Last updated 23 September 2026
The lead never says whether the tree is protected.
Lead Pronto sells tree surgeon leads from £15 each. Zapo, formerly Get Work, runs search ads for tree surgeons from £400 a month plus VAT, which works out at about £40 per lead it estimates. A homeowner's click on a tree search, bought direct from Google, costs £3.17 to £4.92.
The price matters less than two things the lead leaves out. Is the tree under a preservation order or in a conservation area? And is anything nesting in it? Get either wrong and the offence is yours, because you're the one holding the saw.
A real lead, word for word
"As far as I know there is no tree protection order."
That line comes from a silver birch trim on MyBuilder's own tree surgeon sign-up page. The same homeowner mentions birds from the tree flying into the house. gov.uk says not knowing about an Order is generally no defence. The rules.
Where we stand
We don't sell tree surgery leads. We help you get your own.
This guide is the honest version of what buying tree surgery leads costs, and who else gets them. What we do instead is build tree surgeons a website that turns visits into calls, and run Google Ads in an account in your own name, so every lead that comes in is a customer who found you, and nobody else was sold it.
What you are buying
Most tree jobs are too small to carry a dear lead.
Leads Do Work publishes its latest tree leads. The list on 23 September 2026 had a large dead oak to fell and a copper beech to reduce, next to "A fir tree at the bottom of my garden cut down a little", "Tree branches cutting back" and "removal of tree stumps". One homeowner only wanted someone to look at a dead tree and asked "could you give me a price for the inspection?"
A stump or a trim pays a few hundred pounds. A big removal pays over a thousand. Here is what a lead costs you per job won across that spread, at the two published per-lead prices and one win in 3.
| Job | Typical UK price | Lead Pronto, from £15 a lead | Zapo, about £40 a lead |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grind out a small stump | £160 to £220 | £45 a win, 24% of the job | £120 a win, 63% of the job |
| Remove a tree up to 25 ft | £240 to £340 | £45 a win, 16% of the job | £120 a win, 41% of the job |
| Prune a medium tree | £420 to £600 | £45 a win, 9% of the job | £120 a win, 24% of the job |
| Remove a tree up to 40 ft | £670 to £960 | £45 a win, 6% of the job | £120 a win, 15% of the job |
| Remove a tree up to 50 ft | £1,190 to £1,720 | £45 a win, 3% of the job | £120 a win, 8% of the job |
Prices from Checkatrade's tree removal cost guide (June 2026), each worked at the middle of its range. One win in 3 is MyJobQuote's figure for its trades. Lead Pronto's £15 is its lowest guide price. The Zapo cost splits its starting plan evenly over its forecast leads; add VAT.
A won customer should cost about 10 to 15 percent of the job. On a £1,190 to £1,720 removal, both sellers sit comfortably under that, at 3% and 8%. On the small stump, Zapo's lead eats 63% of the job and even the cheapest one eats 24%. A feed full of trims and stumps loses money on paper before you've started the saw.
If you do the big removals
Tell the seller in writing that you want felling and sectional dismantles, and ask whether a stump or a hedge trim counts as a lead you pay for. A seller who can't split them is selling you the average job, not yours.
If hedges and stumps fill your week
Those jobs need cheap leads and repeat customers, which is the same sum a gardener does. Our landscaping leads guide works through it for garden maintenance, where the visit is small and the customer comes back.
Your numbers
What can a tree surgery lead cost before it stops paying?
Choose the tree work you quote most, say how many quotes it takes you to land one, then type in a seller's price. Try the small stump and the fifty-foot removal side by side and watch the answer move.
WHAT CAN YOU PAY FOR A TREE SURGERY LEAD?
Pick a job, or type in what yours are worth
Starts on one in three, the figure MyJobQuote tells its own trades to expect. Put in yours.
You can pay up to about
£41
a lead, winning one in 3
- Healthy range, per won job
- £82 to £122
- Which per lead is
- £27 to £41
Put a seller's price in the last box and this will tell you what each won job would cost you.
The 10 to 15 percent band is our rough guide, not a measured figure.
Who sells them
Eight ways to buy a tree lead, and four meanings of exclusive.
Each row is quoted from the seller's own tree surgery page, price list or terms. Where a seller doesn't say who else gets the lead, the table says so.
| Seller | Price | Who else gets the lead | In their words |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead Pronto | From £15 a lead, a guide price | Not stated on its tree page | "No retainer and no monthly fee" |
| Get Work (now Zapo) | £400 to £1,600 + VAT a month | Nobody | "exclusive leads to tree surgery companies" |
| Tree Surgeon Leads | Credits, price not published | Whoever claims it first | "Are standard leads exclusive? No." |
| Tree Surgeon Leads UK | £200 a week fee, ad budget on top | Nobody | "never shared" |
| Leads Everyday | Monthly fee, not published | Nobody | "never shared with competitors" |
| Leads Do Work | Per lead or weekly, not published | Not stated | "independent contractors who may be relevant" |
| MyBuilder | A fee when the homeowner shares details | Whoever the homeowner picks | "Respond to as many leads as you like" |
| BranchOut UK | £180 a year | Relevant local businesses | "Your request is shared" |
Tree Surgeon Leads and Tree Surgeon Leads UK are two firms
The names are a letter apart and the models are opposites. Tree Surgeon Leads, at treesurgeonleads.co.uk, sells credits. "Phone leads go to the first eligible buyer to answer; form leads go to the first eligible buyer to log in and claim." Asked on its own FAQ whether standard leads are exclusive, it answers "No." You get 3 free leads to try it. After your first purchase, credits carry no refund.
Tree Surgeon Leads UK, at arboristleads.co.uk, is an ad agency for tree surgeons. It starts at £200 a week, which "covers our management fee only", with your ad budget "paid directly by you to Meta", and it asks for at least 2 weeks. That is £400 in fees before a pound of it reaches an advert. It says the leads are never shared and that you keep your ad accounts.
Lead Pronto: a £15 floor, and its own appointment rate
Lead Pronto's tree page leads with "Tree Surgeon Leads from £15" and adds that this is "A guide price. Your exact cost per lead depends on your sector and the area you cover". There's no retainer and no notice period. It also quotes a "15% Lead to appointment rate". Take both figures at face value and a booked visit costs about £100. The page doesn't say whether a tree lead goes to one firm or several, so ask before the first invoice.
Zapo runs search ads, and its start dates differ
Zapo, formerly Get Work, says its search ads deliver "exclusive leads to tree surgery companies, tree surgeons and arborists". A tree surgeon starting out pays £400 a month plus VAT, of which £200 buys clicks, for the 10 leads Zapo forecasts. The tree page promises leads "within the next 14 days". The pricing page says "within 1-4 weeks" and that volumes vary "by sector, location and season", which in tree work is a big variable.
Four more, and how many firms each lead reaches
Leads Everyday promises "Targeted Google Ads" and leads "never shared with competitors", while the steps on the same page say "We build targeted lists and craft compelling outreach." Leads Do Work draws on "over 300 home improvement websites, blogs and related online content" and matches each lead with contractors "who may be relevant". MyBuilder lets you respond to as many tree jobs as you like and charges when a homeowner shortlists you, win or lose; more in is MyBuilder worth it. BranchOut UK, at £180 a year, tells homeowners their request "is shared with relevant local businesses". What several firms chasing one fir tree does to the price is in the shared-lead trap.
Everything here about Lead Pronto's contract comes from its own published terms and conditions, last read on 23 September 2026. Terms get revised, so check yours against the current version before you act on anything.
Rather have tree surgery leads that are yours alone?
That's what we do. We don't sell leads. We build the website and run the Google Ads that bring tree surgery customers straight to you, in an ad account in your name that stays yours if you ever leave.
See pricingBuying the click yourself
The dearest click in tree surgery is the one sellers buy.
"tree surgeon leads", the search a tree surgeon makes to find a seller, is priced at £49.69 a click. That's about 13 times a homeowner's click on "tree surgeon near me" at £3.81, which is also the busiest search in the trade at 12,100 a month. The homeowner searches run from £3.17 for "hedge trimming service" to £4.92 for "tree felling near me". To turn clicks into leads we use WordStream's 7.33% conversion rate for home improvement search ads. It's a US figure, so the last column is a rough guide.
| Search | Searches a month | Per click | Per lead |
|---|---|---|---|
| tree felling near me | 880 | £4.92 | £67 |
| stump removal near me | 1,000 | £4.59 | £63 |
| tree removal | 1,600 | £4.31 | £59 |
| tree cutting service | 1,300 | £4.31 | £59 |
| stump grinding near me | 1,000 | £4.21 | £57 |
| tree removal near me | 1,300 | £3.85 | £53 |
| tree surgeon near me | 12,100 | £3.81 | £52 |
| tree surgeon | 9,900 | £3.74 | £51 |
| tree service near me | 2,900 | £3.26 | £44 |
| hedge trimming service | 1,000 | £3.17 | £43 |
Google Ads data for the UK, pulled 23 September 2026. Click prices are bid estimates; most advertisers pay under them.
At £43 to £67 a lead, your own ads cost more per lead than Lead Pronto's £15 floor and about the same as Zapo's £40 or more. Price per lead isn't where they win. They win on which tree jobs reach you and who else hears about them:
- Bid on felling, skip the trims
- Cut the budget back in December
- Show your tickets and insurance
- The call comes to you alone
- Pay Google direct, no markup
- The account stays yours
One extra fifty-foot removal at £1,190 to £1,720 pays for a lot of clicks. Stumps at £160 to £220 pay for far fewer, which is why the keywords you leave out matter as much as the ones you bid on. Winter felling and summer pruning pull differently, so size the spend with how much to spend on Google Ads.
Google Local Services Ads
"Tree services" is on Google's UK list of Local Services Ads categories. You pay per answered call, there are no lead credits in the UK, and Google screens the business before it goes live. How it works is in our Local Services Ads guide.
Before you quote
The saw is in your hand, so the offence is yours.
A Tree Preservation Order forbids "cutting down, topping, lopping, uprooting, wilful damage, wilful destruction" of the tree without the council's written consent, and gov.uk adds that cutting roots needs consent too. Anyone who cuts down, uproots or wilfully destroys a protected tree is guilty of an offence. So is the homeowner who "causes or permits" it. The fine is up to £20,000 in the magistrates' court and unlimited in the Crown Court.
In a conservation area, a tree with no Order still needs a section 211 notice to the council 6 weeks before most work, and skipping it carries the same penalties. There are exceptions. A dead tree needs 5 working days' written notice rather than consent, and a tree posing an immediate risk of serious harm can be made safe first, with notice as soon as practicable. gov.uk is blunt about the second: "If the danger is not immediate the tree does not come within the meaning of the exception."
The protected tree
"It is no defence for the defendant to claim ignorance of the existence of an Order," in gov.uk's words. Orders go on the local land charges register, and councils keep public registers of applications. Ask for the postcode on the first call and check before you price the job.
The tree with a nest in it
The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes it an offence to intentionally take, damage or destroy a wild bird's nest "while that nest is in use or being built". The government's guidance names cutting trees and hedges, and puts the penalty at an unlimited fine and up to 6 months in prison per offence.
The chainsaw ticket
HSE guidance says anyone working a chainsaw on or in a tree should hold "a relevant certificate of competence or national competence award", and names City and Guilds NPTC and Lantra. Put yours on your website. Homeowners weighing a big removal look for it.
Leads Do Work's own page says a good tree lead should establish "whether the tree may be protected". Of the ten leads on its public feed on 23 September 2026, not one said. When the lead comes through your own website, the form can ask the question for you.
Through the year
Two sellers, two different seasons. The searches back neither.
Leads Do Work tells tree surgeons to expect "seasonal peaks after storms and in late autumn and winter". Tree Surgeon Leads UK says the trade is "Busy in summer, silent by November." Searches for "tree surgeon near me" peaked in September and bottomed out in December.
UK searches for "tree surgeon near me", by month
September 2025 to August 2026. Google Ads keyword data, rounded bands.
Winter is the quiet stretch
Searches fell to 9,900 in November and 6,600 in December, about 2.7 times under September. Late autumn and winter were the two quietest months, not the peak. November was quieter, not silent.
Spring and summer hold steady
From March to August searches held between 12,100 and 14,800 a month. gov.uk's advice is to time tree and hedge work to avoid the bird breeding season, so a full month can still hold a job you have to move.
When the job can start
A protected tree is a job for next month, not this week.
Consent under an Order is decided by the council, and if it hasn't decided within 8 weeks the applicant can appeal. A conservation area tree waits out its 6 weeks' notice. Anyone can apply, and gov.uk says the applicant is usually the owner or a tree contractor acting as their agent. Handle the paperwork for the customer and the job is yours when the wait ends. Hand it back and the homeowner may be ringing round again in six weeks.
A bought lead that can't start for six weeks is still a lead you paid for today. How fast to ring back on the jobs that can go ahead is covered, with the research, in our roofing leads guide.
A quote agreed in the garden can be cancelled
Most tree work is priced standing next to the tree. A contract agreed at the customer's home falls under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013:
- The customer gets 14 days to cancel
- Leave out the notice: up to 12 more months
- Leaving it out is also an offence
- Starting early? Get it in writing
In tree work the exposure is kit booked for a job the customer then cancels inside the fourteen days: a grinder, a chipper, a crane. Put the cancellation notice on the quote, and when a split trunk has to come down now, keep the customer's written request to start.
Where the lead came from
One tree lead seller has already been fined by the ICO.
Lead Pronto, £30,000
In November 2025 the ICO fined Lead Pronto Ltd for 76,605 texts offering a free boiler grant. Consent sat inside its privacy policy, and that policy named none of the 18 firms it generated data for. This is the Lead Pronto whose £15 tree leads are quoted above. The case was about boilers, not trees. Its tree page says "Our leads are all GDPR compliant".
The Information Commissioner's Office puts the duty on the buyer: checks proportionate to the risk, and no leaning on what the seller promises. We found no ICO fine naming tree surgery itself. The wider home improvement cases are in the roofing guide.
Before paying for tree leads, ask the seller:
- Which ad or website did it come from?
- Does the consent name my firm?
- Who else was sent it, and when?
- Was the owner asked about a TPO?
- Is it a tree, a stump or a hedge?
Keep the answers with each lead. If a complaint ever lands, the record of what you checked is what counts, and a seller's sales page is not a record.
Which way to go
Size of tree first, then who else gets the call.
Buy per lead if
- Big removals are your work
- You ring back in minutes
- You check for a TPO first
- The consent names you
Think twice if
- Most jobs are stumps
- You work on your own
- Credits carry no refund
- The lead is first to claim
Run your own if
- You want felling, not trims
- You want the call alone
- You want to ease off in winter
- Your account, kept if you leave
Plenty of tree surgeons do both: a bought lead to plug a gap after a wet week, and their own ads bringing in the removals so they need fewer. The same choice across every trade is set out in our guide to trade leads, and if a directory is the other option, read is Checkatrade worth it before you sign.
Our sources
Where these figures come from.
We build websites and run Google Ads for trades, so we aren't neutral, and this guide says where a bought tree lead costs less per lead than your own ads. Every seller is quoted from its own site.
Seller pages, price lists and terms were read on 23 September 2026. Click prices and search volumes are Google Ads data for the UK, pulled the same day. Job prices are from Checkatrade. The tree rules come from gov.uk's planning guidance, the nesting rules from the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and Natural England, and the chainsaw standard from HSE. The planning guidance quoted is for England, and the rules differ in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Questions tree surgeons ask
Tree surgeon leads, answered.
- How much do tree surgeon leads cost in the UK?
- Lead Pronto advertises tree surgeon leads from £15 each and calls that a guide price. Zapo, formerly Get Work, runs search ads for tree surgeons from £400 to £1,600 a month plus VAT, about £40 per estimated lead on its cheapest plan. Tree Surgeon Leads UK charges £200 a week in fees with the ad budget on top, and BranchOut UK charges £180 a year. Tree Surgeon Leads sells credits without a published price. A homeowner's click on a tree search costs £3.17 to £4.92 in Google Ads.
- Can I cut a tree if the customer says it is not protected?
- Check with the council first. Under a Tree Preservation Order, whoever cuts down, uproots or wilfully destroys the tree commits the offence, and gov.uk says that claiming you didn't know about the Order is generally no defence. The fine is up to £20,000 in the magistrates' court and unlimited in the Crown Court. Councils keep Orders on the local land charges register.
- What changes if the tree is in a conservation area?
- Most work on a tree there needs a section 211 notice to the council 6 weeks before it starts, even with no Order on the tree. Work done without one carries the same penalties as breaking an Order. If the council decides to protect the tree in that time, the job needs consent instead.
- Can I cut trees and hedges while birds are nesting?
- Not if it means intentionally taking, damaging or destroying a nest that is in use or being built. That is an offence under section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and gov.uk puts the penalty at an unlimited fine and up to 6 months in prison for each offence. Check the tree or hedge before you start, and move the job if there is an active nest.
- Are tree surgeon leads exclusive?
- It depends on the seller. Zapo, Leads Everyday and Tree Surgeon Leads UK say theirs are not shared. Tree Surgeon Leads answers its own question "Are standard leads exclusive?" with "No": the first buyer to answer or claim gets it. MyBuilder lets tree surgeons respond to as many leads as they like, BranchOut UK shares each request with relevant local businesses, and Lead Pronto's tree page does not say.
- When do people search for a tree surgeon most?
- UK searches for "tree surgeon near me" peaked in September and were lowest in December, about 2.7 times quieter. From January to August they held steady between the two.
- Do tree surgeons need chainsaw tickets?
- HSE guidance says anyone using a chainsaw on or in a tree should have had training and hold a relevant certificate of competence or national competence award, unless they are in training and supervised. City and Guilds NPTC and Lantra are the awarding bodies it names. Homeowners look for them, so show yours on your website and your quotes.
- Is it legal to buy tree surgeon leads?
- Yes, if you check how the seller got consent. The ICO says a buyer must carry out proportionate checks and cannot rely on the seller's word. Lead Pronto, which sells tree surgeon leads, was fined £30,000 in November 2025 over boiler-grant texts whose consent wording named none of the 18 firms it passed data to.
Keep reading
More straight answers for trades.
A diary full of big removals, and nobody else rang about them.
We build your website and run Google Ads in an account in your own name, bidding on the felling and removals you want rather than every hedge in the county. See what it costs, then tell us about your trade and we'll set it up around the tree work you want more of.