For operators
How to get man and van work in London
There are seven realistic ways to find removals work in London, and they charge you in very different ways — some before you earn a penny. Here is how each one works, what to ask before you commit, and where a fixed price changes the maths.
The seven channels, and how each one charges you
The fee model matters more than the brand name. Once you know which of these a platform is, you know what it will cost you and what you are carrying the risk on.
Your own Google Business Profile
FreeThe most under-used channel for a small operator, and the only one where the customer is searching for you rather than shopping a list. A verified profile with real photos and reviews puts you in the local map results for “man and van near me”. It costs nothing but the time to keep it current, and the reviews you gather belong to you permanently.
Suits: Everyone. Do this first, before you pay anyone for anything.
Set up a Google Business Profile →Repeat work and referrals
FreeSlow to build and impossible to switch on the week you need it, but it carries no fee and nobody can take it away from you. In London the reliable sources are estate and letting agents, storage facilities, student accommodation offices and office managers — relationships worth building before you need them.
Suits: Established operators reducing their dependence on platforms.
Classifieds and local groups
Free or a small listing feeLocal listings and community groups still generate genuine man-and-van enquiries, particularly single items and student moves. Expect heavy price shopping, a lot of messages that go nowhere, and no protection if a customer cancels on the day or refuses to pay.
Suits: Filling gaps in a quiet week. Not a base to build on.
Lead-generation platforms
You pay per leadThese sell you the contact details of someone who has asked for a quote, usually through a credit system. The mechanic that matters: you are buying an introduction, not a job. The same enquiry is typically sold to several operators, so you can pay repeatedly to quote against others and win nothing — and a quiet month still costs you money.
Suits: Operators with the capacity to chase quotes fast and absorb the cost of leads that never convert.
Trade directories
Usually a subscriptionThese vet the individual tradesperson and charge a recurring membership rather than a fee per job. That means a fixed cost whether or not work comes in, but a well-reviewed profile compounds over time and tends to help your visibility elsewhere too.
Suits: Operators committed to one area long term who will actively collect reviews.
Bidding marketplaces
Commission, price set by biddingCustomers post a job and operators compete to win it. There is real volume, but the price is discovered by whoever is willing to go lowest, and you often only learn what a job was truly worth once you are already committed to it. Genuinely useful for filling an empty return leg on a trip you are making anyway.
Suits: Operators filling return legs, or those who can consistently win on price.
Fixed-price marketplaces
Commission on completed jobsThe price is agreed with the customer before the job is offered to you, so there is no auction. You see the payout for a specific job and decide whether it is worth your day. Movesmith works this way: no lead fees, no listing fees, no subscription, so a quiet week costs you nothing. Commission is agreed with you at onboarding based on your zone, vehicle and crew setup.
Suits: Operators who would rather judge a job on a known number than compete on price.
Where you carry the risk, and where you don't
Strip out the branding and there are only three ways a platform can treat you.
Pay before you earn
Lead fees and subscriptions bill you for access, not outcomes. The risk sits entirely with you: if the enquiries don't convert, or the month is quiet, you have still paid. Your costs are fixed and your income isn't — which is the wrong way round for a business with a van on finance.
Compete for the price
Bidding puts the risk in the pricing. You win work by being cheapest, which means the jobs you get are the ones you priced lowest — and you often discover what a job actually involved after you committed to a number.
Know the number, then decide
A fixed price is agreed with the customer before the job reaches you. You see the payout for that specific job, weigh it against your fuel, your day and your distance, and accept or pass. Nothing is charged for looking, so an empty week costs you nothing — and you are never bidding against yourself to stay busy. This is how Movesmith works.
Six questions to ask any platform
Including this one. If a platform is evasive about any of these, that is the answer.
- Do I pay for the introduction, or only when I actually complete a job?
- Do I know what the job pays before I commit to it?
- How many other operators are being sent the same customer?
- What happens if the customer cancels, or doesn't pay?
- Who covers the Congestion Charge, ULEZ and tolls — me, or the customer?
- Can I build a reputation that stays with me, or does it live inside their platform?
Where we actually fit
Movesmith is a fixed-price marketplace, and we are pre-launch — building our operator network ahead of demand. We are not going to tell you how many jobs you will get, because we cannot yet evidence it, and neither can anyone quoting you a confident number at this stage.
What we can be concrete about is the model. The price is agreed with the customer before the job reaches you. You see the payout before you accept. There are no lead fees, no listing fees and no subscription, so a quiet week costs you nothing. Congestion Charge, Dartford and tunnel tolls pass through to you in full.
We would still tell you to set up your own Google Business Profile first, and to keep more than one channel running. An operator whose whole calendar depends on any single platform — ours included — is one pricing change away from a bad month.
Add Movesmith to your mix
No lead fees and no subscription, so it costs nothing to have it running alongside whatever else is already working for you.
Mon–Sun 8am–8pm
Finding man and van work — straight answers
How do I get man and van work in London?
There are seven realistic channels: your own Google Business Profile, repeat and referral work, classifieds and local groups, lead-generation platforms that sell you contact details, trade directories that charge a subscription, bidding marketplaces where operators compete on price, and fixed-price marketplaces where the job price is agreed before it reaches you. Most working operators run several at once. The first is free and the most neglected — set up and verify a Google Business Profile before you pay anyone for leads.
Are paid leads worth it for a man and van business?
It depends entirely on your conversion rate, because you are buying an introduction rather than a job. If the same enquiry goes to several operators and you win one in five, the true cost per job is five times the advertised lead price. Track that number yourself over a few weeks — it is the only way to know whether it works for your business, and it varies a lot by area and job type.
What is the difference between a bidding marketplace and a fixed-price one?
On a bidding marketplace the customer posts a job and operators compete, so the price is set by whoever will go lowest. On a fixed-price marketplace the price is agreed with the customer before the job is offered, so you see what it pays and simply decide whether to take it. Bidding can suit filling an empty return leg; fixed pricing suits knowing a day is worth doing before you commit to it.
Does Movesmith charge for leads?
No. There are no lead fees, listing fees or monthly subscription fees — you pay an agreed commission only on jobs you actually complete, and that rate is agreed with you during onboarding. Congestion Charge, Dartford and tunnel tolls pass through to you in full.
Should I rely on one platform for all my work?
No, and we would say that about ourselves too. Any platform can change its fees, its ranking rules or its demand in your area without warning. The operators who last tend to run two or three channels alongside their own Google profile and repeat customers, so that no single change can empty their calendar.