Who are my new competitors?
How can I find out about new businesses starting up in my trade near me? New companies are public the day they are formed, but nobody tells you. Salenovo watches every incorporation — 14,543 in the UK last week — and can tell you when a new company in your trade appears in your area, what it says it does, and whether it has a website or premises yet.
What you get
Your trade, your patch
A café owner wants new cafés within a few miles; a plumber wants new plumbing firms in the council area; an agency wants new agencies in the region. Pick the trade and the area.
What they are actually doing
The company's own website, where it has one, says what it is and where; the council's food register says whether it has a kitchen.
Early
Weeks before the sign goes up or the van appears.
For groups and franchisors
A national version by trade for multi-site operators, franchisors and commercial agents.
What knowing early is worth
Knowing a competitor is opening a month before the sign goes up is time to lock in your regulars, adjust prices, or hire first. The weekly alert for your council is free; the named version by trade is priced for small businesses.
A worked example: Chelmsford
Chelmsford last week: 41 companies formed, 1,093 in hospitality nationally, 1 with registered food premises locally over the last 8 weeks. See the Chelmsford page, see a real week's list, or compare any area.
Against what you do today
| Raw register dump | Companies House by hand | Salenovo | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What arrives | Everything, nationally | Noticing | New companies in your trade and area, with what they do |
| When | Daily dump | When they open | Weekly alert |
| Cost | £99+ a month | Free, late | From £5 a month per trade and area (coming) |
Business-to-business email to a limited company or LLP is permitted under PECR without prior consent, provided you say who you are and offer an opt-out. Every row says where the address came from. No director names, no home addresses.
Your first week
- Sign up with your council and your trade; the alert arrives each Monday.
- See how many new companies in your trade were formed nearby last week, and what they say they do.
- Look at the ones with a website or registered premises — those are the ones that are actually opening.
- Check the council's food register or the company's site for where and when.
- Use the head start: a loyalty offer to regulars, a price check, a job advert before theirs.
Two short messages that work — an email and a letter, with the one line that matters for your trade — are on the templates page.
Questions
How would I know a new competitor has started?
Every company is on the public register the day it is formed, with its SIC code and registered address. Salenovo maps that to your council or postcode area, reads the company's website where it has one, and tells you what it says it does.
Is this the same as the paid lead lists?
It is the same data turned round: instead of a supplier looking for new customers, a business owner looking at new competitors. The alert is priced for small businesses.
Method and accuracy — how the numbers are made: incorporations from the Companies House public register, mapped to councils with the ONS Postcode Directory; "expected to trade" from the historical outcomes of 447,000 companies formed in 2022 and 2024, by formation address and sector; websites verified by fetching the company's name-matching domain and checking it against the company; food premises from the Food Standards Agency's register. All Open Government Licence. Every row in the paid list carries its source and date.
Other uses: Accountants & bookkeepers · Insurance brokers · Web, design & marketing agencies · Hospitality & food-service suppliers · Lenders, brokers & fintech · Commercial property & serviced offices · B2B suppliers: telecoms, payroll, EPOS, merchant services · Councils, LEPs & business improvement districts