Why a ranked lead is worth more
Every list of new companies comes from the same public register. What makes one list worth more than another is knowing which of those companies will last.
Measured September 2026 · checked again every month · the research · method
Most new companies don't last. The ones we rank highest mostly do. 90% of them were still registered three years later, against 49% of all new companies. Over those three years each one traded for 2.3 times as long as the average.
Measured on 20,000 real companies our model had never seen. We check it again every month.
Measured on 20,000 real companies that our model had never seen, followed for three years, including the ones that closed. How we know
Work out what it's worth to you
Your fee multiplied by the months each group actually traded in its first three years (27.4, 11.9 and 4.9 months). It's what a company is worth once it becomes your client. Nothing here looks beyond three years.
A full list and a ranked one
Every provider of new-company data starts from the same public register, and a full list gives you all of it. About half of those companies will be gone within three years, and two in three will never trade. We rank each week's new companies from A (most likely to trade) to E (least likely), and we tested that ranking properly: on 20,000 companies it had never seen, followed from the day they were formed to what happened to them, including the ones that closed.
90% of the new companies we ranked highest were still registered three years later. For all new companies it was 49%, and for the ones we ranked lowest 27%. A company we ranked highest spent 27 of its first 36 months trading. The average new company spent 12, and one we ranked lowest 5. For an accountant, that's the difference between a client who needs accounts done every year and a company that closes before its first accounts are due. For a supplier, a lender or an insurer, it's the difference between an account that grows and one that shuts.
The same pattern holds for companies formed after the incorporation fee went up in May 2024, which are the ones we rank today. We can follow them for two years so far: 92% of the ones we ranked highest were still registered after two years, compared with 65% of all new companies and 34% of the ones we ranked lowest. Their three-year figures arrive in 2027, and this page will update itself when they do.
The figures for each group
| Ranking | Companies | Went on to trade | Still registered at 12 months | Still registered at 24 months | Still registered at 36 months | Months registered, of the first 36 | Months trading, of the first 36 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A, ranked highest | 2,779 | 76% | 99% (99% to 99%) | 94% (93% to 95%) | 90% (88% to 91%) | 34.5 | 27.4 |
| B | 2,987 | 48% | 98% (97% to 98%) | 81% (80% to 82%) | 70% (68% to 72%) | 31.5 | 17.3 |
| C | 2,866 | 36% | 96% (95% to 97%) | 70% (68% to 71%) | 55% (53% to 56%) | 28.9 | 12.9 |
| D | 3,592 | 27% | 95% (94% to 96%) | 58% (56% to 60%) | 43% (41% to 45%) | 26.5 | 9.7 |
| E, ranked lowest | 7,776 | 13% | 95% (94% to 95%) | 42% (41% to 43%) | 27% (26% to 28%) | 23.4 | 4.9 |
| All new companies | 20,000 | 33% | 96% (96% to 96%) | 62% (61% to 62%) | 49% (48% to 50%) | 27.5 | 11.9 |
The ranges in brackets show how sure each figure is (a 95% confidence range). Months registered is the average number of the first 36 months a company in the group stayed registered. Months trading counts the same months, but only for companies that went on to trade.
How we measured it, and what it can't tell you: the research and the method page. What happens to new companies in each council: the Business Survival Index. We check these figures again every month using the Companies House register. These were measured in September 2026.
See your own council's list, ranked
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