The headline numbers
- ●46% have no Google reviews at all (19,417 of 41,873 businesses).
- ●71% have fewer than 10 reviews. The median business has just one.
- ●Only 7% have 100 or more reviews.
- ●When customers do review them, they love them: an average of 4.8 stars.
Trade by trade
- ●Roofers: 63% have no reviews and 91% have fewer than 10. Average rating when reviewed: 4.7 stars.
- ●Electricians: 49% have no reviews and 84% have fewer than 10. Average rating: 4.8 stars.
- ●Plumbers: 36% have no reviews and 81% have fewer than 10. Average rating: 4.9 stars.
- ●Barbers: 50% have no reviews and 56% have fewer than 10. Average rating: 4.7 stars.
- ●Mobile car valeters: 32% have no reviews and 58% have fewer than 10. Average rating: 4.6 stars.
Good work, invisible to strangers
Put those numbers side by side and the story is obvious. These businesses aren't getting bad reviews. They're getting almost no reviews, from customers who would happily give them five stars.
Why? Because nobody asks. The job finishes, the customer pays, everyone's happy, and the moment passes. A week later the customer has forgotten all about it.
Meanwhile, someone new is searching for exactly that trade in exactly that town. They see one business with 80 reviews and another with none. They don't know the second one is just as good. They ring the one with 80.
Why this matters more than it used to
Google uses the number and freshness of reviews when it decides which local businesses to show first. So the gap doesn't just cost the business with no reviews one job. It pushes them further down for the next search, and the one after that.
And the fix is almost embarrassingly simple: ask every customer, at the right moment, in a way that takes them ten seconds. Our guide on how to get more Google reviews explains exactly how, and it's the same system we build into every website for plumbers, roofers and other trades we work with.
How we did it
The figures cover 41,873 UK trade and service businesses in 1,639 towns and cities that we researched between January and September 2026, as part of our work with local businesses that don't yet have a website. So the study describes that group: the thousands of sole traders and small firms that rely on word of mouth and their Google listing. Review counts and star ratings are as publicly shown on Google at the time.
Journalists, bloggers and trade bodies are welcome to use these figures, as long as they credit Biz Support Digital with a link to this page.
Is your business in the gap?
Search for your trade and your town and look at the stars next to your name. If a competitor has ten times your reviews, it's probably not because they're ten times better.
Everything we build for the Complete Business Package is designed to close that gap: a website Google can read, and review requests that go out automatically when a job is done. Start with a free report on your business and we'll show you where you stand.
Common questions
How many UK tradespeople have Google reviews?
In our study of 41,873 UK trade and service businesses, 54% had at least one Google review and 46% had none. Only 29% had 10 or more.
Which trade has the fewest Google reviews?
Roofers: 63% of the roofers in our study had no Google reviews at all, and 91% had fewer than 10.
Why do good tradespeople have so few reviews?
Mostly because customers are never asked at the right moment. Those who are reviewed average 4.8 stars, so the problem isn't the quality of the work.
Can I use these figures?
Yes. Please credit Biz Support Digital and link to this page.
Source: Biz Support Digital research, 2026. 41,873 UK trade and service businesses without a website, in 1,639 towns and cities, researched between January and September 2026. Review counts and star ratings as publicly shown on Google at the time. Figures may be reproduced with credit to Biz Support Digital and a link to this page.