How ringfencing works
Your trade.
Your area.
Nobody else's.
Exclusive local marketing for tradespeople, explained properly. What an area covers, how we draw the line, what we promise, and what happens if things change.
Plumbers around [Town]
Illustration
- Your ringfenced area
- Another plumber's area
- Still open
- River
- Main road
The basics
A ringfenced area is one trade, in a set of postcode districts.
Your ringfenced area is your trade plus the postcode districts you want work from. A plumber’s area around a town might be four or five districts. In a city it could be fewer, because each district is busier.
Trades don’t overlap. A plumber and an electrician can both hold the same districts, because they aren’t competing for the same jobs. Two plumbers can’t.
The boundary is written into your agreement, district by district, so there’s never any argument about where your area ends.
Drawing your boundary
We agree it with you. We don't hand you a map.
On your first call we look at four things together, then put the districts in writing before you sign.
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Where you want the work
Not just where you live. The districts where the jobs you want are, at prices you want to charge.
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How far you’ll travel
Especially for call-outs. An area you can’t cover quickly is no use to you or your customers.
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How busy each district is
We look at how many people search for your trade in each district, so areas are fair whether you’re rural or in the city.
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What’s already taken
If someone in your trade holds a district next door, your area is built around theirs, never on top of it.
Which plans are exclusive
Ringfencing comes with Territory. Here's why.
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Listed
Coming soon Not exclusive£10 a month
Your own listing that you control. Anyone in your trade can have one, in any area.
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Visibility
Not exclusive£500 a month
We manage your Google profile, reviews and AI visibility. We may also work with others in your trade nearby.
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Territory
RingfencedFrom £1,000 a month
Your trade in your area, ringfenced. We won’t take on another business in your trade there, and all our local work goes into you.
We can only promise to put everything into one plumber in an area if that plumber is paying for that level of work. That's why the lock sits with Territory, and why Listed and Visibility stay open to anyone.
Straight talk
What exclusive means, and what it doesn't.
We promise
- We won’t take on another business in your trade, in your area, for Visibility or Territory work. [Decide: does this also cover Listed?]
- Every district in your area is named in your agreement.
- Local pages, content and reviews work we do in your area are for you alone.
- If your area ever needs to change, we agree it with you first. We never shrink it without asking.
We can't promise
- A fixed position on Google or in AI answers. Nobody honest can promise that.
- That competitors won’t do their own marketing or hire another agency.
- That you can only work inside your area. Take jobs wherever you like.
- That an area is held for a business that has stopped paying for it.
In writing
Your area, ringfenced in writing.
Every Territory client gets a Ringfence certificate alongside their agreement. It names your trade, every district in your area and the date it became yours.
Hang it in the office, show it to your team, or just keep it in the van. It’s the promise in black and white.
Certificate of
Ringfenced area
This certifies that
[Your Business Name]
is the only plumbing business Ringfenced works with in
- [D7]
- [D8]
- [D12]
- [D13]
[Signature]
[Founder name], for Ringfenced
[DD Month YYYY]
Ringfenced from
The small print, in plain English
What happens when things change.
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Minimum term
Territory starts with a [X]-month term, then runs [rolling monthly]. That covers the build work at the start.
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If you decide to leave
Give us [X days] notice. Your area then reopens, and anyone on its waitlist gets first refusal. Your website and content stay yours.
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If a payment is missed
We’ll talk to you first. Your area is held for [X days] while you sort it out, then released.
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If your area is taken
Join the waitlist. You get first refusal if it frees up, and we can look at a neighbouring area in the meantime.
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Growing your area
Want more districts later? If the ones next to you are free, add them. [Pricing per extra district TBC.]
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More than one trade
Each trade is ringfenced separately. A plumbing and heating business can hold both. [Multi-trade pricing TBC.]
This page is a plain-English summary. Your agreement sets out the full terms.
More questions about ringfencing
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We agree it with you when you sign up. If your work overlaps two trades, like plumbing and gas, we’ll be clear about which area covers what so there are no grey areas.
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Yes. Google and AI tools don’t stop at postcode lines. What we can do is make sure you’re the strongest local option in your area, and we put all our effort for your trade into you.
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Tell us. If the districts next to your new base are free, we can move or reshape your area. We’ll always agree changes in writing.
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Yes. Check your area and if it’s taken, we’ll add you. When it frees up, the first person on the waitlist gets first refusal.
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Yes, if your area is still free when you’re ready. Moving up doesn’t hold an area for you in advance, so if exclusivity matters, check sooner rather than later.