Summary
- Only nine of the 60 trade business websites reviewed in Birmingham displayed a price for their services.
- The remaining 51 sites showed no qualifying price.
*Marketit research | October 2026*
Only nine of the 60 trade business websites reviewed in Birmingham displayed a price for their services. The remaining 51 sites showed no qualifying price.
How many Birmingham tradespeople show prices online?
Marketit checked 60 trade business websites in Birmingham in October 2026, covering five trades. 9 displayed at least one concrete price for their own work (15.0%); 51 displayed none. A site counted if it showed a price for a job, hourly work, a day’s work or a call-out. General cost guides and “free quote” prompts did not count.
Which trades publish prices in Birmingham?
| Type of business | Sites checked | Sites showing a price |
|---|---|---|
| Plumbers and heating engineers | 12 | 3 |
| Electricians | 12 | 3 |
| Removal companies | 12 | 3 |
| Carpenters and joiners | 12 | 0 |
| Roofers | 12 | 0 |
| Total | 60 | 9 |
Birmingham’s nine price-publishing websites were split evenly between plumbing and heating firms, electricians and removal companies, with three in each group. None of the 12 carpenter and joiner sites or the 12 roofing sites showed a price.
How does Birmingham compare with other UK cities?
Birmingham’s 15.0% was below the 19.5% seen across the full study and close to the results in several other cities. Given the limited samples, those differences do not establish a reliable order. London stood apart with 43.3%.
The equal split between three trades is unusual within the city samples. It also means the result is not driven by a single category, although individual counts remain small.
What do plumbers, electricians and removal firms charge in Birmingham?
The Birmingham sample contains too few like-for-like prices to establish what these services typically cost locally. The wider UK study did, however, find the following advertised examples for relevant services. These are UK-wide reference figures, not Birmingham price estimates or actual amounts paid by customers.
| Service | Median advertised price | Based on |
|---|---|---|
| Electrician: first hour or hourly charge | £90 | 14 firms |
| Annual boiler service | £92.50 | 14 firms |
| One person and a van, per hour | £52 | 12 firms |
Some businesses advertise starting prices rather than the final cost of a job. A first-hour charge is also not necessarily the same as an ongoing hourly rate. Prices may depend on the scope of the work, and websites do not always make the VAT position clear.
What to check before requesting a quote
When a website gives no price, ask the firm to explain what the quote covers. Check whether it includes VAT, travel, call-out charges, materials and any extra cost for evening or emergency work. For hourly services, ask whether a minimum booking period applies. These points can make two published prices difficult to compare even when both firms display a figure.
About the research
These figures come from Marketit’s UK Tradesperson Price Transparency Report 2026. For Birmingham, 12 businesses in each of five trades were selected from Google Maps listings with their own websites. Up to 21 pages per site were reviewed using an AI-assisted process and a written set of rules. The 600-site study covered ten cities in October 2026. This was not a random sample, prices may have been missed, and the results describe the sampled websites rather than every local business.