TrustList Awards 2027

The first TrustList Awards open for entries today, and are decided in 2027 by an independent panel judging against criteria published before anyone enters.

How this edition is decided

It is judged, not counted. TrustList has deliberately not run an award decided by review volume, because the review base is not yet deep enough for that to mean anything — and an award decided by thin data is worse than no award. So every category here is assessed by a panel of practitioners against the criteria named below, all of which are public before entry closes.

It is free to enter. Nobody pays to be considered, and nothing about an entry is for sale — not a shortlist place, not a second look, not a kinder reading. The only thing that decides an award is the work the panel reads. If that ever stops being true, the programme is not worth running.

Everything is verifiable. Each result issues a badge with its own verification page, naming the edition, category and date. Anyone can check it, including a buyer who has never heard of us.

If we turn your entry down

We reject an entry only when it cannot be judged: the listing is not yours, the category does not fit the work, the same case study is entered twice, or something that would disqualify it is left unresolved. We say why, and wherever we can we say it before entries close, so there is time to fix it.

Being turned down and not winning are different things. A rejected entry is one the panel could not consider. An entry the panel read and did not shortlist was judged, which is all any entry is promised.

Judging outcomes are final. We will not revisit a score on request, because an award that can be argued about privately is not worth putting on your homepage. If we reject an entry as ineligible and you think we are wrong, say so — that appeal is free and a different person looks at it.

While the window is open

Your entry stays editable until entries close. Fix a typo, add a case study that finished in December, attach evidence a client only cleared in January. It is frozen on 31 January, and the version the panel reads is the version that was there at that moment.

Eligibility checks are free too. Ask and a member of staff — never a judge — reads your entry and tells you whether it is complete and eligible: whether the category fits, whether your evidence is actually evidence, whether you have declared what you need to declare. They will not tell you whether your entry is good, and they cannot: the people who decide that have not seen it yet. You can ask up to three times per entry, one at a time. Checks stop seven days before entries close, so there is time to act on what they find.

The categories

Each category below has thousands of live listings behind it, so a shortlist is a real contest rather than a formality. A category with no field is not an award.

Web Development Partner of the Year

For the team that builds the web software other businesses depend on — commerce, portals, internal tools and the unglamorous integration work behind them.

What the panel looks at. Evidence of shipped work, how the team handles a brief that changes mid-project, and what happens after launch. Maintenance records count for as much as launch screenshots.

Mobile App Development Partner of the Year

For studios building apps people keep on the first screen — native or cross-platform, consumer or field-force.

What the panel looks at. Retention and crash data where an entrant can share it, store ratings, and how release cadence held up once the original team moved on.

UI & UX Design Team of the Year

For design that measurably changed how a product performs, rather than how it photographs.

What the panel looks at. A before and an after, with numbers attached — task completion, drop-off, support volume. Research method matters; a redesign nobody tested is a repaint.

Web Design Studio of the Year

For studios turning a brand into a site that loads fast, reads well and converts — on the phone as much as the desktop.

What the panel looks at. Craft, accessibility, real-world performance on mid-range devices, and whether the client could still run the site a year later.

E-commerce Partner of the Year

For the partner behind storefronts that survive a peak trading day and the migration nobody wanted to do.

What the panel looks at. Trading outcomes, platform migrations completed without losing customers, and how checkout and fulfilment behave under load.

Search & Organic Growth Agency of the Year

For growth earned through work that survives an algorithm update, rather than a spike that does not.

What the panel looks at. Durable traffic and revenue, method disclosed openly, and the client relationships that lasted long enough to prove it. Undisclosed link buying is disqualifying.

IT Services Provider of the Year

For the provider that keeps everything else running — support, infrastructure, security and the migration weekend nobody sees.

What the panel looks at. Response and resolution evidence, incident handling written up honestly, and retention. A provider whose clients stay is telling you something.

Who can enter

Any company with a live TrustList listing in the relevant category, claimed by someone at that company. You enter your own listing — nominations on behalf of someone else are not accepted, because the panel needs an entrant who can answer questions about the work.

A listing may enter up to three categories where the work genuinely differs. The same case study submitted to three categories will be read as one entry.

Dates

Entries open 10 September 2026 and close 31 January 2027. Judging runs through February, shortlists are published in March, and winners are announced in April 2027. Those dates are firm; if any of them move, the change is published here rather than quietly applied.