How can a UK founder start B2B outbound using only free public records?
Use Companies House and Contracts Finder, both free to search, to pick ten companies with a dated reason to call. It takes more time than a paid tool but costs nothing.
Written from Lockley's index and the sources below, updated 22 October 2026.
A founder can start outbound with no data budget by using two free public sources: Companies House for company, officer and charge records, and Contracts Finder for public contracts. Pick one event that matters to your buyer, find ten companies with a recent record of it, and call them. It is slow, but it works, and it teaches you which signals suit your product before you pay for anything.
The free sources
Companies House runs a free service, Find and update company information, which lets anyone view a company's officers, registered address and incorporation date. Contracts Finder is free to use, and searching does not require an account; an account lets you save searches and receive email updates. Newer UK procurements are published on Find a Tender, so check both. Companies House also states that it does not verify the accuracy of the information companies send it, so treat a record as a lead to check, not a fact to build on.
A one-hour routine
Choose the buying event first. Say you sell facilities services: your event is a public contract ending or a company moving into new premises. Search Contracts Finder for contracts in your category that end in the next few months, note the supplier and buyer, then look up the supplier on Companies House to confirm it is active and find its directors. Write one line on why you are calling and which record it comes from. Repeat until you have ten.
A founder who does this for an hour a day will have a short, evidenced call list each week. That is the same job a sales-research service does, so the question later is only whether your hour is better spent elsewhere.
What the free route does not give you
Free records give you the company and the reason, but not a phone number or an email address. You will still need to find a switchboard or the company's own website. The records are also published in different places and formats, so joining them takes time, and you have to check each one for yourself. Lockley, for comparison, reads public registers every night and gives a small team a short list with the record behind each company; it does not sell contact lists.
Before you call
Business-to-business calls and emails are regulated in the UK, and the rules differ for limited companies and sole traders. Check the Telephone Preference Service rules for corporate subscribers and the Information Commissioner's guidance on direct marketing before you start. Lockley's guides on PECR and on the CTPS cover this in more detail, and none of it is legal advice.
When to pay for a tool
Pay when your hour is worth more than the tool, or when the routine has proved a signal works and you want it daily. By then you know which record you need, which makes any tool easier to judge.
Questions
Is Companies House data free?
Searching the register through Find and update company information is free. Bulk data downloads are also available, covered in Lockley's guide on downloading Companies House data.
Is Contracts Finder free?
Yes. It is free to use and searching needs no account.
Do the records include phone numbers?
Not generally. You will need to find a number from the company's own website or switchboard.
How many companies should I start with?
Ten. It is enough to learn from and small enough to read each record properly.
Is the information on Companies House checked?
Companies House says it does not have the power to verify what companies send it, so check each record before relying on it.
See which of these companies are worth calling for your business, with the source for each.
Start the research