Launching 21 September 2026
Drone operations consultants, vetted before they're listed.
Find a consultant who has already secured the approval you need, with your regulator. Operational authorisations, SORA, BVLOS, operations manuals and safety management systems, filtered by jurisdiction and service.
No guesswork, no cold outreach, no hoping the first result on Google knows your rules.
Be there on day one
The directory opens on 21 September 2026. Tell us where you sit and we'll email you once, when listings go live.
- One email at launch. No newsletter, no drip sequence.
- Consultants: founding rates, locked in for good.
- Operators: searching and enquiring is always free.
No spam. Unsubscribe any time.
✓You're on the list. We'll email you when listings open.
Already using Dronedesk
Vetted before publication
Standalone, open to all consultants
The standard
What "vetted" actually means here
Most consultant directories are a list of people who paid to be on it. This one is different in a way you can check. Before a consultant appears, we verify four things. If any of them fail, they aren't listed, and there's no exception for paying customers.
Identity
Gate 1
The named individual is who they say they are, confirmed against government ID.
Legal entity
Gate 2
A real registered business in good standing, checked against the national registry.
Insurance
Gate 3
Professional indemnity cover in force, confirmed with the insurer and re-checked at renewal.
Approvals granted
Gate 4
Redacted authorisations, waivers or SORA approvals issued by an actual regulator.
Consultants who can't show the work don't get the badge. We publish the standard in full, including what we don't check.
Vetting confirms specific evidence at a point in time. It is not a guarantee of any consultant's future performance, and we do not assess quality of advice, pricing or outcomes.
A preview of the directory
2 verified consultants
Example Aviation Consulting Ltd
Operational authorisations and SORA, for utility and survey operators
Bristol, United Kingdom
Fifteen years in civil aviation regulation, the last six spent solely on uncrewed operations. Specialises in taking survey and inspection operators from open category into specific category, including containment arguments and ground risk buffers for populated areas. Works direct with the regulator through to authorisation.
Verified in
Services self-declared
Illustrative only, and the finished listing may differ from what's shown here. Jurisdictions carry evidence we've checked and dated. Services and the profile description are the consultant's own words, and we label them as such. Evidence documents are never published.
The filter
Filter by regulator, not by who ranks highest
Drone regulation is national. A consultant fluent in UK CAA operational authorisations isn't automatically the right person for an FAA Part 107 waiver or an EASA LUC application.
The directory is organised by jurisdiction and by service, so you can find someone who has done your specific approval under your specific regulator, rather than someone who simply does compliance. Jurisdiction claims are evidenced. Services are declared by the consultant and labelled as such.
Verified jurisdictions at launch UK CAAEASAFAA
For drone operators
Stop guessing who to call.
Page one of Google ranks the best marketers, not the best consultants. A weak application can cost you fees, months, or even a full flying season.
Get a shortlist of checked specialists instead of a single self-promoting website.
For consultants
The demand already exists.
Over 840 of commercial drone operators use Dronedesk, built by the same team. They're working through compliance now, and looking for help they can trust.
Being listed immediately puts you in front of that demand, rather than competing for generic search traffic.
Why this exists
I'm Dorian Ellis. I founded Dronedesk in 2019, and I've spent the last seven years watching the same two conversations repeat.
Operators come to me directly. Sometimes for help with an operational authorisation. More often with a simpler question: do you know someone good? Someone to update an operations manual, run a risk assessment, take on a SORA application. I've lost count of how many times I've been asked.
The traffic runs the other way too. Consultants ask me how to launch, how to find their first client, whether we'll mention them across our social channels. Capable people with real regulatory experience, spending their evenings agonising over website content and search rankings instead of doing the work they're actually good at.
Two problems, two sides of the same coin. Operators can't find the right expert. Experts can't find the operators who need them.
So here it is. A directory built for both sides. Free for operators, a straightforward way to find a vetted specialist at the point you need one. Affordable for consultants, immediate access to a broad industry audience without grinding away at SEO, social media and personal contacts to build traction.
That's the whole idea. Everybody wins.
Dorian Ellis
Founder, Dronedesk and Drone Ops Consultants
Questions
Common questions
What is Drone Ops Consultants?
A directory of independent drone operations consultants, searchable by jurisdiction and by service. It connects commercial drone operators who have a compliance requirement with specialists who have already handled that requirement under the same regulator.
What does a drone operations consultant do?
They help commercial operators obtain and maintain permission to fly beyond the standard open category. Typical work includes operational authorisation applications, SORA risk assessments, BVLOS approvals, writing and maintaining operations manuals, safety management systems, audits and recurrent training.
Which countries does the directory cover?
We're limiting our initial launch to the UK, EU and USA. Consultants are verified per jurisdiction, so a listing shows exactly which regulators the consultant has demonstrated experience with, whether that's the UK CAA, the FAA or an EASA member state authority.
How do consultants get listed?
Listings are paid, and vetting comes first. Consultants apply, we verify their identity, legal entity, professional indemnity insurance and evidence of approvals they've secured, and only then is their listing published. Paying doesn't bypass the checks.
How is this related to Dronedesk?
The directory is built by the team behind Dronedesk, the drone operations platform used by over 840 commercial operators. It runs as a standalone directory rather than a Dronedesk feature, and listings are open to any consultant who passes vetting, whether or not they use Dronedesk.
Is it free for drone operators?
Yes. Searching the directory and contacting consultants is free for operators. Consultants pay for their listing.