Why choose us
Local vs national — the honest comparison
No marketing spin. Here's how we compare to the larger national stairlift chains on the things that actually matter.
| Point | Salford Stairlifts | Typical national chain |
|---|---|---|
| Local ownership | Family-run from Salford | Owned by national group |
| Sales model | Salaried surveyors, no commission | Commission-based salespeople |
| Typical install timeline | Same week for straight lifts | 1–2 weeks |
| Reconditioned curved | Bespoke quote after survey | From £3,500+ installed |
| New straight stairlift | From £1,995 installed | £2,500–£3,500 |
| Who answers the phone at 9pm | An on-call engineer | An out-of-hours call centre |
| Brand range | Independent — all major brands | Often tied to one or two brands |
| Free home survey | Yes — within 48 hours | Usually yes |
Where the price difference actually comes from
When two stairlift quotes for the same staircase come in £1,000 apart, it's almost never because one company is using a better lift. It's the cost of how the company is structured. National chains run TV advertising, regional sales offices, and commission-based salespeople who often take 10–15% of every job. Those costs have to be recovered somewhere — and they're recovered in the quote you get on your kitchen table.
A local family-run fitter has none of that. One yard in Salford, salaried surveyors, engineers on the payroll rather than subbed out, and almost all work coming from word of mouth and reviews. That's why our reconditioned straight stairlifts start at £995 installed and our new straight models at £1,995 — those are the same brands you'd be quoted £2,500–£3,500 for by the bigger chains.
The other thing that often gets lost is who looks after you afterwards. With a national chain, the engineer who fits the lift is rarely the engineer who comes back to repair it, and the after-hours number usually routes through an outsourced call centre. With us, the same engineer who fitted your lift is the one likely to come back to repair it, and the after-hours number is one of our own mobiles. That matters most when something goes wrong on a Sunday evening — which is, of course, when stairlifts always seem to break.
A few honest caveats. National chains do offer a couple of genuine advantages: same-week availability across the whole country, and slightly stronger manufacturer-backed extended warranties if you're prepared to pay for them. If you're moving house often, that portability can matter. For most Salford customers staying put, though, the trade-off lands in favour of local — see how much you'd save with our reconditioned vs new breakdown, or read about our family business background.