How do I find UK companies hiring for the first time in a function?

To find UK companies hiring for the first time in a function, compare each company's current job postings with its own posting history, and flag a role in a function it has never advertised before. A first finance manager, a first head of marketing or a first operations lead usually means a business has outgrown how it ran before, and a new budget owner is arriving who will soon buy tools, services and support. Job boards do not show this directly, so you need either a history of postings or a service that keeps one.

This guide explains what a first-of-function hire is, why it is a useful reason to call, how to find them yourself, and where the method falls short.

What counts as a first-of-function hire

A first-of-function hire is a job posting in a function the company has not been seen to hire for before. The function might be finance, sales, marketing, HR, IT or operations. The test is relative to that company, not to the market: a ten-person firm advertising its first marketing role is a first-of-function hire even though thousands of other firms hire marketers every week.

One caveat matters for honesty. You can only say a function is new if you hold the company's earlier postings. Lockley's job records begin in September 2026, so its first-of-function count means a function Lockley had not seen the company hire for before, not proof that the company never employed anyone in that area.

Why the signal works as a reason to call

A cold call needs a reason that is true today and specific to the company. A new function is one of the clearer ones, because it points to a change in how the business is organised. The person arriving is also new to the role, which usually means they are reviewing suppliers rather than defending an incumbent.

The signal is also checkable. The posting is public, dated and attributable to a named employer, so you can open it before you dial and refer to it in your first sentence. That is more credible than a generic opener, and it tells the person you have read something about their business.

How to find them yourself

Start with a job source that lets you export postings with company names and dates. Adzuna publishes an API for this, and most job boards allow saved searches. Then follow four steps.

First, normalise company names, because the same employer appears under several spellings and agencies post on behalf of clients. Second, match each name to a Companies House number so postings from the same legal entity are grouped. Third, classify each role into a function by title. Fourth, keep every company's history and flag a posting only when its function is absent from that history.

Expect to spend real time on the second and third steps. Agency postings that hide the employer are the main source of false positives, and a company that hired a marketer last year through a channel you cannot see will look like a first when it is not. Treat each flag as a lead to verify, not a fact.

Which functions matter for which sellers

Match the function to what you sell. A first finance hire is relevant to accountancy software, banking and payroll providers. A first HR hire is relevant to payroll, benefits and employment law support. A first marketing hire is relevant to agencies, design and analytics tools. A first IT hire is relevant to managed service providers and security vendors. Ignoring this mapping is the common mistake: a broad list of 316 companies is only useful once you filter to the ones whose new function lines up with your offer.

How Lockley handles it

Lockley reads job postings nightly, alongside Companies House, Contracts Finder, Find a Tender, planning registers and each company's own website. Each finding links to the record it came from, so a seller can check the posting before calling. Lockley starts with a free scan of your own website, which builds a private page of companies worth calling for you, and a 9am email brief carries the morning's top three companies in full. It does not sell contact lists or bulk email data.

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