Who is England Trusted Trader?
England Trusted Trader is brought to you by Trusted Directory Services Ltd, or as we are more commonly known, TDS. We are based at the Minerva Mill in Alcester, just outside Stratford upon Avon in Warwickshire.
We have been working in the Trading Standards arena since 2012 when we were asked by CTSI if we could assist them to migrate and then set up the TSI Consumer Code Directory, which at the time was running on the OFT website.
Our background is designing, build and managing commercial business directories in the UK and USA, something we have been doing since 2005. Our team manages over 2.5 million business listings annually.
In 2014, CTSI recommended us to Edinburgh Trading Standards who were looking to start a brand new Trusted Trader scheme, but utilising the Dundee Code of Practice. We used our commercial industry experience to build a sophisticated platform that exceeded requirements, removed as much manual overhead as possible, whilst being very simple to use for both tradespeople and local residents.
In 2015 TDS was set up, as we decided to separate our commercial directories and any future local authority business. We then launched the trustedtrader.scot website.
By 2018 the Edinburgh Trusted Trader scheme was well established and East Lothian, Fife and Renfrewshire Trusted Trader schemes had migrated over to trustedtrader.scot.
In 2021 we were asked to design a separate top level platform by SCOTSS Trading Standards, that would be a National Scottish scheme, that would allow consumers to search for any local authority approved or vetted trader. This brought Trusted Traders under the same roof as Scottish Buy with Confidence members, as well as some individually run local authority schemes.
The new platform, approvedtrader.scot doesn’t replace or duplicate any schemes, it simply brings all the official assured trader schemes together from across Scotland, as well as signpost small businesses to their nearest local authority scheme, encouraging them to join. This gives more choice to the consumer and more exposure to the business as well as the local scheme.
As of June 2023, trustedtrader.scot has 15 local authority trader schemes across Scotland either running on the platform, in build or in procurement.
In 2022, Norfolk Trading Standards approached us and asked if we could provide a similar platform that we use in Scotland and create an English version.
Norfolk Trusted Trader migrated to the new platform in December 2022 and Suffolk County Council will be joining the platform this year.
Follow the links below to learn more, see case studies or view promotional videos.
Home | About Us | Norfolk | Edinburgh | Renfrewshire | East Lothian | Angus | Fife | Scheme Videos
If you would like more information, or would like to discuss the possibility of setting up or migrating a Trusted Trader scheme, please email Steve Richardson, Managing Director of Trusted Directory Services (TDS). He will be able to answer any questions, arrange a meeting or demonstration via teams or in person.
Alternatively you can telephone Steve Richardson on 01789 614 037.
Our Philosophy
- We utilise real world ongoing commercial experience. We build our solutions inhouse, which means systems work exactly how they need to, can be continually developed and new functionality added as required. With no licensing costs or any third party restrictions, all costs are kept to a minimum.
- Our UK based team all have first-hand commercial experience, working with global data partners from Yell in the UK, Yext in the USA and Uberall in Europe. We bring this industry expertise and efficiency to local authorities. We free up precious Trading Standards resource by handling the majority of the administration and management related to a scheme.
- Schemes are funded by annual membership fees with opportunities for cost recovery for Trading Standards resource, such as time spent vetting and checking internal intelligence.
- We have an economic formula that can measure what a scheme adds to the local economy.
- Allocated Trading Standards resource have access to a simple dashboard, with complete transparent self-service reporting that gives an instant snapshot to the health of a scheme or any issues.
Our History
We have been working in the Trading Standards arena since 2012 when we were asked by CTSI if we could assist them to migrate and then set up the TSI Consumer Code Directory, which at the time was running on the OFT website.
Our background is designing, build and managing commercial business directories in the UK and USA, something we have been doing since 2005. Our team manages over 2.5 million business listings annually.
In 2014, CTSI recommended us to Edinburgh Trading Standards who were looking to start a brand new Trusted Trader scheme, but utilising the Dundee Code of Practice. We used our commercial industry experience to build a sophisticated platform that exceeded requirements, removed as much manual overhead as possible, whilst being very simple to use for both tradespeople and local residents.
In 2015 TDS was set up, as we decided to separate our commercial directories and any future local authority business. We then launched the trustedtrader.scot website.
By 2018 the Edinburgh Trusted Trader scheme was well established and East Lothian, Fife and Renfrewshire Trusted Trader schemes had migrated over to trustedtrader.scot.
In 2021 we were asked to design a separate top level platform by SCOTSS Trading Standards, that would be a National Scottish scheme, that would allow consumers to search for any local authority approved or vetted trader. This brought Trusted Traders under the same roof as Scottish Buy with Confidence members, as well as some individually run local authority schemes.
The new platform, approvedtrader.scot doesn’t replace or duplicate any schemes, it simply brings all the official assured trader schemes together from across Scotland, as well as signpost small businesses to their nearest local authority scheme, encouraging them to join. This gives more choice to the consumer and more exposure to the business as well as the local scheme.
As of June 2023, trustedtrader.scot has 15 local authority trader schemes across Scotland either running on the platform, in build or in procurement.
England Trusted Trader
In 2022, Norfolk Trading Standards approached us and asked if we could provide a similar platform that we use in Scotland and create an English version.
Norfolk Trusted Trader migrated to the new platform in December 2022 and Suffolk County Council will be joining the platform this year.
Next Steps - learn more or get in touch
Follow the links below to learn more, see case studies or view promotional videos.
Home | About Us | Norfolk | Edinburgh | Renfrewshire | East Lothian | Angus | Fife | Scheme Videos
If you would like more information, or would like to discuss the possibility of setting up or migrating a Trusted Trader scheme, please email Steve Richardson, Managing Director of Trusted Directory Services (TDS). He will be able to answer any questions, arrange a meeting or demonstration via teams or in person.
Alternatively you can telephone Steve Richardson on 01789 614 037.