For contractors
Working Through a Contractor Network
You price the work. We generate it, book the visits, write the quotations, chase the customer and administer the payments.
What winning work costs today
Most contractors don't have a work problem. They have a cost-of-getting-work problem.
And an admin problem sitting on top of it. A contractor network is one answer to both, but only if you understand exactly what you are joining.
This page sets out how ours actually operates: what we take on, what we expect from you, how opportunities are allocated, and how and when you get paid.
It also covers the parts that will not suit everybody, because a network that oversells itself just ends up with contractors who leave.
What work costs you today
What contractors pay to win a job
Published UK rates, set against what the same work costs through Mortaro.
Platform pricing as published by Trades Grow, One Base Media, Sleepless Tradesman and SwiftLead, 2026. Rates change, so check current pricing before relying on these figures. Google Ads figures as published by PositionWorks (2025 UK home services benchmarks, roofing) and Aimpro Digital (2026). Click prices vary by area, service and how well the account is run.
Google Ads
What Google Ads really costs a roofer
Running your own ads avoids shared leads, but it is not cheap, and every click is paid for whether or not it becomes work.
You pay for clicks, not customers
UK roofing searches are reported at around £4.50–£9.20 a click. You pay each time someone clicks, whether they ring you, fill in the form or leave straight away.
A monthly budget, not a one-off
A sensible budget for a local single-team roofer is put at £750–£2,500 a month, and £1,000–£1,500 a month is described as the realistic floor for higher-ticket trades. An agency to run the account typically adds £295–£895 or more a month.
Not every lead is a lead
Google itself says its filters cannot stop every invalid lead reaching your forms, and calls lead quality a shared effort. Broad keywords and default settings can spend budget on searches that were never going to become work, so accounts need regular attention.
Even a properly managed roofing account is quoted at roughly £75–£160 per booked job, before your own time on quotes that do not convert. Google Ads figures as published by PositionWorks (2025 UK home services benchmarks, roofing) and Aimpro Digital (2026). Click prices vary by area, service and how well the account is run.
The real cost
What a paid lead actually costs you
The same lead goes to several of you
On the major platforms a single enquiry is commonly sold to up to four tradespeople. You are not quoting for a job. You are entering a race, usually on price, against three firms who also paid to be there.
You pay before anything arrives
Memberships and subscriptions are charged whether the work materialises or not. As one contractor put it: you are renting your leads. Stop paying and you vanish.
The cost ends up in the customer's price
High marketing costs have to be recovered somewhere. That pushes quotations up, which makes them harder to win, which pushes the cost per job won higher again.
You're renting your leads. Stop paying and you vanish.A view repeated across UK trade forums
The alternative
What a network does instead
A network does not sell you a lead and step back. It generates the enquiry, qualifies it, and runs the commercial and administrative process around the job, so what reaches you is a booked appointment and, later, an accepted quotation.
The trade-off is worth stating plainly: you quote the work at trade rates and submit it to us. We turn it into a professional quotation, present it under the Mortaro template and add our fee on top. You are paid your rate in full, and you have funded none of the marketing, sales or administration that produced the job.
Whether that is a good deal depends entirely on what the network does for the difference. So here is exactly what we do.
What we handle
Everything between the enquiry and the payment
Generating the work
We generate the enquiries ourselves rather than buying them from a third-party platform. You are not competing with three firms who bought the same enquiry, because we do not sell enquiries: we appoint a contractor to them.
Handling the enquiry
Customers are spoken to and qualified before anything reaches you, so what you receive is a genuine appointment rather than a phone number to chase.
Booking the site visit
We arrange the survey around the customer's availability and yours, confirm it, and tell them who is coming. You turn up to an appointment made properly, not a phone number you have to chase.
Presenting your quotation
You survey the job, put your quote together at trade rate and submit it to us. We turn it into a professional written quotation and present it to the customer under the Mortaro template, naming you as the appointed main contractor. If you have ever lost work because your quote was a text message and the competitor's was a properly set document, this is the part that changes.
Chasing it
We follow up on submitted quotations. Most contractors do not, and not because they do not care, but because they are on site. Following up is a job in itself, and it is ours.
Payment administration
We collect the deposit and final balance and administer them to you. We act as payment administration agent on your behalf; the construction contract is between you and the customer.
Start to finish
How a job runs, from enquiry to final payment
The same sequence on every job, whether it is a single rooflight or a full re-roof. You do the parts only a contractor can do; we run the rest.
We bring you the enquiry
A homeowner in your area gets in touch with us about work in your trade. We check the basics with them first: what they need, where the property is and roughly when. If it suits you, we offer it to you, and to nobody else while you decide.
You accept, decline or reschedule the same day
A quick answer is the single thing that matters most. Declining is fine and costs you nothing; it simply lets us offer the job elsewhere. Saying nothing is the one answer that does not work.
We book the site visit
We agree a time with the customer and confirm it with you, so you arrive at a house that is expecting you. The customer already knows your name and what the visit is for.
You price it at your trade rate
You survey the job and send us your price and scope. We turn it into a clear written quotation on our template, naming you as the contractor, and we aim to have smaller jobs quoted within about 48 hours of the visit.
The customer accepts and pays the deposit
The 25% deposit is paid to you through us, as your payment administration agent, and passed on without unnecessary delay. The construction contract is between you and the customer, as it would be on any job of your own.
You do the work; we handle the conversation
Questions about timings, access or changes come to us and we deal with them, bringing you in only where your answer is needed. On completion the balance is paid to you through us in the same way.
Your week
What changes in your working week
The work itself does not change. What changes is how much of your time goes on everything around it.
Fewer evenings on paperwork
You send us a price and a scope. The formatted quotation, the follow-up call and the answers to the customer's questions after it arrives are ours to do.
One point of contact for the customer
Customers ask us first, so your phone is not the help desk while you are on a roof. When something genuinely needs you, we bring it to you in one clear message.
No chasing money
The deposit and the balance are collected by us as your payment administration agent and passed on without unnecessary delay. You are paid your rate in full, and you never have the awkward conversation about an overdue invoice.
Side by side
A lead platform and a network, side by side
Both put homeowners in front of you. What happens after that is where they part company.
A typical lead platform
- You pay for the enquiry, whether or not it becomes work
- The same enquiry often goes to several contractors
- You make contact, survey, write the quote and follow it up
- You chase the deposit and the final payment yourself
- The customer calls you with every question
Working through Mortaro
- Nothing to join and no charge per enquiry
- One contractor is offered each enquiry
- You price the job; we prepare and send the written quotation
- Payments come to you through us, without unnecessary delay
- We handle the customer conversation and bring you in when needed
The one contractors ask about first
You are paid without unnecessary delay
Contractors used to tendering routinely wait weeks to be paid, and chasing it is unpaid labour. Deposits and final payments are transmitted to you without unnecessary delay once received. A contractor who is paid promptly answers the phone next time.
What it costs you
It costs nothing to join, and your rate stays yours
No membership. No subscription. No charge to apply and no charge to join.
The mechanism is simple: you put your quote together at trade rate and submit it to us. We turn it into a professional quotation, present it to the customer under the Mortaro template, and add our fee on top of your figure. You are paid your rate in full. Our margin is our own commercial arrangement and it does not come out of your price.
We do not publish the percentage, for the same reason you do not publish yours. What we will say is that it is comparable to the management margin a main contractor builds into a price, and that because you are quoting at trade rather than retail, the customer still receives a competitive figure.
What we expect
The standards, as they actually are
Not aspirational ones. These are the expectations that decide how much work you are sent.
Respond the same day
Ideally within about two hours. If we have not heard within twenty-four hours you get a reminder with the option to accept, decline or reschedule. Declining is completely fine; silence is not. It costs the customer a day and it costs us the ability to plan.
Quote within 48 hours on smaller work
Repairs, rooflight installations and similar should come back inside about two days. These are jobs you can price from a survey without waiting on anybody.
Take longer on big jobs, but tell us
Material prices move and suppliers are slow. An accurate price on a large project sometimes takes a week, and that is fine. Flexibility is available to contractors who communicate. It is not available to contractors who go quiet.
Turn up to your site visits
A contractor who misses their very first appointment without good reason or communication is removed. That is not harsh. It is the most informative thing we ever learn about someone new. Anyone performs well at sign-up. Attending the first booked appointment is where we find out what actually happens.
Deal with customers professionally
You are on site under your own company name, and the customer's experience of you is their experience of the network.
Keep your documentation current
Appropriate public liability cover, relevant trade experience, prior work history, references and reviews. All checked before you are introduced to any customer.
Provide a workmanship warranty
Minimum twelve months across the network, typically considerably longer on full replacements. The terms are yours to set and they are confirmed in the customer's quotation.
An established contractor with a good track record who misses a visit will reschedule it and tell us. Trust accrues, and it earns latitude. The strictness above is aimed at the first few jobs, not at people who have already proved themselves.
Where the line sits
What we do, and what stays entirely yours
We are not a main contractor and we claim no technical authority over your trade.
Mortaro handles
- Generating and qualifying the enquiry
- Booking the site visit
- Writing and issuing the quotation
- Following up with the customer
- Customer communication throughout
- Collecting and administering payment
- Escalating issues on both sides
You handle
- Surveying the job
- Setting the technical scope
- Pricing the work
- Carrying out the work
- Your own insurance and methods
- The workmanship warranty
- The construction contract with the customer
Allocation
Work goes to contractors who earn it
Not evenly, and not at random. Contractors who respond quickly, communicate clearly, deal professionally with customers and complete work to standard receive more opportunities.
That is not a policy we enforce reluctantly. It is the only sensible way to run a network whose entire proposition to customers is reliability. Someone who joined, attended one visit and went quiet will receive fewer. Someone who has completed several projects well becomes the first call in their area.
We also do not overload people. There is no benefit in sending one firm more than it can service: the quality slips, the customer suffers, and we lose the thing we sell. Where possible we want one or two genuinely reliable contractors per area taking the majority of the work.
Straight answers
Contractor questions
Do you charge for leads?
No. Nothing up front, no membership, no subscription, and no charge for quotations that do not convert. Our fee sits on top of your trade rate in the customer's quotation. It does not come out of your price.
Who writes the quote?
You do. You survey the job and put your quote together at trade rate, then submit it to us. We turn it into a professional written quotation and present it to the customer under the Mortaro template, naming you as the appointed main contractor. The scope and the pricing remain yours.
Is the enquiry shared with other contractors?
No. We appoint a contractor to a job rather than selling an enquiry to several firms. You are not racing three other people who paid for the same lead.
How quickly do I need to respond?
Same day where possible, ideally within about two hours. If we have not heard within twenty-four hours you get a reminder with the option to accept, decline or reschedule. Declining is completely fine; silence is the problem.
When do I get paid?
Deposits and final balances are administered to you without unnecessary delay once received. We have no reason to sit on your money and no financial advantage in doing so.
What happens if I miss a site visit?
Reschedule it and tell us and it is not an issue. A contractor who misses their very first appointment without good reason or any communication is removed. It is the most informative thing we ever learn about someone new.
Can I turn work down?
Yes, and it carries no penalty. Allocation follows track record on responsiveness, communication and completed work, not on how many jobs you accept.
What do I need to join?
Appropriate public liability insurance, relevant trade experience, prior work history, and references or reviews. All checked before you are introduced to any customer.
Do I have to be VAT registered?
No. If you are, VAT is included in the customer's quotation; if you are not, the quotation says so. Every quotation states clearly whether VAT is included, so the customer is never left guessing.
Who provides the warranty?
You do, as the main contractor. Across our network that means a workmanship warranty of at least 12 months, usually running from completion and often longer on bigger jobs, and it is written into the customer's quotation.
What happens if a customer raises a complaint?
It comes to us first. We look into it, bring it to you with the details, and follow it through with you and the customer until it is resolved. Contractors who do not put things right are removed from the network.
Honestly
Who this suits, and who it doesn't
It suits contractors who are good at the work and tired of everything around it. Small firms who would rather be pricing and building than answering the phone at nine at night. People who have run the numbers on lead platforms and concluded the maths does not work.
It does not suit everybody, and it is better to say so.
If you want to own the customer relationship end to end and market to them afterwards, a network is the wrong structure. If you cannot commit to same-day responses, the standards will frustrate you. If your pricing has no room below retail, the trade-rate model will not work.
And if you want guaranteed volume from day one, we will not promise it. Opportunity flow depends on your area, your trade and, quickly, on your track record with us.
Getting in touch
Before you get in touch
Joining is by invitation after a conversation, not an open sign-up, so the first step is simply telling us about your business: your trade, the areas you cover, the size of job you like to take on and how long you have been trading.
It helps to have a few things to hand, because they are what we check before introducing you to any customer: your public liability insurance details, two or three recent customers who are happy to give a reference, examples of finished work, and the workmanship warranty you normally give.
A person reads every enquiry. If it looks like a fit, we will call to talk it through, including how allocation works in your area and what the standards mean day to day. If it does not, we will tell you plainly rather than leave you waiting. There is nothing to pay at any stage.
Side by side
Paid lead platforms vs a contractor network
Published UK platform pricing, set against how the Mortaro network operates.
| What you deal with | Paid lead platforms | Mortaro network |
|---|---|---|
| Cost before any work arrives | £600–£1,200 a year, or £15–£60 per lead | Nothing |
| Who else gets the same enquiry | Commonly up to four other trades | Nobody: we appoint one contractor |
| True cost per job won | £150–£1,000 once conversion is accounted for | No acquisition cost to you |
| Who qualifies the customer | Usually nobody | We do, before it reaches you |
| Who books the site visit | You | We do, around your availability |
| Who prices the job | You | You, at trade rates |
| Who writes the quote | You | You price it; we prepare and present it |
| How it reaches the customer | However you can manage | Under the Mortaro quotation template |
| Who chases the customer | You | We do |
| Who fields questions mid-job | You, on site | We do |
| When you get paid | Whenever the customer gets round to it | Administered to you without unnecessary delay |
| If you stop paying | You disappear from the platform | Not applicable: there is nothing to pay |
Platform pricing as published by Trades Grow, One Base Media, Sleepless Tradesman and SwiftLead, 2026. Rates change, so check current pricing before relying on these figures.
Go deeper
Guides in this section
Contractor Onboarding and Vetting
Joining is by invitation, and five checks are completed before you are introduced to any customer. Here is what they are, and why we name them.
ReadContractor Response Time Standards
When a new opportunity lands, we need an answer the same day. Yes and no are both good answers. Silence is the only wrong one.
ReadHow and When You Get Paid
You are paid your trade rate in full. Deposits and balances come to you through Mortaro, passed on without unnecessary delay.
ReadHow Contractor Networks Actually Work
Directories sell a listing. Lead platforms sell an enquiry. A coordinated network appoints one contractor to the job and runs the commercial process around it.
ReadHow Opportunities Are Allocated
Each enquiry goes to one contractor. Reliability decides who, and a good record earns more of the work in your area.
ReadNo Upfront Lead Fees: How the Model Works
Nothing to join and nothing per enquiry. Where the fee sits instead, how it reaches us, and what it means for your pricing.
ReadQuote Turnaround Expectations
Quick on smaller jobs, realistic on larger ones. The aim is an accurate price, and a customer who always knows when it is coming.
ReadSite Visit Expectations for Contractors
We book the visit and tell the customer who is coming. You turn up. It is the standard we are strictest about, and this page explains why.
ReadTrade Rates: What We Ask For and Why
What quoting at trade rate means, what it doesn't, and how the number you submit becomes the number you are paid.
ReadWhat Mortaro Handles For Contractors
Everything between the enquiry and the payment, stage by stage, and the parts that stay entirely yours.
ReadWhat We Need From Contractors
We run the commercial side of the job. In return we need four things from you, done properly, every time. Here they are, stated plainly.
ReadWhy Contractors Leave the Network
Some contractors decide the model isn't for them. A few are removed for not meeting our standards. Knowing both before you enquire saves everyone time.
ReadQuick answers
Common questions
For contractors
Tell us about your business
Tell us your trade, the areas you cover and the size of work you take on. A person reads every enquiry, and if it looks like a fit we will send you the full application.