How to Get a Business Phone Number in the UK (No Landline)
When you start a business, the number on your first flyer is usually your personal mobile. That’s fine for a week or two. Then a customer rings at 9pm on a Sunday, your mum’s texts get mixed in with quote requests, and you realise the number you’ve printed on the van is the one you’ve had since school. Getting a proper business phone number in the UK is cheap and quick, and you don’t need a landline, an office or a phone system to do it. Here are the honest options, what each is good for, and the one mistake worth avoiding.
Do you need a business phone number at all?
Not legally. There’s no rule that says a sole trader must have a separate number. But there are good practical reasons to get one early:
- You can switch off. A separate number can go to voicemail at 6pm without your friends and family going with it.
- You know it’s a customer. When the business line rings, you answer it as a business.
- It’s portable. If you take someone on, sell up or change phones, the number can move with the business rather than with you.
- It’s the one you’ll print everywhere. Your number ends up on your van, your cards, your website and your Google listing. Changing it later means changing all of those — so it’s worth picking the right one now.
Option 1: a second SIM in the phone you already have
For most one-person businesses, this is the simplest answer. Most recent phones are dual-SIM, either with two physical slots or with one physical SIM and an eSIM. Add a cheap SIM-only plan from any network and you’ve got a second mobile number on the same handset.
You choose which line to call out on, you can label them “Personal” and “Work”, and most phones let you set different ringtones or silence one line at certain times. SIM-only plans are typically a few pounds to the mid-teens a month, depending on the allowance — prices move around a lot, so shop about.
The downside: it’s still an 07 mobile number, which some customers read as “one-man band”. For plenty of trades that’s exactly what you are and exactly what people want, so don’t overthink it.
Option 2: a virtual business number that rings your mobile
A virtual number is a phone number that isn’t tied to a SIM or a line in a building. Calls to it come through an app on your phone (or get forwarded to your existing mobile), and you can usually make outgoing calls that show the business number too.
The main reasons people choose one:
- You can have a local area code. An 01 or 02 number for your town, without a landline or an address there.
- Opening hours and voicemail. Most services let you send calls straight to voicemail outside hours, or play a short greeting first.
- More than one person can answer. Handy the day you take on help.
Costs are usually a few pounds a month for a basic number, rising with call bundles and extra features. Check what outgoing calls cost, whether there’s a minimum contract, and — importantly — whether you can take the number with you if you leave the provider. That last one matters more than any feature.
Option 3: a landline or broadband phone line
If you have a shop, a salon or a workshop, a phone line at the premises still makes sense. Most broadband providers include one or offer a digital voice line over your broadband. For a mobile tradesperson working out of the van, though, a fixed line mostly means missed calls.
Which kind of number should you choose?
This is where it’s worth slowing down, because the first digits change how customers feel about ringing you — and, for some numbers, what it costs them.
| Number type | What it looks like | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geographic | 01 or 02 | Looking local and established | Feels odd if you cover a wide area |
| Mobile | 07 | Trades on the move; texts and WhatsApp | Some people see it as less established |
| National | 03 | A single number for a business that covers the whole UK | Less “local” feel |
| Freephone | 080 | Businesses expecting lots of calls | You pay for the calls, not the customer |
| Service numbers | 084 or 087 | Almost nobody small | Callers pay a service charge on top |
| Personal numbers | 070 | Nobody | They look like mobiles but can cost callers far more |
A few plain-English notes on that table.
03 numbers are charged to callers at the same rate as an ordinary 01 or 02 call, and they usually count towards inclusive minutes on mobile plans. That makes them a fair choice for a business that isn’t tied to one town.
084 and 087 numbers carry a service charge that the caller pays on top of their provider’s charge. Customers know this and some simply won’t ring. There are also rules limiting what you can charge existing customers to call you about something they’ve bought, so for a small business they’re more trouble than they’re worth.
070 numbers are the trap. They look almost exactly like 07 mobile numbers, but they’re “personal numbers” that can cost callers a great deal more. Avoid them entirely.
If you’re a local business, an 01 or 02 number for your area or a plain 07 mobile are both perfectly good choices. Pick the one that fits how you work, not the one that sounds grander.
Can you get a business phone number for free?
Sort of. Some virtual number apps have a free tier, and some come with a basic number bundled into other software. Just read the small print on what happens to the number if you stop paying or the service closes — a free number you can’t keep isn’t much use once it’s on your van. A cheap SIM-only plan that you control is often the better “nearly free” option.
Use the same number everywhere
Whichever you choose, the most important thing is consistency. Put the same number, written the same way, on:
- your Google Business Profile
- your website, as a tap-to-call link at the top of every page on mobile
- your van and your business cards
- any directories and social profiles you’re listed on
Matching contact details help customers trust you, and they help Google recognise that all those listings belong to the same business — a small but real part of local SEO. If you want customers to be able to message you as well as ring, the same number can be used for WhatsApp Business, so they only ever need one.
While you’re sorting out the phone, it’s worth sorting the email at the same time. A number and an address on your own domain look like a proper business together; we’ve explained why in do I need a business email address?.
Here’s where we declare our interest: we build brochure websites for new and small UK businesses, free, from your Google Business Profile — with your number as a big tap-to-call button, because that’s what most local customers are looking for. The details are on our free website offer. But whoever builds your site, get the number sorted first.
The short version
- Decide whether you want a separate line. You almost certainly do.
- For most sole traders, a second SIM in a dual-SIM phone is the quickest route.
- If you want a local area code, opening hours or more than one person answering, look at a virtual number — and make sure you can take it with you.
- Choose 01, 02, 03 or 07. Avoid 084, 087 and especially 070.
- Use that one number everywhere, and don’t change it.