How the directory works

Last updated 14 November 2026

The QuoteSpanner directory helps people find a local tradesperson. It is free to search and you do not need an account. A listing here is not a recommendation: we do not vet, employ or guarantee the businesses listed, and any work you agree is between you and the business. Always check a tradesperson's insurance, references and registrations (such as Gas Safe for gas work) yourself.

1. Where listings come from

From the business itself. A tradesperson can add their business or claim an existing listing. These are marked "Managed by the business".
Companies House. Active UK companies registered under a building trade, taken from the public register. We show the company's name, its trade, its registered town and the first half of its postcode, with a link to its official record.
OpenStreetMap. Trade businesses recorded on the open map, with the phone number or website published there.

Listings from public records are marked as not yet checked by the business. The area shown for a company is its registered office, which may not be where it works.

2. How reviews are checked

Reviews must be genuine. Writing or arranging fake reviews is against UK consumer law. To keep them honest:

A review only appears after the writer confirms it through a link sent to their email address.
Each person may review a business once, and may only write a few reviews in a month.
The writer must confirm they were a customer, and say what work was done and when.
A business cannot review itself, and cannot remove a review. It can reply publicly and report a review it believes is not from a real customer; we then check it.
If a business suddenly receives an unusual number of reviews, new ones are read by a person before they appear.
The order of search results uses a cautious average, so one or two reviews cannot push a business far up or down.
We do not pay for reviews, and nobody can pay to change their rating or their position in results.

We remove reviews that are not from a real customer, are abusive, or contain personal details. We do not remove a review just because it is negative.

3. How results are ordered

"Best match" shows businesses that manage their own listing first (their details are up to date), then orders by rating, then by distance. You can also sort by nearest or by rating. No business pays to appear or to appear higher.

4. If you are a tradesperson

Claim or add your business: create a free account, find your business and claim it, or add it as new. Claiming is checked before it is approved, so nobody else can take your listing.
Remove your listing: open the listing and choose "Ask us to remove it". You do not need an account, it is free, and we make sure the business is not added again.
Correct your details: claim the listing and edit it, or email us.

5. Personal information

Listings hold business details only. For listings from public records we rely on our legitimate interest in helping the public find tradespeople, using information that is already public, and we remove a listing on request.
Reviewers: we keep your email address to confirm your review and prevent repeat reviews. It is never shown or shared, and we show only your first name and initial. Ask us at any time to delete your review.
Searches: the postcode or town you type is sent to a postcode lookup service to find its position. We do not record who searched for what.
To limit abuse we keep a scrambled form of the internet address a review was sent from. It cannot be turned back into the address.

The rest of our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service also apply.

6. Data credits

Contains public sector information from Companies House, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Postcode positions: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right.

7. Contact

Email: support@quotespanner.co.uk