For a roofing firm with five to ten or more roofers, the limit on growth is often not leads. It is people. You can win the work, but you cannot staff it.
The numbers back that up. In the National Federation of Roofing Contractors' State of the Roofing Industry survey for spring 2025:
- 47% of roofing contractors said recruiting had become harder than a year earlier.
- 60% named recruitment difficulties as a top challenge, and 77% named the cost of employment.
- Labour costs rose for 79% of firms.
- Tilers, slaters and built-up felt roofers were the hardest roles to fill.
Across construction, CITB estimates the industry needs around 47,860 extra workers a year from 2025 to 2029.
Why job boards are not enough
The roofers you want most already have work. They are not scrolling job boards. They are on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok in the evening, like everyone else.
That is why the firms still growing treat recruitment like lead generation: an ad in front of the right people, a page that makes applying easy, and a fast reply.
Step 1: say what the job actually is
Vague adverts get vague applicants. Be specific:
- The role: slater, tiler, flat roofer, leadworker, labourer or apprentice.
- Pay, or a clear range, and how overtime works.
- Hours, travel and whether a van and fuel card are included.
- The kind of work: domestic re-roofs, commercial flat roofs, heritage slate.
- What makes your firm better to work for: steady work, paid on time, decent kit, training.
Step 2: use video from your own jobs
Short clips of your teams on real jobs do more than any stock photo. A 20-second video of a finished slate roof, with a line from one of your roofers about why they like working for you, tells a tradesperson more than a page of text.
Run it as a recruitment ad aimed at your area, and use your own posts as Spark Ads on TikTok or boosted posts on Facebook.
Step 3: make applying take a minute
A tradesperson on a phone will not upload a CV. Ask for:
- Name and phone number.
- The role they are interested in.
- Years of experience and any cards they hold, such as CSCS.
- When they could start.
Then call them back the same day. Good roofers do not stay on the market long.
Step 4: keep recruitment separate from sales
Run recruitment campaigns, pages and forms separately from your customer campaigns. It keeps job applicants out of your quote inbox and lets you see the cost per applicant and cost per hire clearly.
Step 5: grow your own
Many firms that solve recruitment do it partly by training. An apprentice or improver programme, shown off in your ads and on your website, attracts people who want a career rather than just a job.
A simple plan for this month
- Write one clear job advert with pay, hours and what is included.
- Film three short clips on your next jobs.
- Set up a simple mobile application page and a WhatsApp alert for every applicant.
If you want help finding roofers as well as winning work, talk to us about recruitment campaigns.