How a Manchester business gets on a list
What decides which Manchester businesses make a list and in what order, how paid plans are kept apart, and the public registers you can check yourself.
Every list starts with the person who needs the job done: a landlord whose tenant moves out on Friday, a parent weighing up the Trafford 11 plus, a couple looking for a hall big enough for both families. Four questions then decide who gets on the list and where.
Is this really their trade?
First we ask what fills most of a business’s working week. A builder who now and then injects a damp course is no damp specialist, and a high street practice that handles the odd injury claim is no personal injury firm. Businesses that do the exact job on the list come first. Those for whom it is a sideline sit lower or are left out.
Lists with a community in their name work the same way. An Asian wedding venue list is for halls that regularly host large Asian weddings, and a halal catering list is for caterers who cook halal as a matter of course.
What customers say, over time
Next comes what customers have said about each business in public, where anyone can read it for themselves. We set the warmth of that praise against the length of the record behind it, so a handful of glowing comments from friends and family cannot outweigh years of steady ones. Remarks about turning up when promised, quotes that matched the final bill and problems put right count for a lot.
What it tells you itself
Then we turn to the business’s own website and social channels. Is it clear about what it does and what it doesn’t, where it works, what it charges or how it prices a job, and which guarantees, insurance or registrations it holds? A business that sets this out plainly is easier to compare and easier to hold to its word.
Nobody pays to be chosen
Who goes where on a list is our editorial call, made on merit and revisited every so often. Nobody pays to get on, and no amount of money bends the criteria. A business that has already been chosen can take Pro, a fuller page, or Top, a highlighted spot among the first names on its list. Both always show their label.
Checks worth making yourself
Gas work, boilers included, must be done by an engineer on the Gas Safe Register. Ask to see their ID card, which lists the kinds of gas work they are qualified for. Electricians in a competent person scheme such as NICEIC or NAPIT can sign off notifiable work under the Building Regulations themselves, and each scheme has a register you can search.
Dentists, hygienists and dental nurses are on the General Dental Council register, and doctors, cosmetic surgeons included, are on the GMC register. Chiropodists, podiatrists and physiotherapists must be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council. Counsellor is not a protected title, so look for membership of a register accredited by the Professional Standards Authority, such as BACP or UKCP. In England, care homes, private doctors, scanning centres and surgical clinics are registered with the Care Quality Commission, which publishes its inspection reports. Vets must be registered with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
Solicitors and their firms can be looked up on the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s register. Mortgage brokers and financial advisers need Financial Conduct Authority authorisation, either their own or through a firm that takes responsibility for them as its appointed representative. The Financial Services Register shows both. Chartered surveyors are members of RICS. Letting and estate agents in England must belong to a property redress scheme, and letting agents also need client money protection.
A fully qualified driving instructor displays a green ADI badge in the windscreen, while a pink badge means a trainee. Motorcycle CBT can only be given by a DVSA approved training body.