IT support leads: the offices, shops and clinics setting up now
The network, the devices and the support contract are chosen in the fit-out weeks, and a business that changes hands has its logins and backups in the last owner's name. We tell you which premises are at that point, every weekday.
Why timing matters
Food registrations, premises licences, the care regulators' registers and the Department for Education's register of schools each show a premises in the weeks before it opens or just after it changes hands, and the Information Commissioner's register of fee payers shows a business the week it tells the regulator it holds personal data. We read them every day, grade each row for an IT support desk and tag it with the job it points to: a first setup for an office, wifi and devices for a shop or a café, the records system for a clinic or care home, the network and devices for a new school, secure email and backups for a business new on the ICO's register, or Cyber Essentials, the NCSC's scheme, for a business that has just won a public contract to hold people's records and is usually asked how it keeps them safe.
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
Work the offices and clinics first, then the shops and cafés. The job column says what you'd offer before you ring; the reason column says why now.
Last week in numbers
In the daily files from 17 to 23 October 2026, businesses that took on premises, changed hands or were about to, graded A or B for an IT support desk: 191 across Great Britain, 99 of them opening or about to and 92 just moved in or under a new owner. 166 came with a landline to ring. 50% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North West | 27 | 14 | 13 | 23 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 25 | 17 | 8 | 22 |
| London | 23 | 8 | 15 | 17 |
| West Midlands | 21 | 10 | 11 | 18 |
| South East | 18 | 9 | 9 | 16 |
| South West | 18 | 8 | 10 | 17 |
| Scotland | 17 | 13 | 4 | 15 |
| East Midlands | 15 | 9 | 6 | 13 |
| East of England | 13 | 5 | 8 | 12 |
| Wales | 8 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| North East | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
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):
- An office in Manchester, not open yet, 21 October. A landline to ring. A mailbox.
- A food manufacturer in Wirral, opening or just opened, 22 October. A landline to ring.
- A restaurant in Salford, opening or just opened, 21 October. A landline to ring. A mailbox.
- An office in Liverpool, opening or just opened, 19 October. A landline to ring. A mailbox.
- A pub in Westmorland and Furness, moved in, 22 October. A landline to ring. A mailbox.
Counted from the daily files dated 17 to 23 October 2026, the seven days to the latest file, as they were read on 24 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, 96 councils publish a business rates list we can use and 69 a licensing register (as of 25 October 2026), and more are added each week. 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
Do you know what systems they have?
No. That isn't public. We tell you the site, the business, what happened there and when, and the job it points to.
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.
Is the file exclusive?
Not the whole file, but you can have a head start. First look sends your trade's new rows for your region to you each morning, a working day before anyone else in your trade gets them, for one firm per trade and region: £375 a month for a region, or £1,500 a month for Great Britain, on the same terms.
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