Citizens Advice Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale and Trafford

What Citizens Advice Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale and Trafford does

Citizens Advice Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale and Trafford (trading as Citizens Advice SORT) is a UK registered charity (No: 1171817) and private limited company (Company No: 8290395) delivering free, confidential, and impartial advice to residents across the four Greater Manchester boroughs. Operating as a local member of the national Citizens Advice network, the organization was formed in 2017 to consolidate advice services across Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale, and Trafford, building on the Citizens Advice movement's 85+ year presence in Greater Manchester. It is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 617695) for certain advice activities and operates from a Manchester headquarters at The Express Building, 9 Great Ancoats St.

Name

Citizens Advice Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale and Trafford

Legal name

Citizens Advice SORT Group Ltd

Website

https://casort.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1939

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Citizens Advice SORT is a UK charity providing free, confidential, and impartial advice on debt, housing, benefits, employment, energy, family, consumer, and immigration issues to residents across the Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale, and Trafford boroughs of Greater Manchester.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Advisory Services

NAICS

Individual and Family Services (6241), Other Individual and Family Services (62419), Community Food and Housing, and Emergency and Other Relief Services (6242)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Financial Assistance & Benefits Navigation Services (BPAGAEAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Housing Assistance & Homeless Services (BPAGAEAB)

Keywords

• Free legal advice
• Debt counselling services
• Welfare benefits assistance
• Housing advisory services
• Community advice charities

Headquarters

HQ city

Manchester

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Charitable donations and grants: As a registered charity (No: 1171817), the organization operates primarily through donations and likely charitable grants to fund free advisory services
2. FCA Regulated Services: Authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 617695), which may enable certain regulated advisory activities

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Citizens Advice SORT provides free, confidential, and impartial advisory services to residents across the Greater Manchester boroughs of Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale, and Trafford. The service covers debt, housing, benefits, employment, energy, family, consumer, and immigration issues, delivered through face-to-face drop-ins, freephone helpline, WhatsApp messaging, video advice with British Sign Language support, and 24/7 online self-help guides. The charity operates without appointment requirements and supports clients with practical tasks such as writing letters, filling forms, and contacting organizations on their behalf.

Product overview

Citizens Advice SORT is a charity offering free, confidential, impartial advice services through multiple delivery channels. The core offering consists of advice across eight categories (debt, housing, benefits, employment, energy, family, consumer, immigration) delivered via face-to-face drop-ins, freephone, WhatsApp messaging, and online self-help resources. The service is accessible across four Greater Manchester boroughs (Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale, Trafford) with no appointment needed. A specialized Video Advice service with BSL support provides accessibility for deaf and hearing-impaired clients using Google Meet. The organization has served Greater Manchester for over 75 years, supporting 39,281 people in 2024/25 and delivering £25.7m in financial value.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Four in five people say our help improved their life — reducing stress, improving health, or increasing their financial stability
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature1 record

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Law Centres Network: UK federation of locally funded Law Centres providing free legal advice and representation on housing, welfare benefits, employment, and immigration for people who cannot afford a lawyer. Overlaps significantly with SORT's benefits, housing, employment, and immigration advice categories.
• Age UK: National charity for older people providing advice on benefits, housing, and care across the UK. Comparable to SORT on benefits navigation and community-based information services for a specific demographic, with a local-branch structure similar to Citizens Advice SORT's borough model.
• Christians Against Poverty (CAP): UK charity providing free debt counselling, money coaching and life-skills support, with a national network of local centres. Comparable to SORT in free community-based debt advice, but broader in scope (financial education) and faith-rooted in origin.
• StepChange Debt Charity: National UK charity specializing in free debt advice via phone and online channels. Overlaps with Citizens Advice SORT on debt casework and benefits navigation, but operates nationally with a single-issue focus and a more digital-heavy model.
• Shelter: National UK housing and homelessness charity providing advice, advocacy and legal services. Overlaps with SORT on housing advice and homelessness prevention, but is a much larger, national brand with paid legal expertise SORT does not offer.
• Citizens Advice (national): The national Citizens Advice organization and parent network of which SORT is a local member. Provides the online advice library, brand standards, and overarching infrastructure that SORT delivers against; a broad incumbent against which SORT's local execution is benchmarked.

Direct peers

• Citizens Advice Manchester: Sister local Citizens Advice covering the Manchester borough within Greater Manchester. Operates the same free, multi-channel advice model on debt, housing, benefits, and employment, making it the most directly comparable peer for service delivery and funding dynamics.
• Citizens Advice Liverpool: Another local Citizens Advice member offering free advice across debt, benefits, housing and employment in a UK metropolitan area. Operates an analogous volunteer-supported, multi-channel model to Citizens Advice SORT.
• Citizens Advice Leeds: Local Citizens Advice member serving the Leeds metropolitan area with the same free, impartial advice remit. Direct peer in scope of services, funding model (charity with grant funding), and multi-channel delivery approach.

Others

• Money Advice Trust (National Debtline): UK charity operating National Debtline and Business Debtline, providing free, independent debt advice via phone and webchat. Comparable on the debt-advice component of SORT's offering, but digital-first delivery contrasts with SORT's drop-in-heavy borough model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/citizensadvice.stockport
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/citizens-advice-stockport-oldham-rochdale-and-trafford

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Citizens Advice Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale and Trafford