Frequently asked questions

Best Rated Company is a free UK business directory for small and medium-sized local businesses. We list up to three businesses per trade in each town. A business gets a Verified badge only after it passes three checks: an online look-up, a phone call and an email confirmation. Listings that have not passed them yet are marked as not yet verified. Nobody can pay to be listed or to be verified.

Three things. First, we look the business up online, including its website and its public reviews, good and bad, and note anything that should worry a customer. Second, we ring the business, to check that it answers and confirms. We email it first, saying which number we will ring, the number we ring from and how to answer, and ring on a weekday once it has approved its listing from that email. A short recorded message asks the business to press 1 to confirm. If the number is a mobile, we send a text instead, and the business replies YES to confirm. Third, that email carries a one-time link, and the business approves its listing or asks us to remove it. We repeat the checks every two years, and each Verified listing shows when it was last checked.

Yes. A listing is free, and stays free for as long as your business passes our checks. There is no trial and no renewal fee. You do not need reviews or a limited company, but you do need your own website.

A place on the page for your trade and town, your phone number if you want it shown, a link to your website and a short description of what you do. Once you pass the checks you get a Verified badge on your listing, plus a version of the badge you can add to your own website.

An optional paid upgrade for businesses that are already listed and Verified. It lasts 12 months and does not renew automatically. Featured businesses appear on our home page, our browse page and, below the listings, on other trade and town pages in the same town. Their listing can show photos, a longer description, services, opening hours and social links, and each month they get an email with how often their page was viewed and their phone number and website were clicked. Featured never buys a place, a Verified badge or a higher position on a trade and town page, and every Featured card is labelled.

Yes, and we would like you to. Established businesses are welcome too. You do not need years of trading history, a limited company, existing reviews or any documents. If there is not much about you online yet, that is fine. You will need your own website, showing a phone number we can ring and an email address you read. A Facebook page or a listing on another site is not enough on its own.

Yes. We list small and medium-sized businesses, new or long established, as long as they give customers an honest, useful service and are not a national chain. The same three checks apply to every business, whatever its size.

UK businesses with a real base in the UK that give customers an honest, useful service: trades, shops, health and beauty, care, professional services and the like, new or long established. UK businesses that only sell online are welcome too: see "Can an online-only business apply?". We do not list essay, assignment or dissertation writing for students; peptides, fat-loss or weight-loss drugs and injections, or other "research" substances; gambling or betting; adult services; selling reviews, followers or links; trading signals, crypto or other get-rich-quick schemes; payday or high-cost loans; call-centre, dialler or lead-generation services; selling or "securing" visa appointments; other directories, comparison sites or listing platforms; fake or "novelty" documents; national chains; or businesses based outside the UK. Whether a business is listed is our decision, and we may turn down any application we do not think is right for the directory.

Yes, if it is a UK business. Tick "We only sell online" on the application form, and you go on the online page for your trade, which covers the whole UK. You need your own website (a Facebook page or an Etsy, eBay or Amazon shop is not enough on its own) showing your phone number and email address, and you must be based in the UK and send your orders from the UK. We do not list dropshipping shops that send goods from abroad, or multinationals and big chains.

Yes. Apply with your trade and town. If you pass our checks, we create the page and your business is the first on it.

To confirm that your business answers its phone. We email you first, saying which number we will ring, the number the call comes from and how to answer. Once you have approved your listing from that email, we ring on a weekday, during working hours. Answer as you normally would. When you stop speaking, a short recorded message plays: you must press 1 on your keypad to confirm, or we cannot verify your business. You can keep the number off your listing if you prefer: we only need it for the check. We do not record the call; we only note whether it was answered and whether 1 was pressed. If the number is a mobile, we send a text instead of ringing: just reply YES to it.

No. Your business has to pass the checks, and there must be a place free in your trade and town. We list up to three businesses on each page. If the places are taken, we add you to the waiting list and tell you when one opens.

Use the Update or remove tab on our List your business page, or use the link in the confirmation email we send you. A request to remove a listing takes it off the site straight away.

We cannot promise enquiries, website traffic or a Google ranking. A checked listing helps customers trust you, and it works best alongside your own Google Business Profile.

No. We do not check insurance, so we do not show it or vouch for it. Before you hire anyone, ask to see their public liability insurance certificate. For removals and storage, ask about goods in transit cover as well.

It does not mean we have checked the business’s insurance, audited its accounts or tax affairs, inspected its work, or that we guarantee any job. It means the business passed three practical checks when we last looked. Always get more than one quote, ask for references, and confirm insurance and prices before you hire anyone.

Yes, in a few places. Best Rated Company is run by Adrian, who also runs a family removals and piano moving business. A business counts as affiliated if Adrian owns or runs it, someone in his household runs it, or he has a financial interest in it, including being paid to work on it. Affiliated businesses are labelled, shown separately, never given a Verified badge or Featured, and do not take one of the places. Businesses run by other relatives go through the same three checks as everyone else.

From Featured listings, which are optional, labelled and paid for by businesses that are already Verified. We take no commission and no referral fee if you hire a business you find here.

No. We do not host reviews or star ratings. As part of our online look-up we read the reviews a business already has, good and bad, and look out for anything worrying. We cannot tell whether every individual review is genuine, so read them yourself too.

We started in Yorkshire and add towns as businesses apply. Anyone in the UK can apply. We list local, independent businesses rather than national chains.

Please tell us on the contact page. If a listed business turns out not to meet our checks, we will remove its Verified badge. We cannot settle disputes between you and a business, and a listing is not a guarantee.