Trades
Websites & marketing for painters and decorators
There are 12,285 painting and decorating firms registered in the UK, and the number has risen 0.3% since 2021. Here is how they win customers online, and what a decorator’s website needs to do.
Customers hiring a painter and decorator are letting someone work inside their home, so they look for neat, reliable and tidy. Before-and-after photos are the strongest proof, followed by reviews that mention how the work was done as well as how it looked.
Most decorating jobs are local and fairly quick to decide, which makes being easy to find and easy to contact the most important part of the website.
The UK market for painting and decorating firms
The number changed by +0.3% between 2021 and 2026, in line with the +0.8% for UK businesses overall.
96% of them have fewer than 10 employees, 22% are sole proprietors and 74% are limited companies. Most are small operations, so a clear, quick website is a genuine way to stand out from competitors who have not looked after theirs. The ten areas with the most firms hold about 25% of the UK total.
Where painting and decorating firms are concentrated
| Area | Firms | Per 10,000 residents |
|---|---|---|
| London | 2,145 | 2.4 |
| Buckinghamshire | 145 | 2.5 |
| Leeds | 120 | 1.4 |
| North Yorkshire | 110 | 1.7 |
| West Northamptonshire | 100 | 2.3 |
| Birmingham | 100 | 0.8 |
| Glasgow | 100 | 1.5 |
| Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 95 | 2.3 |
| Edinburgh | 95 | 1.8 |
| Central Bedfordshire | 90 | 2.8 |
Most firms per 10,000 residents
| Area | Per 10,000 residents | Firms |
|---|---|---|
| Epping Forest | 4.7 | 65 |
| Thurrock | 3.3 | 60 |
| Cheltenham | 3.3 | 40 |
| Portsmouth | 3.1 | 65 |
| Highland | 3.0 | 70 |
| Medway | 2.9 | 85 |
Source: ONS UK Business Counts 2026 (enterprises), SIC 43341: Painting, and mid-2025 population estimates, via Nomis. Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts are rounded by ONS and cover VAT- and/or PAYE-registered businesses only. London is the 33 boroughs combined; areas under 60,000 residents, and areas with very few firms, are left out of the density table.
What a decorator’s website needs to do
- Before-and-after photos of interior and exterior jobs
- A clear list of what you do, such as interior, exterior, wallpapering and commercial work
- How you protect a customer's home and keep the work tidy
- The areas you cover and a tap-to-call number
- Reviews that mention reliability, tidiness and finish
- A short quote form that accepts photos of the rooms
Mistakes we see
- Photos that do not show a clear before and after
- No sense of how the work will be done or how long it takes
- Missing or hard-to-find contact details
- A website that is not usable on a phone
How we would approach it
- Bespoke web design. A clean gallery and an easy quote request do the persuading.
- SEO. Most customers search for a decorator in their own town.
- Meta and Google ads. Local Facebook and Instagram ads work well for visual, local services.
Guides that help
- Website Design for Tradespeople: What Your Site Needs to Win More Jobs
- How to Get More Google Reviews (Without Breaking the Rules)
- Do I Need a Website If I Have Social Media? An Honest Answer
Find your area
See the business picture where you work: London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool, Bristol, Sheffield, or browse all areas.
Questions from painting and decorating firms
What should a decorator's website include?
Before-and-after photos, the services you offer, the areas you cover, reviews and a simple way to request a quote, ideally with photo upload.
How do painters and decorators get more customers online?
Show your best work, make contacting you effortless and be easy to find for local searches. Reviews that mention tidiness and reliability help a great deal.
Is Instagram enough without a website?
Instagram shows your work well, but a website gives customers a trusted place to check your services, area and reviews, and helps you appear in Google searches.
How many painting and decorating firms are there in the UK?
ONS counts 12,285 painting and decorating firms registered for VAT and/or PAYE in the UK for 2026. That figure excludes firms below the VAT threshold that are not registered for PAYE, so the real number is higher.
Where are most painting and decorating firms based?
By number of firms, the biggest concentrations are in London, Buckinghamshire and Leeds. Per 10,000 residents, Epping Forest, Thurrock and Cheltenham come out highest.
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