How do I prioritise a list of UK companies that show buying signals?
Rank by freshness of the record, fit with what you sell, and whether two or more dated signals point the same way. Call the top few each morning and log the outcome.
Written from Lockley's index and the sources below, updated 14 October 2026.
The short answer
Rank each company on three questions: how recent is the record, how closely does the event match what you sell, and is there more than one dated signal. A company with a filing from this week that relates directly to your service, and a second supporting record, goes to the top. A company with one old, loosely related record goes to the bottom. Then call the top few in the morning, while the record is fresh, and note the result so that next week's ranking improves.
1. Freshness
A record loses value quickly. A charge registered last week, a contract that ended on Friday, or a role posted yesterday gives a seller a natural reason to call. The same event three months later is background. Use the date on the record, not the date you found it. Our guide on how fresh a UK buying signal should be goes into the detail.
2. Fit with what you sell
Write down, for each product, the two or three events that make a buyer more likely to need it. A recruiter cares about a first hire in a function. A commercial insurer cares about new premises. An IT services firm cares about a first IT role. Score a company higher when the event is on your list, and lower when it is merely interesting. Ignore events that you cannot connect to a service in one sentence.
3. Corroboration
One record is a prompt. Two independent records pointing the same way, such as a new site and a hiring spike, are closer to a reason. Check the company's own website too, to confirm it is trading and sells to people like your customers. Lockley's index holds a count of 5,575,015 active UK companies, and 658,310 of them have a website on record, so a company with a readable site is the minority and easier to qualify.
A simple scoring grid
How to use the score
Add the three scores. Call companies scoring five or six first, and schedule four as follow-ups. Drop anything below three. The point is not precision. It is to stop a team from spending the morning choosing and to make every call start from a fact that can be checked.
Before calling, open the record and read it. Then open with it: say what you saw and ask a question about it, rather than pitching. Our guide on opening a cold call with a public record gives example wording.
Review each week
Keep a log of which records led to conversations. After four weeks you will see which events convert for your offer and can weight them. Lockley gives a small team a short list each morning, each company with the public record that says why now, so the checking is quick; the scoring still reflects what you know about your own buyers.
Questions
How many companies should I call a day?
Start with the top three to ten from your ranking. A short list called well beats a long list called thinly.
Should I weight some signals higher?
Yes, but only after you have data. Log outcomes for a month, then weight the events that led to conversations.
Does a second signal always help?
Not always, but two independent dated records are usually a better reason to call than one.
What if the record is older than a month?
Treat it as context and look for something newer before calling.
Do I need software to do this?
No. A spreadsheet with the three scores works. A tool that links the record for each company saves the checking.
See which of these companies are worth calling for your business, with the source for each.
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