Of course, these standards are not a guarantee of good behaviour or good practices, but they remain a decent indication of a firm trying to do the right thing by its customers, and help to ensure our list is not compiled using financial metrics alone.
As a result, seven of our top 10 companies have either chartered or accredited status, as do 17 of the top 20.
The top 20 is where the rankings end this year. As per last year, businesses outside this group are now listed in alphabetical order, rather than based on the data.
We’ve done this so the list emphasises the companies themselves, rather than giving undue focus to a precise position in the rankings or how that position might have shifted year-on-year.
Indeed, sometimes firms' positions might change significantly over the year.