26 trade business ideas for 2026

With a new year comes new ambitions. If you're an employed trade then you might be looking to go self-employed. If you're self-employed you may want to explore tapping into a different market and offer your customers a new service. Here are some ideas for you based on last year's Checkatrade search data.

Last year was tough for many people across a range of different situations. Global and UK-specific issues have impacted

Popular topics included increasing the value of their home, to save money on energy usage, or better their living arrangements.

Predicting future trends is hard, but we do have data behind what rose in popularity last year and those jobs that are still as popular as ever.

Here is our list of some of the trade businesses or services that have been highly searched.

Homeowners are making their homes more efficient

Green and eco-home improvements continued to increase in popularity in 2025 and are set to continue in 2026. With a planned government ban on new gas boilers, consumers will begin to switch even more to alternatives and their potential cost savings.

Electric vehicle charger installation

There was a 31% increase in searches for electric vehicle charger installation.*

Due to the planned government ban on petrol and diesel cars, there’s no sign of electric vehicles slowing down either. In November 2023, ZapMap reported that there were almost 1 million electric cars on the UK roads, and a further 570,000 hybrids that can also use plug-in charging.

Powered with solar

Searches for solar panel servicing grew by 25% on Checkatrade.*

As more and more homeowners invest in renewable energy for their homes, there will likely be continued increases to demand for servicing and repair too.

If you’re thinking about starting a solar panel installation business, check out this free business guide.

Powered by wind

Along with the huge increase in searches for solar, searches for home wind turbines continued to grow. There were just under 4,000 searches for wind turbine installation, showing a continued desire from consumers.

Energy-efficient lighting

If you’re an electrician, there’s a big demand for your skills currently.

Searches for LED lighting amounted to just under 40k. Combined with house rewiring and lighting design jobs, its a good area to get into.

Central heating continues to get hotter

Air source and ground source heat pump installation

As with previous years, there was a good number of air source heat pump (ASHP) installation searches on Checkatrade. ASHP saw over 23K job searches, while ground source heat pump (GSHP) saw a further 2k searches.

There was also continued growth in the search for air and ground source heat pump servicing and repairs. For example, ASHP saw a 54% increase in searches.

Boiler installation, service and repairs

Always in demand with homeowners - and definitely a necessity in the UK - Central Heating services generally influence a lot of searches on our website.

Central heating services and repairs saw a 78% increase in 2025. The incoming ban on new gas boilers did affect customer interest however. Both installation and servicing for gas boilers saw less interest than before.

Building work drove demand

Builders are consistently one our most searched for trades year in year out, and 2025 was no different. There are a lot of big home improvements generating work for Checkatrade builders.

Picking up the most searched jobs under builder include:

• Loft conversions (up 43%)

• Mastic sealant (up 39%)

• Property maintenance / repair (up 32%)

• Concreting (down 2%)

Being a builder means you could package up different services or even choose a speciality that now know is popular on Checkatrade search.

Roofers were sky high in popularity on Checkatrade searches

Searches for roofing jobs were the most popular from homeowners, with over 1.7 million searches on the Checkatrade website.*

Very specific roofing repairs, in particular, led to rises in searches from consumers. Roof inspection report with over 5,000% increase, then pitched roofing repair saw a colossal 1,000% increase, pitched roofing installation leapt 336%, chimneys repair grew 43% and moss removal by 20%.*

Given the large volume of windy weather we have experienced over the past 12 months, it is really no surprise why roofing repair was so in demand last year.

Window and door experts in demand for different reasons

Across the board, there were increases for a variety of job types when it came to windows, doors and conservatories.

From what we can see, it’s based on aesthetics as well as efficiency.

There was an increase in general interest for window/door/conservatory jobs (up 52% from the previous year), Bifold and Patio doors both also saw increase in searches (up 39 and 32% respectively.*

uPVC Door installation also saw a 22% rise.

Window cleaning grew in searches

Window cleaning services saw just over 2025 job searches spread throughout the year.*

Should you start your own window cleaning company, you’ll have to think long and hard about the type of services you offer.

An alternative to window cleaning is 'gutter cleaning and clearance' which also increased by 31% popularity on the Checkatrade site compared to the year before.

The 26 ideas to start a business or services to add to your business

1. Electric vehicle charger installation

2. Solar panel installation

3. Solar panel repairs

4. Solar thermal heating installation

5. Solar roof installation

6. Home wind turbines

7. Energy-efficient lighting

8. Air source heat pump installation, servicing and repairs

9. Ground source heat pump installation, servicing and repairs

10. Extensions

11. Loft and garage conversions

12. Door repairs

13. Sustainable construction

14. Workshop design/construction

15. Garden studios

16. Emergency roofing

17. Triple glazing installation and replacement

18. Timber windows/door replacements

19. Window shutter fitters

20. Solar panel cleaning

21. Commercial/office cleaning

22. Holiday let cleaning

23. Gutter cleaning

24. Window cleaning

25. Energy performance certification

26. Drone surveying

If you're looking to start a business, this is for you

You don't want to miss this free Become the Boss series.

1 email a day with actionable tips. Seven emails in total (and a cheeky bonus email) featuring fellow tradespeople who were once in your position.

You'll also get a free business strategy call, and at the end of it all, you as the Founder of your new business. What's not to love?

And if that doesn't convince you, here's a preview of what to expect...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoRV0Fsrgnk

* Based on Checkatrade’s internal search data from website users in 2025