UK CRM Buyer’s Guide, 2026
Unavoidable CRM
VS
Simpro

Which is right for UK trades in 2026?

An honest head-to-head from an agency that has set up both across 40+ UK trade businesses.

AH
Andrew Heppinstall · Founder, Unavoidable Marketing
We manage marketing for 40+ UK trade businesses and set up both Simpro and Unavoidable CRM across our client base. Where Simpro wins for your use case, we say so.
Pick Unavoidable CRM if

You are a UK solo trade or team of 2-10 who loses money every month to missed calls, wants deposit direct debit and Google review automation on day one, and prefers a flat monthly fee over per-user pricing that scales unpredictably.

Pick Simpro if

UK trade companies over £2M annual revenue running scheduled maintenance contracts and multi-site projects.

Feature by feature

The side-by-side

Feature
Unavoidable
Simpro
AI receptionist (built in)
✓
×
Missed-call SMS auto-response (90 sec)
✓
×
GoCardless deposit direct debit (native)
✓
×
Post-install Google review automation
✓
×
Flat monthly fee (unlimited users)
✓
×
UK-hosted / GDPR native
✓
✓
Rolling monthly contract
✓
×
Job scheduling + engineer app
✓
✓
Quoting + invoicing
✓
✓
Xero / QuickBooks integration
✓
✓
UK phone + email support
✓
✓
Starting price
£199/mo All-in, unlimited users
£70-£150/user/mo (custom)Per-user, before add-ons

Where Unavoidable CRM wins

  • AI receptionist built in on every tier. Books surveys straight into your calendar.
  • Missed-call SMS in 90 seconds. 62% of homeowners convert if they get that text within 4 hours.
  • Native GoCardless direct debit for deposits. No chasing, no card fees.
  • Flat £199/mo, unlimited users. No per-user creep, no surprise SMS credits.
  • UK-hosted, GDPR from day one. UK phone support 9am to 5pm.

Where Simpro wins

Deep functionality for maintenance contract businesses. Best-in-class asset tracking, SLA management, project accounting.

If that describes your business, Simpro is a strong pick.

The trade-off

Where Simpro falls short for most UK solo trades

Very expensive. Long implementation (8-16 weeks). Requires dedicated internal admin. Overkill for anyone under 10 employees. Custom pricing hides the true cost until you are deep in sales.

The biggest gap: Simpro does not include an AI receptionist or automated missed-call SMS out of the box. The average UK solo kitchen fitter loses £129,000/year to unanswered calls. Bathroom fitters lose £75,000. Heating engineers £105,000.

The real cost

Head-to-head pricing

Solo trader
Unavoidable
£199/mo
Everything included

Simpro
£250-£350/mo
Base + AI + SMS + reviews + direct debit
Team of 3
Unavoidable
£199/mo
Same flat fee

Simpro
£350-£500/mo
Per-user + add-ons
Team of 6
Unavoidable
£199/mo
Still flat

Simpro
£500-£900/mo
Per-user scaling

Migration: how hard is it to switch?

If you are already using Simpro, moving to Unavoidable CRM takes roughly 5-7 working days. Data export from Simpro is straightforward (CSV export of contacts, jobs, invoices). Import into Unavoidable CRM is guided by its onboarding team. No downtime: both systems run in parallel for the first two weeks so nothing slips. Unavoidable CRM is a separate product built and run by Unavoidable Studio Ltd.

Give your team a fortnight to unlearn Simpro’s specific workflow language. The tools do similar things but the terminology differs.

Bottom line

The verdict

Pick Simpro if uk trade companies over £2m annual revenue running scheduled maintenance contracts and multi-site projects. Pick Unavoidable CRM if you are a UK solo trade or team of 2-10, want AI-answered calls and automated missed-call recovery on day one, prefer flat monthly pricing, and value UK-native support.

Free honest audit

Want a second opinion?

Tell us your team size, what you are using, what you are paying. We will come back within 24 hours with an honest steer, even if the honest steer is “stay with Simpro.”

    Answered personally by Andrew. Usually within a few hours. All fields required.

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