Blog>Trade>How to grow a roofing business
Last updated: 6 January 2025
How to grow a roofing business
You’ve taken the major step of starting your roofing business, but how do you grow it? Well, we’re here to help! In this guide, we’ve compiled our top tips and advice for how to grow a roofing business in the UK.
In this article you'll find:
When speaking to roofers, we often get asked ‘How do I grow my roofing business?’. And the answer is… there are many ways to grow your business.
After starting your roofing business, below are some ideas and steps to achieve manageable business growth for your business…
How do I start to grow my roofing business?
The first step in growing your roofing business is understanding exactly what you want to achieve.
Yes, you probably want more roofing leads. But it helps to think about how you’ll get them and what type of work you want.
And the best way to get there is to make a plan, which should ideally cover the following points:
How you're planning to scale up
How quickly you're planning to grow
A list of any new roofing services or locations you want to cover
Any challenges you foresee and how you plan to overcome them
What marketing activities you're planning to carry out
How you plan to finance your growth
The key to growing any business is to grow at a sustainable rate.
That way you can win more roofing work and continue to provide a high-quality service – and maintain a strong business reputation.
Roofing services to grow your business
The roofing services that you offer will directly affect how you grow your business. So, it's often a good idea to combine popular services with less common specialist services.
Below are some of the roofing services that could offer to help grow your business...
Popular roofing services
Roof installations
Roof repair (including replacing tiles and dealing with damp)
Chimney repairs and repointing
Roof insulation
Roof felt replacement
Roof and moss removal
Specialist roofing services
Solar panel installation
Green / living roof installation
Drone roof inspections
Rainwater harvesting systems
Heritage roofing (restoration of period properties)
Speaking to local homeowners and estate agents can be a great way of identifying which roofing services are needed in your local area.
Need help with a plan to grow your roofing business? Check out our business development strategy guide below:
How to create a business development strategy - Free template included
What is a business development strategy? The business development process helps to identify, nurture, and acquire new customers and business opportunities to help grow your organisation and ensure its profitability. This may seem quite broad, but this is where your business development strategy
Ideas for how to grow a roofing business
So, you’re ready to find new customers and grow your roofing business? The good news is there are many ways to get there.
However, it’s useful to remember that every business is different. What works for one roofing business might not work for another.
The best way to find out what works for your business is to try different marketing methods. Then do more of what works…
Grow your roofing business with Checkatrade
Find more work in your local area as a member
Digital outreach for your roofing business
We live in a heavily digital world and your roofing business needs to make the most of that.
According to recent statistics, up to 95%* of people research a business online before buying a product or using a service.
Therefore, having a strong digital presence is important for your business and its growth.
With that in mind, here are some digital marketing ideas to grow a roofing business:
Build a high-quality, user-friendly business website that's designed to boost your SEO performance
Create and carefully curate social media profiles for your business
Encourage online customer reviews (on your website and independent review sites)
Invest in a membership for an online directory – like Checkatrade!
Want more ideas for reaching more customers for your roofing services? Sign up for our free digital marketing guide below:
Traditional advertising to reach more customers
As well as investing in your digital marketing, print marketing methods can be a great way to reach potential customers as a trade business in the UK.
You might want to try some of these popular printed marketing activities:
Mailing brochures and leaflets
Creating signs and branding for your vans and workwear
Sponsoring local events or sports teams with your company name
Adverts in local magazines and newspapers
Exhibiting at trade shows
Using billboards or smaller temporary signage
But remember that many customers will start by looking online so combine print marketing with thorough digital marketing.
How to fix your roofer marketing and find more work
Once you’ve got your roofing business up and running, the next challenge you’re going to face is getting on top of your roofer marketing. At the end of the day, delivering the best service and aftercare is key to growing your roofing business. But there are some other ways to help you expand. Roofer
Other ideas for getting more roofing work
As well as digital and print marketing, here are some other tactics to help grow your roofing business:
Make the most of seasonal roofing opportunities – Bad weather can be good for business, so try and capitalise on the aftermath of storms or heavy rain
Be proactive when you see a damaged roof – If you notice houses or buildings with broken tiles or signs of a leaking roof, pop by and leave them your business card
Offer free roof health checks during off-peak season - This is a great way to build relationships with potential customers at times when business is quiet
Team up with local estate agents – Build relationships with agents so that they know who to refer buyers to when they sell properties that need roof inspections
These are just some of the ways to think creatively to win more roofing work. The more proactive you are, the more likely you are to grow your roofing business.
Key steps for roofing business growth
To help you get started, we've put together a summary of the steps for how to grow a roofing business in the UK:
Make a plan – Write down your ideas, what you want to achieve and how you plan to get there
Sort your finances – Growing a business often means spending more, so plan how much you'll need and how you'll cover those costs
Carry out marketing – Budget accordingly and start marketing and advertising in different ways
Target new areas or services – Expanding your business area or the types of services you offer can help you reach new customers
Assess your progress – Regularly check how your business growth is going and always ask customers for feedback to ensure you're providing an excellent service
Hire a roofing team – If you've grown your business so much that you can't handle all the work alone, it's time to hire people for your team or bring on an apprentice
If you follow these steps, your roofing business should start to see exciting signs of growth.
But, how else can you keep up the momentum? If you're not already a Checkatrade member, you might want to be…
Grow your roofing business with Checkatrade
Find more work in your local area as a member
Grow your roofing business with Checkatrade
There’s no doubt that marketing a business costs time and money. So, it’s important to be discerning if you’re short on either.
It may sound biased, but becoming a Checkatrade member makes it easier for customers to find you.
Get more leads
In 2024 alone, there were over 1.7 million job searches for roofing-related work on the Checkatrade website**.
That means a substantial volume of interest in services like yours. It would be a shame to miss out, wouldn't it?
Help to secure more work
Checkatrade has been around for over 25 years, so homeowners looking for tradespeople often recognise our brand.
We have the tick that homeowners trust, which can help you win more business.
Save money
As a Checkatrade member, you'll get exclusive access to our partners. That includes exclusive offers and discounts to help you save money on roofing business essentials.
You'll find great savings on workwear, tools, equipment, insurance, van leasing, fuel, and more.
Already a member? Log in to our members' app now to see what offers are currently available!
Getting to grips with a Checkatrade membership
As a Checkatrade member, you and your business can benefit from features such as:
Display customer reviews, testimonials, and examples of your work on your profile page
Control your flow of leads by marking your availability in the Checkatrade app
Manage customer enquiries on-the-go, directly from the app – keeping everything in one handy place
With the Checkatrade tick by your name, it makes your marketing just that little bit easier.
We’ll also help you with access to branded materials and exclusive discounts on business essentials.
Grow your roofing business with Checkatrade
Find more work in your local area as a member
* Data quoted January 2022 by Brand Rated on GlobalNewsWire (see here)
** Internal search data from users of the Checkatrade.com website in 2024