Stop missing calls.Stop missing jobs.
A 24/7 receptionist for sole-trader plumbers and electricians.
£297/month, no contract, set up in 30 minutes.
You're under a sink. The phone rings.
You can't answer with wet hands. By the time you're done, three things have happened:
The caller went to voicemail and hung up.
They rang the next plumber on Google.
You just lost a £150 job — and didn't even know about it.
The average sole-trader misses 30-40% of inbound calls. At £85-£250 a job, that's between £1,500 and £4,000 a month walking out the door, every month.
You don't need a website. You don't need more leads. You need to stop the leak.
What you actually get
Three things, all working together, all running while you're on the job.
A friendly assistant who picks up when you can't
Your phone rings. You don't answer in 4 rings. The call quietly forwards to a new number. A natural-sounding UK assistant picks up, captures the caller's name, mobile, postcode and what's broken — and quotes from the price list YOU set.
A text on YOUR phone the second the call ends
Within 12 seconds of the caller hanging up, your phone pings with the job details, the postcode, the caller's mobile, and a tap-to-call link. Emergency calls are flagged separately. No app, no dashboard, no logging in.
A text to the customer so they don't ring three other plumbers
The caller also gets a text in 12 seconds: "Thanks for calling, we've got your details, we'll be in touch." Customers who can't reach a plumber go straight to the next one on Google. One text within 30 seconds locks them in.
What it looks like in real life
Tuesday, 2:47pm. Bob from Caversham has a leaky tap.
You glance at it between boiler bolts. Not an emergency, you'll call Bob at 5pm.
Bob stops shopping around. He doesn't ring three other plumbers. Job locked in.
What it costs
No per-call fees. No surprise bills. No tie-in.
Phone number, price list, voice tuning, alert routing. All done by me, in one 30-minute install on your laptop.
The assistant, the calls, the texts, ongoing tweaks. Month-to-month, 7 days' notice to cancel.
How this is different
From what you've probably already tried.
Already shopping around?
Honest comparison of the main UK AI receptionist offers. Their strengths are real — and so are their gaps.
| Provider | Setup | Monthly | Time to live | Ongoing tuning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urban Digitalist (this offer) | £497 | £297/mo | ✅ 24-48 hours | ✅ Weekly review + monthly script tune |
| TradeFlow Assist | £0 | £197/mo | ⚠️ ~7 days self-service | ❌ Install-and-forget |
| BuildMyService | £497 | £197/mo | ❌ 4-week web build first | ⚠️ Web-design first, AI add-on |
| Down To Earth AI | £299 | £45/mo | ⚠️ Self-configured | ❌ Pure self-serve, no tuning |
| Reception Genie | £0 | £8.99–£17.99/mo | ⚠️ Self-configured SaaS | ❌ No human in the loop, ever |
| Voicemail (status quo) | £0 | £0 | — Already on | — Loses 30-40% of calls |
If price is everything: pick Reception Genie or Down To Earth AI.
£8.99-£45/mo is genuinely cheap. You self-configure, you self-debug, you live with whatever the AI does. Fine if you're technical. Most sole traders aren't.
If you want a managed remote agency: TradeFlow Assist or BuildMyService.
Solid offers, well-built sites, no setup at TradeFlow. The gap: install once and walk away. Most operators in this space do — that's the "bolt and forget" market problem.
The real difference is months 2-12, not month 1.
Anyone can install an AI receptionist. The question is what happens after. I review every call weekly and tune the script every month — for as long as you stay on £297. Most operators in this market install once and disappear. That's the gap your £297 is paying to close, and it's the reason £45/mo SaaS has a 90-day churn problem.
Quick FAQ
The things most traders ask first.
Won't customers hang up when they realise it's not me?
What if it gives someone the wrong price?
What about emergencies?
What if it doesn't understand a strong accent?
Can I switch it off when I want to take calls myself?
Can I cancel anytime?
One Reading-area plumber. One Reading-area electrician.
I'm installing this for two case-study clients. If that's you:
First month free. You only pay the £497 setup.
Direct line to me. Any tweaks during month 1 — same-day fixes.
Full refund of setup if it's not catching extra jobs by day 30.
Locked-in price — £297/mo for as long as you stay. (I'll be charging £397 by Q3.)
In exchange: a 1-line testimonial after month 1, and permission to mention your trade (not your name unless you're happy with it) in future outreach.
Within 7 days you've got an assistant picking up the calls you're missing right now.
20-minute discovery call. 30-minute install. Then you stop losing jobs.
Mark Broomfield · Urban Digitalist · Reading + 40 miles