How we check and rank vendors

Every guide on The Shortlist follows the same rules. They are written down here so you can hold us to them.

Where every fact comes from

A vendor gets onto a list only after we have read its own website. Prices, group sizes, halal status, lead times and client names are copied from the vendor's own pages, and each one carries the date we read it and a link to the page. We don't use figures from directories, marketplaces, review sites or blog round-ups. If a vendor doesn't publish something, the listing says nothing about it.

When a vendor sends us its current rate card, its prices are marked "Confirmed by vendor" with the date. That mark only appears on prices the vendor has sent in writing.

How often prices are checked

Every guide shows the date it was last updated, and every price shows the date it was checked. We recheck each guide at least once a month. When a price changes, the date moves with it. Dates never move unless something on the page was checked again.

How a list is ordered

Vendors that suit company events and publish more go higher: a starting price, group sizes, what is included, how far ahead to book. A caterer with a per-head price and a minimum order beats one with only an enquiry form. The order is ours. Vendors can't see it before it is published and can't change it.

What we don't do

We don't sell places in a ranked list, and we don't move a vendor up or down because it pays or doesn't.
We don't use affiliate links or take a commission on bookings.
We don't publish copy written by vendors. Vendors can send corrections, which we check against their own site before changing anything.
We don't use logos, promotional flyers or AI-generated pictures as photos. Photos are the vendor's own pictures of its work, credited to the vendor.

Corrections

If a price is wrong, a vendor has closed, or we've got a fact wrong, email [email protected] with the page and what should change. We check the vendor's own site and fix confirmed errors within the week. Every correction is logged on the changelog with the date.

Using our data

You're welcome to quote our prices, tables and figures in articles, reports and presentations, with a link back to the page you used. Each guide and data page has a "Cite this page" line and a download of its table. Journalists can email [email protected] for anything not on the site.