1. About TopTenTrades
TopTenTrades (toptentrades.com) is a UK ethical business directory. We independently verify and score UK businesses against five social responsibility criteria — governance, community investment, tax contribution, inclusive employment, and cause promotion — and publish the results publicly.
TopTenTrades is operated as a non-commercial public interest service. We do not accept payment for listings, rankings, or editorial content. No business can pay to improve its score or position in the directory.
2. Acceptance of terms
By accessing or using toptentrades.com you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the site.
These terms apply to all users of the site including visitors, businesses that are listed, and anyone who submits nominations, reports, or contact forms.
3. The service
TopTenTrades provides:
- A searchable directory of UK businesses independently scored for social responsibility
- Detailed profile pages for verified businesses including score breakdowns and contact links
- A nomination form for the public to submit businesses for review
- A report function to flag inaccurate or outdated listing information
We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the service at any time. We will endeavour to provide reasonable notice of significant changes.
4. Business listings
4a. How listings are determined
All listings are based on independently verified data drawn from public registers including Companies House, HMRC, the Charity Commission, the Living Wage Foundation, and employment tribunal records. Businesses do not control their score, their score breakdown, or their position in the directory.
4b. Accuracy of listings
We make every reasonable effort to ensure listing data is accurate and up to date. However, public register data can lag behind real-world changes. If you believe a listing contains inaccurate information, please use the report function on the relevant business profile or contact us.
We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of any listing and accept no liability for decisions made in reliance on listing data.
4c. Listed businesses
If your business is listed on TopTenTrades you did not necessarily apply for or consent to the listing — listings may be created based on public data and community nominations. You have the right to:
- Request a correction to factual inaccuracies in your listing
- Submit supporting evidence to improve your score at the next review cycle
- Request removal of your listing if you believe listing causes disproportionate harm
Removal requests are assessed on a case-by-case basis. As a public interest directory, we may decline removal requests where the listing is factually accurate and in the public interest.
4d. Contact link tracking
Contact links on business profiles (website, phone, email) are tracked to measure how many referrals each business receives through TopTenTrades. Tracking is anonymous — we record only a hashed IP address and the type of click. No personal data is passed to the business from this tracking. See our Privacy Policy for full details.
5. Nominations
Anyone may nominate a UK business for review using our nomination form. By submitting a nomination you confirm that:
- The information and evidence you provide is accurate to the best of your knowledge
- You are not submitting a nomination for a malicious purpose (e.g. to harm a competitor)
- You have no undisclosed financial interest in whether the nomination succeeds
Submitting a nomination does not guarantee a listing. All nominations are subject to independent verification. We reserve the right to reject nominations without providing reasons.
Deliberate submission of false evidence in a nomination may constitute an offence under the Fraud Act 2006.
6. Your submissions
When you submit content to TopTenTrades — whether through the nomination form, contact form, or report function — you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use, store, and process that content for the purpose of operating the service.
You retain ownership of any content you submit. We will not publish your personal submissions publicly without your consent, except where required by law.
You must not submit content that is:
- Knowingly false, misleading, or defamatory
- In breach of any third party's intellectual property rights
- Unlawful, harmful, threatening, or abusive
- Spam or automated submissions
We reserve the right to disregard or delete submissions that violate these conditions.
7. Acceptable use
You may use TopTenTrades for lawful personal and commercial purposes. You must not:
- Scrape, crawl, or systematically download listing data without our written permission
- Use automated tools to submit forms, generate nominations, or interact with the site at scale
- Attempt to manipulate scores, rankings, or listing content through technical means
- Attempt to access areas of the site that are not publicly available
- Introduce malicious code, viruses, or disruptive material
- Impersonate TopTenTrades or misrepresent an affiliation with TopTenTrades
- Use listing data to build competing directories or aggregated datasets without permission
Breach of these conditions may result in access being restricted and, where appropriate, legal action.
8. Intellectual property
The TopTenTrades name, logo, website design, scoring methodology, and original written content are the intellectual property of TopTenTrades and may not be reproduced without written permission.
Business names, logos, and descriptions belong to their respective owners. We use this information under fair use provisions for the purpose of providing a public interest directory.
Data sourced from public registers (Companies House, HMRC, Charity Commission, etc.) is subject to the terms of those registers, which typically permit public use. Attribution is provided on individual business profiles.
If you believe we have used your intellectual property incorrectly, please contact us and we will respond within 5 working days.
9. Disclaimers
TopTenTrades is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind, express or implied. Specifically, we make no warranty that:
- Listing data is complete, accurate, or current at any given time
- A listed business will meet your specific requirements or expectations
- The site will be available without interruption or error
- A Social Ethics Score is a guarantee of a business's behaviour or quality of service
A Social Ethics Score reflects publicly available data at the point of assessment. It is not a recommendation to use or avoid any business, and should be considered alongside your own due diligence.
10. Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by UK law, TopTenTrades shall not be liable for:
- Any direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential loss arising from use of the site or reliance on listing data
- Loss of business, revenue, profit, or goodwill
- Any decision made in reliance on a business's Social Ethics Score
- The conduct or performance of any listed business
- Temporary unavailability of the site
Nothing in these terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or any matter that cannot be excluded by law.
11. Third-party links
Business profile pages contain links to external websites (business websites, phone numbers, email addresses). These links are provided for convenience. TopTenTrades has no control over external sites and accepts no responsibility for their content, availability, or privacy practices.
The presence of a link to an external website does not constitute an endorsement of that website or its content beyond the ethical assessment reflected in the business's Social Ethics Score.
12. Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes arising from use of TopTenTrades shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
If any provision of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.
13. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms from time to time. Material changes will be indicated by updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of the site after a change constitutes acceptance of the revised terms.
We will not retroactively apply changed terms to past submissions or actions taken under previous versions of these terms.
14. Contact
For questions about these terms, to report a concern, or to make a request relating to a listing, please use our contact form: