Rated People Goes Into Liquidation — Brand and Website Acquired by Checkatrade
What happened
Rated People Limited entered Creditors' Voluntary Liquidation on 16 September 2026. The following day, the Checkatrade Group — a subsidiary of Canadian asset management firm Brookfield Corporation — purchased the Rated People brand and website.
All tradesperson accounts on Rated People were immediately closed on 16 September. Crucially, memberships and accounts are not transferring to Checkatrade. Any tradesperson who wants to continue receiving leads from homeowners using the Rated People website must create a new Checkatrade account from scratch.
Homeowners can still post jobs on ratedpeople.com, but those leads now go to Checkatrade members instead. Reviews earned on Rated People stay on the platform — Checkatrade has said tradespeople who join will be able to import their Rated People reviews "at some point in the future," but no timeline has been given.
The liquidation is being managed by the S&W Group. Questions about previous memberships or refunds should go to ratedpeople@swgroup.com, though no details have been confirmed about whether former members will receive any money back.
What this means for tradespeople
This is one of the biggest shake-ups in UK trade platforms in years. Rated People was one of the three main pay-per-lead platforms alongside MyBuilder and Checkatrade. Its disappearance leaves Checkatrade in an even more dominant position.
If you were paying for Rated People leads, those leads have stopped. Your profile and reviews are frozen. And if you want to keep that lead pipeline, you'll be paying Checkatrade's membership fees instead — which can run to £120+ per month depending on your trade and area.
This is a reminder of the risk of building your business on a platform you don't control. Rated People tradespeople woke up on 16 September to find their accounts closed, their leads gone, and their reviews stranded.
TapReview is a £9/month tool that helps UK tradespeople get more Google reviews by sending automated review requests via WhatsApp and SMS after every job. Google reviews belong to your Google Business Profile — they go where you go, regardless of what happens to any platform.
What to do about it
- If you were on Rated People, decide whether to join Checkatrade or redirect that budget elsewhere. Compare the cost of Checkatrade membership against investing in Google reviews.
- Prioritise reviews you own. Google reviews live on your Business Profile permanently. Platform reviews can vanish overnight, as Rated People just proved.
- Diversify your lead sources. Don't rely on a single platform. A strong Google presence, word-of-mouth referrals, and your own website work together to protect you from platform shutdowns.
Source: MyJobQuote — Rated People Acquired by Checkatrade