How do commercial property agents win new instructions?
Updated 26 October 2026 · by Matt Vallis, Salenovo · counts from our own daily files, read from public registers
The firms that win most new commercial work reach a business at the moment it has to decide, before it has asked anyone for a quote. A council's business rates list names the company liable for an empty unit's rates, usually the landlord or the leaseholder, and a premises licence transfer is published when a pub or restaurant changes hands. We tell you which units are at that point, on both sides: the landlord to ring for the instruction, and the occupier to know before its next move. In our daily files from 20 to 26 October 2026, 200 businesses across Great Britain were at that point for a commercial property desk, 135 of them opening or about to.
Why timing matters for commercial property agents
Many councils publish their business rates lists, and a unit that empties shows there with the company liable for its rates, which when it's a company we match to its number, its website and its line. Premises licence applications, transfers and grants are published by the licensing authorities, food businesses register with their council before they open, and the Traffic Commissioners publish operator licences for yards and depots. Each is a dated public record of a unit empty, taken or changed hands, and we read them every day, grade each row for a commercial property desk and tag it with the instruction it points to. We don't see leases, rents, who acted, or who owns the building, and we don't read the Land Registry: this is the unit, the business and the moment.
The usual ways to find new customers, and what each is good for
Referrals and repeat customers
The cheapest work there is, and the most likely to say yes. The catch is that you can't turn the volume up when you need more.
Your own website and Google Business Profile
These bring in businesses already searching for what you do. They're searching for your competitors too, so you're one quote of several.
Trade bodies and accreditation
RICS lists the firms it regulates.
Quote websites
Sites such as Bark pass on requests from businesses ready to buy. You pay to respond, and other suppliers can answer the same request, so the work goes to whoever answers first or cheapest.
Public tenders
Contracts Finder and Find a Tender list public sector contracts and are free to search. The jobs are larger and the paperwork heavier, and the decision takes months.
Bought lists
A list broker sells names in bulk by trade and area. Plenty of names, but no reason to call any of them today, and they go out of date quickly.
The moment a business needs you
Food registers, licence applications, the care regulators, operator licences and the councils' rates lists show the week a business takes on premises, changes hands or is about to open, each dated, if someone reads them every day. That's what we send: a file each weekday of the businesses at that point in your region, graded for your trade. Work the empty units first: the company liable is named, so the call is to the landlord or leaseholder. Then the licensed premises and businesses that changed hands, then the shops, kitchens and workshops just taken, which are tenants to keep. The job column says which side each row is on; the reason column says why now.
What a business at the right moment looks like
The moments at a premises that matter to commercial property agents:
| Coming | A business is about to open: a licence applied for, a unit being fitted out, a new company set up to trade from the address. |
| Just moved in | A business has started at premises that had nobody in them: a new ratepayer, a new food business, a newly registered care home, nursery, surgery or garage. |
| Changed hands | A new operator at premises that were already trading: a pub, shop or care home under new ownership, often keeping the old name on the door. |
| Leaving | A business has gone or is going: a unit emptied, a registration cancelled, a licence surrendered. |
Last week in numbers
In the daily files from 20 to 26 October 2026, businesses that took on premises, changed hands or were about to, graded A or B for a commercial property desk: 200 across Great Britain, 135 of them opening or about to and 65 just moved in or under a new owner. 160 came with a landline to ring. 58% of them could not have been flagged by a service working from Companies House alone: the premises isn't the registered office, or nothing new was on the register.
| Region | Rows graded A or B | Opening or about to | Moved in or new owner | With a landline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 30 | 23 | 7 | 25 |
| South East | 29 | 18 | 11 | 24 |
| North West | 25 | 17 | 8 | 23 |
| East Midlands | 21 | 14 | 7 | 16 |
| West Midlands | 21 | 13 | 8 | 17 |
| East of England | 20 | 15 | 5 | 12 |
| Scotland | 16 | 16 | 0 | 12 |
| London | 10 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| South West | 10 | 5 | 5 | 9 |
| Wales | 10 | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| North East | 7 | 4 | 3 | 5 |
Some of last week's rows for Yorkshire and The Humber, said in words (the file has the name, the address, the number and where each came from):
- A premises licence no alcohol business in Sheffield, not open yet, 24 October. A landline to ring.
- A pub in Leeds, not open yet, 22 October. A landline to ring. A mailbox.
- A haulage or goods vehicle operator in North Lincolnshire, not open yet, 21 October. A landline to ring.
- A restaurant or cafe in North Yorkshire, opening or just opened, 25 October. A landline to ring.
- A takeaway in Leeds, opening or just opened, 23 October. A line at the premises, which may be the last occupier’s.
- A restaurant, bar or café business in Leeds, opening or just opened, 21 October. A landline to ring. A mailbox.
Counted from the daily files dated 20 to 26 October 2026, the seven days to the latest file, as they were read on 26 October 2026. Each event is counted once, on the first file it reached.
What we send
A file by 8am every weekday with the businesses in your region at one of those moments, graded so your team rings the best first, each row saying what happened, when, what kind of business it is and a way to reach it where one is public. £250 a month for a region, or £1,000 for Great Britain, monthly, and you can stop at any month's end. The first two weeks are free.
Questions people also ask
Do you know who the agent was, or what the rent is?
No. Neither is public in a form we read. We tell you the unit, the business, what happened there and when, and which side it points to. Who owns the building isn't in the file either: the Land Registry's data can't be used to contact owners about services, so we don't.
Is it legal to email a business we haven't dealt with?
A limited company or an LLP can be emailed without its prior consent under PECR, as long as you say who you are and give a way to opt out. Sole traders and partnerships are treated as individuals, so the rules are stricter. Screen phone numbers against the TPS and CTPS before you ring.
What does it cost?
£250 a month for a region, or £1,000 a month for the whole of Great Britain, monthly, and you can stop at any month's end. The first two weeks are free.