How do payroll bureaux and HR consultancies find new clients?

Updated 26 October 2026 · by Matt Vallis, Salenovo · counts from our own daily files, read from public registers

Why timing matters for payroll bureaux and HR consultancies

The Pensions Regulator says an employer's legal duties begin on the day its first member of staff starts work, which it calls the duties start date (Pensions Act 2008). GOV.UK says a new employer must register with HMRC before its first payday, and can't register more than two months before it starts paying people. The written statement of terms is due on an employee's first day (Employment Rights Act 1996, since April 2020). When a business changes hands, its staff usually transfer to the new owner on their existing terms under TUPE, and the PAYE scheme was the last owner's. Food registrations, premises licences, the care regulators' registers, operator licences and the councils' rates lists show a premises in the weeks before those duties start, and the Home Office's register of licensed sponsors shows an employer the week it's licensed to sponsor workers from abroad, with the pay records a sponsor has to keep. We don't see PAYE registrations, and we don't pretend to.

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

Trade associations and certification schemes list their members, and some buyers look there first.

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 Plenty of names, but no reason to call any of them today, and they go out of date quickly.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 staffed trades first: cafés, shops, care sites, nurseries, pubs, depots. The job column says what you'd offer before you ring, and the reason column says why now. Where the latest accounts give a staff count, the row carries it, a year or more behind.

What a business at the right moment looks like

The moments at a premises that matter to payroll bureaux and HR consultancies:

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 payroll and HR desk: 350 across Great Britain, 176 of them opening or about to and 174 just moved in or under a new owner. 297 came with a landline to ring. 44% 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.

Some of last week's rows for North West, said in words (the file has the name, the address, the number and where each came from):

• A new premises licence business in Wigan, not open yet, 25 October. A landline to ring.
• A haulage or goods vehicle operator in Blackburn with Darwen, not open yet, 23 October. A landline to ring.
• A business premises in Manchester, not open yet, 22 October. A landline to ring. A mailbox.
• A shop in Cheshire West and Chester, opening or just opened, 25 October. A landline to ring.
• A cafe in Westmorland and Furness, opening or just opened, 24 October. A line at the premises, which may be the last occupier’s.
• A care home in Fylde, new owner, 22 October. A landline to ring.

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.

Send me a free fortnightPremises data: Payroll, HR and pensions providers

Questions people also ask

Do you know how many staff they have, or who runs their payroll?

Not from any live source. Who runs a payroll isn't public. The staff count comes from the latest filed accounts, where a company gives one, and that runs a year or more behind. What we do see is the premises, the licence, the register entry or the contract that brings the staff, and the date.

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.

Related guides