How we rank

What we assess

Each category has its own editorial criteria, published on the category page with the weight of each one. Licensing carries more weight for electricians than for consultants, and cancellation terms matter more for travel than for bookkeeping, so a single rubric for every service would mislead. The criteria draw from six common dimensions: credentials, quality of work, transparency, service, value and reliability, plus at most one dimension specific to the category, such as safety or data security.

The two measures and their weights

The overall ranking score combines the editorial score and the adjusted customer score. The editorial score carries 60% of the weight and the customer score 40%. Both are always shown separately on the page, so you can see how each business performs on each.

Customer ratings count only when a business has at least 5 published reviews from the last 24 months. Below that, the overall score equals the editorial score and the entry is labelled editorial only.

Where evidence comes from

Editorial evidence comes from sources we can cite and date: official licence and company registers, regulator records, insurance and accreditation documents, published terms and prices, portfolios and case studies we can verify, and direct contact with the business. Each piece of evidence is recorded with its source, the date we checked it, what it shows and how reliable it is, so that another editor could reach the same conclusion from the same file.

How customer ratings are adjusted

A business with three five-star reviews has not proved as much as one with three hundred. To stop small samples dominating, customer ratings are adjusted towards the average for the category and market before they enter a ranking. The adjustment fades as reviews accumulate, so an established business is judged almost entirely on its own customers.

The formulas

Eligibility for a Top 8 ranking

A business can be ranked only if it holds every licence or registration its market requires, trades under a legal entity we can verify, serves the market the ranking covers, and has evidence for every criterion in the rubric. Businesses that fall short are not given an estimated score. They are left out until the evidence exists, and the ranking notes how many candidates were assessed.

Updates and reassessment

Every assessment carries the date it was completed and is redone at least once every 12 months. A material event triggers an earlier review: a lapsed licence, a regulatory action, a change of ownership, a pattern of upheld complaints or a correction request backed by evidence. Each published ranking keeps a snapshot of the scores and the methodology version used, so changes over time can be explained.

Conflicts of interest

Researchers declare any personal or financial connection to a business before they assess it, and a declared conflict means someone else does the work. Staff who manage sponsorship or other commercial relationships have no access to editorial scores, moderation outcomes or ranking approval. Payment from a business, whether for a placement or a tool, never earns points.

Limitations

No method captures everything. Editorial assessments rely on evidence that is available to check, and some strong businesses document their work poorly. Customer ratings reflect the people who chose to leave a review. Scores describe a point in time. Use a ranking to build a shortlist, then make your own checks with the questions on each category page before you sign or pay.

Version history

Questions