced the same way you’d price a job.
Who owns the website and the customer list?
You do. Always. Everything Knight Li Group builds for a client belongs to that client: The website, the customer list, the reviews, the tooling. If we ever part ways it is all handed over in full.
Do you cover my area?
Yes — Knight Li Group works with trades businesses across the UK. The audit and most of the implementation work are done remotely, so location is no barrier; the team is based in Chester and works UK-wide. Knight Li Group also serves clients in the USA and Canada, with other international markets covered on application.
More evidence-based answers in our Insights.
Find out where the jobs are leaking.
Not ready to talk? See what missed calls are costing you — free calculator →