How Northants Recommends works
Our recommended lists help people across Northamptonshire find local businesses they can trust. Here’s exactly how we put them together.
Where the reviews come from
We use Google reviews, because they’re the most widely used review site and every business can collect them. For each category and town, we search Google for every business that serves the area.
Who makes the list
A business has to be rated 4.5 stars or higher from at least 10 reviews. Fewer than 10 reviews isn’t enough to judge a business fairly, so we leave those out until they have more.
How we rank them
We rank qualifying businesses on their rating, how many reviews they have and how recent those reviews are. A 5 star rating from 200 reviews counts for more than a 5 star rating from 12. We show the top 12 on each page.
How often we check
Every list is rechecked each month. New businesses that qualify are added, and anyone who drops below the bar is removed. Each page shows the date it was last checked.
Can businesses pay to be listed?
No. Nobody can pay to get on a list or to move up it. Businesses can pay for a featured listing, which is always clearly labelled and shown separately from the ranked top 12.
Spotted a mistake?
If a phone number, website or service is wrong, or you think we’ve missed a business, let us know here and we’ll check it at the next update.