How a Leeds firm gets onto a list
How firms get onto a Leeds list, what decides their order, why payment never changes that, and which public registers you can look up yourself.
Every list begins with a job someone in Leeds needs doing: damp coming up through a cellar floor, a house share to sign for next year, a conveyancing quote before an offer goes in. Four questions decide which firms are listed, and in which order.
What the firm does all week
We start with what a business spends most of its time doing. A general builder who treats damp on the side does not make a damp specialist, and a firm that takes a probate case between everything else is no probate practice. Firms whose everyday work is exactly that job go first. Those who treat it as a sideline are placed lower down or left out.
A record, not a moment
Next comes the public record: what customers have written about each firm, open to anyone. Warm comments count for more when they stretch across years, so a handful of glowing remarks cannot outweigh a long, steady record. We pay most attention to the practical ones: arriving on the day promised, a final invoice in line with the quote, a fault put right without a fight.
The firm in its own words
Last, we read what the firm itself publishes online, on its site and in its social posts. Does it say which work it accepts and which it refuses? How far from its base will it travel, and how are prices set? Which memberships, insurance and warranties does it mention? Clear answers make a firm easier to compare.
Who pays for what
Merit decides the order, and we revisit it periodically. Nobody can pay for a place, or to alter how we judge. A firm already chosen may buy Pro, a fuller page of its own, or Top, a reserved slot at the front of a list it has already earned a place on. Both always carry their label, and readers pay nothing.
Look these up before you sign
Being listed is a starting point, not a certificate. Our lists do not vouch for any firm’s qualifications or insurance, so look these up before work starts or money changes hands.
Gas work, boilers included, needs an engineer from the Gas Safe Register: search by licence number and read the reverse of the ID card, which lists the categories of gas work covered. Electricians can join competent person schemes such as NICEIC or NAPIT, which keep online registers. TrustMark is the government-endorsed scheme for work on the home, and FENSA or CERTASS installers can certify that new windows and doors meet the Building Regulations. Ask whether the house is in a conservation area such as Chapel Allerton, Roundhay or Headingley, where extra rules can apply to windows, roofs and trees. Anyone who carries away waste must be a registered waste carrier, which the Environment Agency’s public register shows.
Check a dentist, hygienist or dental nurse at the General Dental Council and a doctor at the General Medical Council. Opticians answer to the General Optical Council. Physiotherapists, chiropodists and practitioner psychologists need HCPC registration (Health and Care Professions Council). Care homes, home care agencies and private clinics in England are regulated by the CQC (Care Quality Commission), whose inspection findings are published. Botox and other anti-wrinkle injections are prescription-only medicines, so ask who prescribes them. Counselling and hypnotherapy are not regulated by law, so ask whether the practitioner belongs to a body whose register the Professional Standards Authority has accredited. Vets are listed by the RCVS (Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons), while Ofsted inspects nurseries and childminders. Kennels, catteries and dog day care need a council licence.
Solicitors are on the Solicitors Regulation Authority register, and the Legal Ombudsman handles complaints a firm has not settled. Licensed conveyancers are regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers. Anyone arranging mortgages or giving financial advice needs Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorisation, and the Financial Services Register lets you check. Chartered surveyors are RICS members. Anyone can call themselves an accountant, so ask about ICAEW, ACCA or AAT membership.
Estate and letting agents must belong to a redress scheme approved by the government, for example The Property Ombudsman, while letting agents are also obliged to hold client money protection. A landlord must place a tenant’s deposit in a government-approved scheme, and a house let to five or more people from more than one household, sharing a kitchen or bathroom, needs an HMO licence from Leeds City Council. Tenancy rules in England are changing under the Renters’ Rights Act, so read the government’s current guidance before signing a student let.
A driving instructor shows a DVSA badge, green when fully qualified and pink for a trainee. Registers change, so treat all of this as a prompt to look things up.