01Move
DNA dimensions
Rooms/week, avg ticket (£280–£8,400), Dulux Select / Farrow & Ball Approved status, kitchen-respray share, repeat landlord / letting-agent contracts, heritage hand-painted joinery premium.
All playbooksServices
Painter & decorator playbook.
A UK independent painter & decorator running interior + exterior repaints, wallpapering, heritage hand-painted joinery (Farrow & Ball / Little Greene), spray-finished kitchen unit re-spraying, and commercial / landlord turnaround work. The 2026 win is the kitchen-respray niche — £1,800–£4,400 per kitchen at 58–68% margin replacing £14k kitchen swaps.
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Reference fit-out · Painter & decorator
Overview
A UK indie painter & decorator in 2026 runs four engines: interior repaint (£280–£2,400 per room, 58–68% margin, 4–6 rooms/week per decorator), exterior + heritage hand-painted joinery (£640–£8,400 per project, 48–62% margin, 2–4/month — sash windows, doors, eaves, Farrow & Ball Estate Eggshell finishes), kitchen + furniture spray-respray (£1,800–£4,400 per kitchen, 58–68% margin, 2–4/month — Tikkurila Helmi 30 + Festool spray rig replacing £14k kitchen swaps), and landlord / letting-agent turnaround (£280–£640 per room flat-rate, 48–58% margin, 8–14 rooms/week — 1–3 day repaints between tenancies). Maths for solo decorator + apprentice: £14k repaint + £4k heritage + £6k kitchen-respray + £8k landlord = £32k/month gross. Kitchen-respray is the Instagram-native growth engine.
4.8
Rooms/week/decorator
£640
Avg ticket
18%
Kitchen-respray share
What you'll need
Equipment list with real 2026 UK prices.
Sized for a 2–4 chair shop. Buy mid-range on chairs and clippers; cheap kit fails inside 12 months and walks away with your barbers.
01
Decorator kit
Van (VW Caddy / Ford Transit Connect)
£12,000–£20,000 used
Bott / Sortimo racking + paint shelving
£1,400–£2,800
Purdy / Hamilton brush + roller set + extensions
£280–£640 per kit
Dust sheets, masking film, ScotchBlue tape stock
£280–£640
Hop-up + decorator's trestles + 2-tread / 3-tread platforms
£420–£900
Festool Planex sander + Mirka Deros + dust extraction
£1,400–£2,800
Wallpaper paste table + perfect-pasting accessories
£180–£420
Steamer + heat gun + wallpaper stripper
£180–£420
02
Kitchen-respray kit
Festool SYS-Air HVLP spray gun + compressor
£900–£1,800
Pop-up spray booth / shrink-wrap kit
£420–£900
Tikkurila Helmi 30 / Mylands stock (10L per kitchen)
£280–£480 per job
Mirka random orbital + abranet pads
£640–£1,400
Door storage racks + drying lines
£280–£640
03
Workshop / storage
Workshop / paint store (30–80 m²)
£480–£1,400/month
Opening paint stock (Dulux Trade + F&B + Little Greene)
£1,800–£4,400
Powered Now / Tradify job mgmt
£90–£280/month
Phone + cloud answering
£180–£480/month
Where to set up
Location is half the business.
Service area
15-mile radius from base
Decorator + materials in-out daily.
Storage
≥30 m² with kitchen-respray rack space
Door drying + paint stock + ladders.
Catchment
≥25,000 households + 800 landlord portfolios + 6 letting agents
Retail + landlord + kitchen-respray mix.
Decorator merchant proximity
Within 15 min of Brewers / Crown / F&B trade
Daily colour-mix runs.
Industrial unit Class B8
Light industrial OK
Spray + drying space > retail frontage.
Area tier
Rent / month
Notes
London + SE
£1,400–£3,400 store
Premium F&B + heritage ticket. Kitchen-respray hot.
Regional city + suburbs
£480–£1,400
Sweet spot. Mixed retail + landlord + spray.
Market town + rural
£280–£900
Heritage cottage + barn conversion painted joinery.
Licences & registrations
Get the paperwork done before you sign a lease.
UK figures for 2026. Lead times assume you submit complete applications — councils will pause the clock if you miss documents.
Requirement
Who issues
Cost
Lead time
ReqCompanies House Ltd
Companies House
£100
Usually 24 hours
OptDulux Select Decorator
Dulux Trade
Free + £180/year inspection
8 weeks (audit)
OptFarrow & Ball Approved
Farrow & Ball trade
Free + portfolio submission
6 weeks
OptLittle Greene Specialist Decorator
Little Greene
Free + portfolio submission
6 weeks
OptPDA (Painting & Decorating Association)
PDA
£280–£480/year
4 weeks
ReqCSCS card per decorator
CITB
£60 per 5 years
2 weeks
ReqWorking at Height + asbestos awareness
CITB / Logic
£280 per decorator
4 weeks
ReqPublic + product + £5m liability
Tradesman Saver / Hiscox
£420–£1,400/year
1 week
ReqEmployer's liability + tools-in-transit
Broker
£280–£640/year
1 day
ReqVehicle (commercial)
AXA / NIG
£640–£1,400 per van
1 day
ReqWaste carrier registration
Environment Agency
£154/3 years
2 weeks
ReqICO data protection
ICO
£40–£60/year
1 day
Build-out timeline
From decision to open in 12 weeks.
01
Phase 0 — Setup
Weeks 1–4- Companies House + Dulux Trade + F&B Approved applications
- Van + racking purchase
- Public liability + employer's liability
02
Phase 1 — Store + spray rig
Weeks 4–8- Storage unit lease
- Festool spray rig + sander purchase
- Trade accounts (Brewers + Crown + F&B)
03
Phase 2 — Portfolio + brand
Weeks 6–12- First kitchen-respray (portfolio loss-leader)
- Houzz + Instagram + Pinterest profiles
- Photographer shoot of 3 finished projects
04
Phase 3 — Soft launch
Weeks 10–14- Letting agent outreach (4–6 agents)
- Checkatrade + MyBuilder + F&B Approved listing
- First paid kitchen-respray + heritage commissions
05
Phase 4 — Open
Week 14+- Kitchen-respray Instagram campaign live
- Letting agent turnaround contracts running
- Heritage hand-painted joinery niche established
Budget
Realistic startup and monthly cost ranges.
One-off · Startup
Setting up the shop
Storage unit lease + deposit
£1,400 → £4,400
Van + sign-writing + racking
£14,000 → £24,000
Decorator kit (brushes + sander + steamer + trestles)
£2,400 → £5,400
Festool spray rig + pop-up booth + Mirka
£2,400 → £4,800
Opening paint + materials stock
£2,400 → £5,400
Software + IT + phone
£480 → £1,400
Branding + accreditations + insurance + licences
£900 → £2,400
Houzz + Instagram + portfolio shoot
£900 → £2,400
Pre-launch marketing + Checkatrade
£640 → £1,800
Working capital (3 months)
£6,400 → £14,000
Typical total
£31.5k–£65.4k
Recurring · Monthly
Keeping the lights on
Storage rent
£480 → £1,400
Van (lease + fuel + insurance)
£640 → £1,400
Materials COGS (28–38% revenue)
£3,400 → £12,000
Wages (decorator + apprentice + spray-finisher)
£6,400 → £18,000
Software + accreditation + insurance
£280 → £900
Marketing + Houzz + Checkatrade + Instagram ads
£420 → £1,400
Typical total
£11.6k–£35.1k
Numbers that compound
How a painter & decorator actually looks on a chart.
Illustrative planning ranges, not measured customer data. Toggle the views to see ramp, mix and weekly load.
12-month revenue ramp
Low vs high scenario (£ monthly)
High Low
Illustrative example for planning, not measured customer data.
First 90 days
Dates that actually matter after opening.
01Day 1
Soft open: 2 rooms repainted (£900) + first kitchen-respray quote sent. £900 revenue.
02Day 7
First week: 14 rooms, 1 kitchen-respray accepted (£2.4k), 2 landlord turnarounds. £6.4k revenue.
03Day 30
Steady: 48 rooms, 4 kitchen-resprays, 14 landlord turnarounds. £22k revenue. F&B Approved status granted.
04Day 90
Full ramp: £28k/month, kitchen-respray Instagram reel hits 480k views, pipeline 6 weeks deep.
05Day 180
Mature: £34k/month, kitchen-respray share at 18%, 5 letting agent contracts running (~120 turnarounds/year).
What's inside
DNA, route, automations, integrations, benchmarks, advisors — tuned for a painter & decorator.
02Move
Suggested route
Get Dulux Select Decorator + Farrow & Ball Approved + Little Greene Specialist accreditation, sign 4–6 letting agent contracts for tenancy-changeover repaints (£480/room × 30/month), launch kitchen-respray niche on Instagram, build a heritage hand-painted joinery list serving Conservation Area + listed properties.
03Move
Automations
Colour-consultation booking, materials list + receipt photo auto-attach to job, decorator arrival SMS, snag-list 48h post-completion, review request + before/after photo album auto-send.
04Move
Integrations
Powered Now / Tradify, Stripe, Klaviyo, GBP, Houzz, Instagram + Pinterest catalog, Xero.
05Move
Benchmarks
Rooms/week, kitchen-respray share and heritage premium vs Dulux Select cohort.
06Move
Advisors
Encore advisors from Painting & Decorating Association (PDA), ex-Dulux Trade account managers, Farrow & Ball brand consultants and kitchen-respray pioneer firms.
Stack
Modules used in this playbook.
01DNA Engine02Route Map03Launch Twin04Automation05Verified06Encore
Related playbooks
Owners of a painter & decorator often run — or cross-sell with — these adjacent operations.
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