Choosing a stairlift company is not like choosing a plumber or a painter. You are trusting someone with your safety, your independence, and often a significant amount of money. So before you pick anyone, here is what we think you should actually check, and why.
Why This Page Exists
If you have searched online for “best stairlift company UK,” you will have found a lot of comparison sites and top ten lists. Some of these are genuinely independent. Many are not. Some are lead generation businesses that get paid a fee for every enquiry they pass on that becomes an order, whoever that enquiry goes to. Others are stairlift companies themselves, comparing everyone else against their own products.
That is not necessarily dishonest, but it is worth knowing who is behind a list before you trust it. So instead of asking you to trust a badge or a slogan, here is exactly what we can show you, and how you can check it yourself.
What We Think You Should Look For
- Independence – Is the company tied to selling only one manufacturer’s stairlifts, or can they genuinely recommend whichever model suits your stairs and your budget? A company that only sells one brand has an incentive to make your staircase fit their product, rather than finding the right product for your staircase.
- Verified, checkable reviews Anyone can put testimonials on their own website. Look for reviews on a platform with independent verification and moderation, and check how many there are, not just the star rating.
- Recognised accreditation Look for membership of a trade body with an enforceable code of practice, ideally one recognised by the Trading Standards Institute, not just a logo with no substance behind it.
- Approved by people with nothing to gain Being approved to carry out work funded by local authority Disabled Facilities Grants means a public body has vetted the company and is prepared to put its own name behind the recommendation. That is a different kind of endorsement to a customer review, because the council has no commercial relationship with the company beyond the approval itself.
- Enough people on the ground to actually turn up A company can look big online and still be two people and a van. Ask how many engineers and surveyors they actually have, and how quickly they can get to you if something goes wrong.
- How long they have actually been trading, and doing what “Years of experience” claims get inflated a lot in this industry, sometimes by adding up the combined years of everyone on the team, or by counting time spent working for someone else as if it were time spent running the company. Ask how long the company itself has been trading, and how long the people leading it have personally worked in the industry.
Where We Stand Against Our Own Checklist
Independence We are a genuinely independent supplier. We are authorised dealers for multiple manufacturers, so we recommend whichever stairlift or home lift actually fits your staircase or home and your budget, not whichever one we are contracted to sell.
Verified Reviews We are a Which? Trusted Trader, with 76 independently verified customer reviews and a 100% recommend rate at the time of writing. Reviews on Which? Trusted Traders go through their own moderation, not ours. You can read them directly on the Which? Trusted Traders website rather than taking our word for it. We also actively collect reviews on our Google Business Profile for both our Calne and Ferndown branches.
Accreditation We are members of the British Healthcare Trades Association, and adhere to their code of practice, which is approved by the Trading Standards Institute specifically to protect consumers buying mobility equipment.
Local authority approval We are an approved contractor for Disabled Facilities Grant work with local authorities across our coverage area, completing hundreds of DFG-funded installations a year. This means local authorities have vetted us and are willing to put their own approval behind our work, not just our customers.
People on the ground We have a team of 9 engineers and 2 surveyors on the road across Wiltshire, Dorset, Hampshire, Bath, Bristol, Gloucestershire, Swindon and Berkshire, completing around 500 installations a year, which makes us one of the largest regional independent stairlift and home lift dealers in the South of England.
Experience, 1st Choice Stairlifts has been trading since 2004, 22 years. Our directors, Coral and Colin, each have their own personal track record before that: Coral has worked in the stairlift industry for 30 years, and Colin for 38 years, both having worked for major UK stairlift manufacturers before setting up the business together.
The Bottom Line
We would rather you checked all of this yourself than take our word for any of it. Which? Trusted Trader reviews, BHTA membership, and local authority approved contractor status can all be independently verified. If a company cannot point you to something you can check outside of their own website, it is worth asking why.
If you would like to talk to us about a stairlift, home lift, or wheelchair lift, or you simply want to ask a question before you decide anything, call us on 01249 814528 or visit one of our showrooms in Calne or Ferndown.
Author & Technical Review
Written by Coral Affleck-Major, Managing Director and Co-owner of 1st Choice Stairlifts.
Coral has worked in the stairlift and home accessibility industry since 1996. Before co-founding 1st Choice Stairlifts in 2004, she spent eight years working for leading stairlift manufacturers, giving her experience from both the manufacturing and independent sides of the industry. Over the past 30 years, she has helped thousands of customers understand their options and make informed decisions about stairlifts, home lifts and accessibility solutions.
Technically reviewed by Colin Major, Technical Director and Co-owner.
Colin has worked in the stairlift industry since 1987, including 15 years with Stannah before co-founding 1st Choice Stairlifts. With over 38 years of engineering experience, he reviews technical content for accuracy and draws on extensive knowledge of stairlift installation, servicing, fault diagnosis and complex accessibility solutions.
Our Commitment to Accurate, Independent Advice
As an independent stairlift specialist, we recommend products from a carefully selected range of leading manufacturers. Every article in our Advice Hub is based on real-world industry experience and is reviewed to help ensure it remains accurate, practical and up to date.
First Published: 20/07/2026
Last reviewed:
This article is reviewed periodically and updated whenever products, industry guidance or relevant information changes.
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