We're an independent UK trade directory with a simple idea — instead of hundreds of listings, just give people the five best options in their area.
Top5Trades was founded by Stu, someone who spent the better part of two decades working as a plumber across the UK — fitting bathrooms, fixing boilers, and turning up to jobs that other people hadn't bothered to finish. After relocating to New Zealand, the idea for this site came from a simple frustration: watching friends and family back home struggle to find a tradesperson they could actually trust.
The problem wasn't a shortage of tradespeople. It was the noise. Directories with hundreds of unvetted listings. Review platforms where anyone could post anything. Lead generation sites that sold the same enquiry to five companies at once. None of it actually helped homeowners find the best person for the job.
So we built something different. Not a marketplace, not a lead gen platform — just an honest, independently researched shortlist of the five tradespeople we'd genuinely recommend in each area. The kind of list you'd get if you asked someone who actually knows the trade.
Top5Trades is run by EightySix Digital, a New Zealand-based digital business.
Our selection process is the same for every trade and every location. Here's how it works:
We start by identifying the active, trading businesses in each location and trade category — looking at who's actually operating locally rather than just who ranks well in directories.
We look at verified reviews across Google, Checkatrade, Which? Trusted Traders, Trustpilot and other platforms. We look for consistency, volume and recency — not just an overall star rating.
For trades where professional accreditation matters — Gas Safe registration for boiler engineers, NICEIC or NAPIT for electricians — we check these as part of our assessment.
We pick the five businesses we'd genuinely recommend. The list is editorial — no business pays to appear in the organic Top 5. Lists are reviewed and updated at least every three months.
Each trade page has one Featured placement available — a highlighted spot that sits above the organic Top 5. This is clearly labelled and is our only paid product. The Featured business is chosen by us and must meet our quality standards. The organic Top 5 below it is always independently selected and cannot be influenced by payment.