1. Why work with Accessible Trades
People arranging home adaptations often need to move between council information, grant guidance, Companies House records, company websites and other public sources. Accessible Trades brings relevant information together in one research journey while explaining what each source does and does not prove.
The service is designed to support informed research rather than replace a council assessment, procurement process, occupational therapist, grant decision or contractor-checking procedure.
The strongest role for Accessible Trades is to help organisations offer residents a clearer starting point without presenting listed companies as council-approved, recommended or guaranteed.
2. How councils and partners could use the service
Resident signposting
Link residents to a local area page, practical guidance or the main search when your organisation cannot provide a contractor list.
Local information routes
Connect people to official council grant information alongside a separate company-research journey.
Evidence transparency
Show why a company may be relevant by linking to reviewed public evidence and clearly labelling current, undated or historic sources.
Information improvement
Share corrections, updated grant links or public contractor evidence so local information can be reviewed and improved over time.
3. What Accessible Trades can provide
- Published area pages combining local company records, council information and reviewed adaptation evidence.
- A searchable company journey using location, radius and adaptation or trade categories.
- Evidence explanations that distinguish public records, reviewed evidence, company-supplied profile content and paid enhanced presentation.
- Practical resident guidance covering grants, company checks, quotations, common adaptations and questions to ask.
- Correction and evidence-submission routes for public bodies, companies and members of the public.
- Aggregate service insights where appropriate, such as search demand, no-result searches and interaction trends, without exposing personal search histories.
Any partner-specific reporting, co-branded material, data export or technical integration would need to be agreed separately and assessed for privacy, accessibility, maintenance and operational effort.
4. What the service does not claim
- Listed companies are not automatically council-approved.
- Supporting evidence is not a guarantee of quality or availability.
- A registered office is not proof that a company serves an area.
- The service does not administer grants or determine eligibility.
- Accessible Trades does not appoint, manage or supervise contractors.
- Paid profile presentation does not change evidence status or ranking.
These boundaries should remain visible in any signposting arrangement so residents understand where the partner organisation’s role ends and the independent research journey begins.
5. How organisations can work with Accessible Trades
Organisations can contribute to a clearer resident journey without creating a formal approved-contractor list or changing how companies are assessed. Useful collaboration may include:
Resident signposting
Link residents and families to Accessible Trades as an independent starting point for researching potential home-adaptation companies.
Local information accuracy
Help identify corrections or updates to council, grant and local support information shown alongside the company-research journey.
Evidence sharing
Submit suitable public contractor lists, procurement records or adaptation-related sources for review under the published evidence methodology.
Service feedback
Share recurring resident needs, information gaps or accessibility issues that could improve the service and its guidance.
Any arrangement would be agreed individually and would not make Accessible Trades an approved-contractor list, grant administrator or endorsement service.
6. Data, accessibility and governance
Accessible Trades is built around public company information, reviewed public evidence and clearly separated company-supplied content. Partner work should preserve that separation and avoid creating an impression of approval where none exists.
- Use company number as the primary legal-entity identifier.
- Publish source links and explain evidence freshness.
- Keep personal case information outside public evidence records.
- Use aggregate analytics rather than individual user histories.
- Maintain accessible content, keyboard operation and clear language.
- Agree ownership for corrections, review dates and contact routes.
7. Discuss a council or partner opportunity
Use the contact form to describe your organisation, the residents or service users you support, the information route you are considering and what you would like to discuss.
Please do not include residents’ health information, case notes, financial details or identity documents.
Contact Accessible Trades