Find the shops and cafés before the sign goes up
The fascia and the window graphics go up in the fit-out weeks, before the doors open, and a unit under a new owner usually gets a new name over the door. We tell you which units are at that point.
Why timing matters
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 fit-outs are public weeks before opening day. A change of owner at a pub, shop or restaurant shows on the registers too, and a new owner usually changes the name on the front.
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
Ring the ones about to open first, then the ones that changed hands. The trade column says whether there's a shopfront.
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 signage desk: 203 across Great Britain, 80 of them opening or about to and 123 just moved in or under a new owner. 168 came with a landline to ring. 30% 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 | 26 | 11 | 15 | 19 |
| London | 25 | 11 | 14 | 20 |
| North West | 25 | 7 | 18 | 23 |
| South West | 22 | 7 | 15 | 19 |
| West Midlands | 22 | 6 | 16 | 18 |
| South East | 21 | 8 | 13 | 19 |
| East of England | 17 | 5 | 12 | 16 |
| East Midlands | 16 | 9 | 7 | 14 |
| Scotland | 12 | 7 | 5 | 9 |
| North East | 10 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| Wales | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
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 haulage or goods vehicle operator in East Riding of Yorkshire, not open yet, 14 October. A landline to ring. A mailbox.
- A restaurant or cafe in Doncaster, opening or just opened, 20 October. A landline to ring. A mailbox.
- A not stated: generic or no sic code business in York, opening or just opened, 17 October. A line at the premises, which may be the last occupier’s.
- A dispensing chemist in specialised stores in North Yorkshire, moved in, 15 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 retail and hospitality?
They come first, because they have fronts to sign. Offices, workshops and depots are in the file too, lower down, for the ones that want every unit.
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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