The method
Three practical checks, the same for every business. Nobody can pay to be listed, to be verified or to appear higher on a trade and town page. We list up to three businesses per trade in each town.
We search for the business online, starting with its website and its public reviews, for example on Google, Facebook or Trustpilot. We read the good and the bad, and we are looking for anything that should worry a customer, such as a pattern of complaints. A new business with little online yet can still pass, because not much to find is not the same as something wrong.
We ring the business during working hours, after emailing it to say which number we will ring and the number we ring from, and once it has approved its listing from that email, and try again another day if we need to. The business answers, hears a short recorded message, and presses 1 to confirm, which is a simple way to tell that it is real and reachable. A business can keep its number off its public listing, and we still ring 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, and the business replies YES to confirm.
We send an email to the address on the listing with a one-time link. The business opens it, checks the details we hold, and either approves the listing or asks us to remove it. That shows the address is real and read, and that the business agrees with what we publish. A request to remove a listing takes it off the site straight away.
Plain about it
It means the business passed these three checks on the date shown on its listing. We repeat them every two years. If a business stops meeting the checks at any time, we remove its badge.
It does not mean we have checked its insurance, audited its accounts or finances, inspected its work, or that we guarantee any job. Before you hire anyone, ask for their insurance certificate, get more than one quote, and ask for references. For removals and storage, ask about goods in transit cover as well.
A listing without a Verified badge is marked as not yet verified. It is a business we know about, not one we recommend.
What we do not do
Listing is free. Nobody can buy a place, a Verified badge or a higher position on a trade and town page, and the order on those pages changes every day. Businesses that are already Verified can pay for a labelled Featured listing, which adds visibility on our home and browse pages and extra details on their listing. How we make money.
We take no commission if you hire a business we list. We do not host our own star ratings or reviews.
Some businesses in this directory are affiliated with us. 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.
We do not list national chains, and we do not pad a page to look busy. If only one business in a town passes, only one is listed, and the other places stay open. The first businesses to pass take the places, and everyone else joins a waiting list.
Small and medium-sized businesses are welcome, new or established. You do not need years of trading history, a limited company or existing reviews. If there is not much about you online yet, that is fine: we are looking for anything that should worry a customer, not for a big presence.
Ready when you are
If you can pass these checks, we would like to hear from you. Small and medium-sized businesses are welcome, and listing is free.
List your business free