Methodology

The Editorial Process

Every brand on ProperSofa goes through the same four-step process before it gets a rating, a brand page, or a city-level showroom listing:

1. 1.
   Brand identification. We identify UK-active sofa brands with physical showrooms using public retail directories, parent-company filings (Companies House where relevant), and industry sources. Online-only brands are flagged separately so users know they can't test-sit before buying.
2. 2.
   Showroom extraction & verification. Showroom addresses come from each brand's official website (store-locator pages). Every postcode is geocoded via the free UK postcodes.io API for precise map coordinates. Phone numbers and street addresses are cross-checked against publicly available records.
3. 3.
   Data enrichment. Each brand profile is enriched with: Trustpilot score + review count (live snapshot at last update), warranty terms (frame, springs, fabric), delivery window + cost, finance options, returns policy, sustainability initiatives, and a price-tier classification. All sourced from brand-published materials.
4. 4.
   Rating & review. Benny's 1-to-5 cushion rating is the synthesis: Trustpilot alignment, accessibility (showroom footprint), warranty + returns clarity, and value-for-tier assessment. Brands with low review scores cannot receive top-tier ratings. Brands with 1-2 showrooms cap at 4/5 unless they justify the spread.

Update Cadence

• •Trustpilot scores are re-checked when the brand page is reviewed (typically quarterly, more frequently for high-traffic brands).
• •Showroom data (addresses, opening, closures) is reviewed at least twice a year. Reader-reported corrections are processed within 48 hours and logged on the corrections page.
• •Editorial guides are updated when brand-level facts change (e.g., warranty term changes, store closures, new finance offerings). Each guide displays a last modified date.
• •Ratings are reviewed annually unless a brand-level event (acquisition, mass-store-closure, insolvency proceedings) triggers a re-rating sooner.

What We Don't Do

Honesty about limits is part of the methodology:

• •We don't test-sit every showroom personally. ProperSofa is a research-based directory, not a visit-based review site. If you want first-hand impressions of a specific store, the brand page links directly to recent Trustpilot reviews for that location.
• •We don't accept paid placement. Ratings cannot be bought; brand pages are not sponsored. We may run advertising on the site (currently AdSense), but that's separate from the editorial content.
• •We earn affiliate commissions when you click out to brand sites via some of our links — see the footer disclosure. These commissions don't affect ratings.
• •We don't cover online-only brands without UK warehouse/customer service presence (e.g., grey-market overseas drop-shippers) — we want every listed brand to be reachable for warranty and returns.