Rated People Acquired by Checkatrade — UK Trade Platform Market Consolidates
What happened
Checkatrade Group has acquired selected assets from Rated People — including the brand and website — in a deal announced in September 2026. Rated People Limited entered Creditors' Voluntary Liquidation on 16 September 2026, and Checkatrade moved to absorb the platform shortly after.
Under the new arrangement, jobs posted on Rated People will now be matched with Checkatrade members. Homeowners visiting ratedpeople.com are being redirected to Checkatrade's network. Existing Rated People tradespeople memberships and subscriptions were not included in the asset purchase — meaning tradespeople who paid for Rated People leads have effectively lost that channel.
Checkatrade Group — owned by HomeServe, which was itself acquired by Brookfield Asset Management for £4.1 billion in 2023 — now operates both the Checkatrade and Rated People brands, making it the dominant find-a-trade platform in the UK.
What this means for tradespeople
The UK's trade platform market just got smaller. Where tradespeople once had a genuine choice between Checkatrade, Rated People, and MyBuilder, one of those options has now been absorbed.
For plumbers, electricians, and builders who relied on Rated People for leads, the immediate impact is a lost lead channel. Those who paid monthly subscriptions have no obvious route to recover that spend.
More broadly, this consolidation means less competition on pricing and terms for tradespeople. When one platform dominates, it sets the fees. We've already seen Checkatrade raise membership costs for some trades — and with less competitive pressure, there's less reason to keep them down.
It's also a reminder of the risk of building your business on rented ground. Platforms can change terms, raise prices, or disappear entirely. Your Google Business Profile and Google reviews, by contrast, are free, permanent, and entirely under your control.
What to do about it
If you were on Rated People, don't rush to sign up for another paid platform. Instead:
- Make sure your Google Business Profile is fully set up — it's free and reaches more homeowners than any paid platform
- Focus on collecting recent Google reviews — they're now the single biggest trust signal for homeowners searching online
- Compare the real cost of Checkatrade versus investing in Google reviews before signing up
TapReview is a £9/month tool that helps UK tradespeople get more Google reviews with one tap. Try it free →
Source: Lewis Silkin — Checkatrade Group acquires selected assets from Rated People