Find restaurants, cafés and shops while they're still fitting out
Card terminals and tills get chosen during the fit-out, weeks before the doors open. Most providers hear about a new café the day it starts trading, which is too late.
Why timing matters
A merchant account belongs to a business, not a building. So when a café, pub or shop changes hands, the new owner needs its own agreement, whatever was on the counter before. Food businesses have to register with their council before they open, and pubs and bars have to advertise a licence application, so a lot of this is public early if you know where to look.
What we tell you
The moments that matter for you:
| 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. |
How to use it
Filter to the kinds of business you serve (takeaways, restaurants, pubs, shops) and ring or visit the ones about to open first.
Last week in numbers
In the daily files from 14 to 20 October 2026, businesses that took on premises, changed hands or were about to, graded A or B for a card terminal desk: 183 across Great Britain, 58 of them opening or about to and 125 just moved in or under a new owner. 151 came with a landline to ring. 21% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 23 | 9 | 14 | 19 |
| West Midlands | 23 | 6 | 17 | 18 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 23 | 8 | 15 | 16 |
| South East | 22 | 8 | 14 | 19 |
| North West | 21 | 4 | 17 | 20 |
| East of England | 17 | 3 | 14 | 15 |
| South West | 17 | 2 | 15 | 15 |
| East Midlands | 12 | 5 | 7 | 11 |
| Scotland | 12 | 7 | 5 | 9 |
| North East | 10 | 5 | 5 | 7 |
| Wales | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Some of last week's rows for London, said in words (the file has the name, the address, the number and where each came from):
- An accommodation business in Waltham Forest, opening or just opened, 17 October. A line at the premises, which may be the last occupier’s.
- A dental practice in Wandsworth, opening or just opened, 14 October. A landline to ring.
- A dental practice in Barnet, new owner, 14 October. A landline to ring.
Counted from the daily files dated 14 to 20 October 2026, the seven days to the latest file, as they were read on 20 October 2026. Each event is counted once, on the first file it reached.
Coverage
The national registers cover every council in Great Britain. On top of those, 35 councils publish a business rates list we can use and 10 a licensing register (as of 25 September 2026), and we add councils as they give permission. Northern Ireland isn't in the file yet. Where the data comes from.
Built for selling within the rules: businesses not people, every row with its source and date, and nothing your team can't explain to someone who asks. How it's done.
Had your free fortnight? Subscribe here and the files carry on: a region for £250 a month, and you can stop at any month's end. You choose the region and what you sell at the checkout.
Questions
Is it only food and drink?
No, but that's where most of the early signals are, because of the food register and the licensing rules. Shops, salons and garages come through too.
How is this different from buying a list?
A list is a snapshot of businesses that exist. This is what changed yesterday: who moved in, who took over, who left. A bought list can't tell you any of that, and it's out of date the day it arrives.
How do you find them?
From public registers, read every day and kept, so we can see when something changes at an address. The sources are on the sources page. How we put them together is ours, and we don't publish it.
Is there personal data in it?
Almost none. The file is about businesses and premises: no director names, no home addresses. Where a business publishes only a named address on its own website, the daily file carries it in a marked column, as the privacy notice says; a sample never does. Where a phone number or a mailbox is public, we say where it came from.
Can we email or ring them?
Limited companies and LLPs can be emailed without prior consent under PECR, if you say who you are and give a way to opt out. Phone numbers are yours to screen 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, so your team can try it on real rows before paying anything.
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