The Which? Awards were launched in 2007 to celebrate and reward the very best businesses in the UK. This year's winners will be revealed in a special ceremony in London on the 23rd May. 

The Which? Trusted Trader of the Year 2018 recognises those traders that have gone the extra mile for their customers. The Trader of the Year award is always the final award of the ceremony and winners find themselves sharing the stage with some giants of the corporate world.

Like the other Which? Award categories, companies can only be included in the shortlist if their services have been reviewed or assessed by Which?. Therefore, only traders signed up to the Which? Trusted Trader scheme can be judged for the Which? Awards shortlist. Each of our Which? Trusted traders of the month were included in a longlist, along with other endorsed traders that had impressed our panel of judges over the course of the last 12 months.

Find out how you could be the next Which? Trusted trader of the month. Read on for details about the shortlisted traders.

Trader of the Year 2018 shortlist

We'll be taking a closer look at each of our shortlisted traders in the coming weeks before the ceremony here on the Which? Trusted Traders website. Here's a brief introduction to each one, in alphabetical order, together with some reasons why they were picked.

Furlonger Tree Services

Furlonger Tree Services has been shortlisted for its high number of glowing reviews and for taking the time to personally respond to all of them in detail. One customer commented:

‘Couldn’t be more pleased with the result, working practices and the office service’.

Find out more about Furlonger Tree Services on its Which? Trusted Traders profile page.

Tincknell Heating

Tincknell Heating has been shortlisted for being awarded Trader of the Month in March 2017. It has a high volume of consistently great feedback and makes the effort to personally respond to the majority of its reviews. The judges were particularly impressed by a heart-warming customer review about the service Tincknell Heating provided to a customer with dementia. The customer said: 

‘The fitters were clean and tidy, competent, cheerful and efficient. No mess, no fuss, just as you would want it. As a very thoughtful gesture mum also received a bouquet of flowers to welcome her back home.’

See more details about Tincknell Heating on the Which? Trusted Traders site.

Picking the shortlist

We look at the trader's performance over a 12 month period and account for performance at assessment stage and engagement throughout the scheme. The shortlisted traders had high scores across each of these areas. The criteria that the traders are judged on include:

  • progress: willingness to improve their business and customer service shown throughout the assessment process and beyond
  • engagement: trader interaction with the scheme and utilization of their endorsement
  • reviews: taken from the customer reviews portion of the website
  • community Insight: including direct feedback from traders and customers

More on this…