Lawn-Care Franchise vs Your Own Round
What buying a UK lawn-care franchise — GreenThumb, Greensleeves, TruGreen UK or Lovely Lawns — costs you over five years, set against building your own round on BuildRound for £15/month. We flag every figure a franchise hasn't published, so you can see what's confirmed and what's an estimate.
The short answer: UK lawn-care franchises cost roughly £7,000–£50,000 to join (before VAT), then take 6–9% of your turnover for the whole term — and your customers stay with the brand. Building your own round is a flat £15/month (£900 over five years) with no cut taken and your customers kept. Pick a franchise below to see the five-year gap in fees.
Pre-filled with a £3,000/month example — change it to your own expected monthly turnover once established (the total you invoice before costs). Franchise royalties are charged on this turnover, not on your take-home profit.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GreenThumb | £29,880 | £32,760 | £35,640 | £38,520 | £41,400 |
| BuildRound | £180 | £360 | £540 | £720 | £900 |
| Fees you avoid | £29,700 | £32,400 | £35,100 | £37,800 | £40,500 |
Cumulative cost. The franchise line is the entry ticket plus the royalty and marketing levy on your turnover, added up year by year. Royalties keep being charged for the length of the agreement. Entry tickets are shown before VAT — if you're not VAT-registered, add 20% to the up-front fee for your real cash-to-start.
Note on scope: GreenThumb is a lawn-treatment specialist. BuildRound covers mowing, pressure washing, gutters, hedges and garden maintenance under your own brand — so this compares the cost of the tools and playbook, not a like-for-like service.
estimate — verifyThese GreenThumbtotals rest on at least one figure the franchise hasn't published, so treat the numbers as indicative and check the franchise agreement. See the note below for exactly which figures are estimated.
GreenThumb — what it costs
- Initial fee (~£27,000)estimate — verify
- Royalty: 6% of turnover · levy: 2%estimate — verify
- That's £240/month taken off the top at your turnover.
- Term: 10-year agreementestimate — verify
- Postcode-exclusive territory — protected from other GreenThumb operators, but you can't grow past your patch without buying another territory at full price. Lawn treatment only.
- When you leave, the customer book typically stays with the franchise. You rent the brand; you never own it.
BuildRound
- No entry fee
- £15/month flat
- No royalty, no levy — we take no cut of your turnover (your own card or Direct Debit processing fees still apply, same as anywhere)
- Cancel any time — no multi-year tie-in
- No single-trade or territory lock-in — add pressure washing, gutters or hedges and serve the postcodes you choose, all from one solo round
- Your brand, your customers — full export any time
About these GreenThumb figures: GreenThumb is the UK's largest lawn-care brand (220+ franchisees, around 465,000 customers). The roughly £27,000 entry fee is widely cited, but GreenThumb doesn't publish its exact royalty rate, marketing levy or term, so those lines use the typical UK franchise figures (6% royalty + 2% levy over a 10-year term). Check the actual franchise agreement for the real numbers.
Over 5 years vs GreenThumb, you avoid
£40,500
in franchise fees and royalties — money that stays in your pocket, alongside the customers you keep. A franchise can bring a brand, a playbook and leads in return; the question is whether that's worth £40,500 to you.
Based on at least one estimated GreenThumb figure — see the note above. Check the franchise agreement before relying on this number.
A note on who you're really signing up with
A franchise can be a genuinely good deal — a recognised brand, a proven playbook, and a flow of leads are worth real money, especially in your first couple of seasons. None of that is in dispute.
What's worth knowing is who ends up owning the relationship. Several UK lawn-care brands are now part of large, often US-owned or private-equity-backed groups — Greensleeves sits inside Neighbourly; TruGreen UK sits inside ServiceMaster. As a brand grows bigger, the person running a single van can end up a long way from whoever makes the decisions, and big owners can be slower to answer a small operator than they once were. The royalty keeps being charged either way, and when you leave, the customers you built up usually stay with the brand.
BuildRound's deal is deliberately the opposite: a flat £15/month, cancel any time, no cut of your turnover, and a customer list you can export and walk away with whenever you want. We'd rather earn the next £15 than own your round.
Assumptions.Disclosed figures: Greensleeves £9,995 + VAT fee (modelled at its ~£25,000 all-in start-up), TruGreen UK from £49,950 + VAT start-up, Lovely Lawns £6,950 minimum investment. Anything tagged “estimate — verify” is an illustrative estimate — an industry-average or single-source figure the franchise hasn't published — and should be checked against the current franchise agreement before you rely on it. GreenThumb's exact royalty and term aren't published, so we use the typical UK franchise figures (6% royalty + 2% levy). TruGreen UK's publicly-listed 1% royalty is almost certainly incomplete, so we model a 6% + 2% estimate. Lovely Lawns publishes only its entry ticket, so its ongoing cost is an estimate. The franchise fees are modelled before VAT — VAT-registered operators can usually reclaim it, but if you're below the VAT threshold it's a real extra cost up front. BuildRound is a flat £15/month — the free trial runs for 30 days or up to 5 customers, whichever comes first. Always read the franchise agreement before you sign.
Keep your capital. Build your own round.
The system, the tools and the playbook a franchise charges you for — for £15/month, with no royalty and no tie-in. You bring the brand and the marketing; you keep the customers.
Build your round →Lawn-care franchise FAQ
The questions worth answering before you put down anywhere from £7,000 to £50,000. Some franchises don't publish their exact royalty or term — where that's the case, the figures below are rounded industry estimates, and the calculator above flags each one. Always confirm against the franchise agreement.
How much does a lawn-care franchise cost in the UK?
UK lawn-care franchises span roughly £7,000 to £50,000 to get in. Lovely Lawns starts from about £6,950, Greensleeves is £9,995 + VAT (around £25,000 all-in), GreenThumb is widely cited at about £27,000, and TruGreen UK starts from £49,950 + VAT. On top of the entry ticket you pay an ongoing royalty plus a marketing levy — typically 6–9% of your turnover — for the length of the agreement.
What does a franchise royalty actually cost over five years?
Royalties and levies are a percentage of your turnover, taken every year for the whole term. On £36,000 a year of revenue at a combined 8%, that is roughly £2,880 a year — about £14,400 over five years — on top of the up-front fee. The bigger your round grows, the more the franchise takes. A flat subscription like BuildRound's £15/month is £900 over five years regardless of how much you turn over.
Do I own my customers if I run a lawn-care franchise?
Usually not. With most franchises the customer book stays with the brand when you leave, so years of relationship-building don't transfer with you. Building your own round means the customers are yours — BuildRound lets you export your full customer list at any time.
Is buying a lawn-care franchise worth it versus going independent?
A franchise buys you a recognised brand, a proven playbook, and (for the bigger names) a flow of leads — genuinely valuable, especially early on. The trade-offs are the up-front capital, an ongoing cut of your turnover for the whole term, a fixed territory you can't grow beyond, and a customer book you don't own. If you're a solo operator who wants to keep your capital, your margin and your own brand, building your own round on a £15/month tool is the cheaper path — you just have to do your own marketing.