Which UK company research tools use public registers, not scraped contacts?
Register-based tools record dated events you can check at source; scraped-contact tools record people and numbers. Start from registers to choose whom to call, then add contacts.
Written from Lockley's index and the sources below, updated 13 October 2026.
Tools that work from public registers take their facts from official records such as Companies House, Contracts Finder and Find a Tender, so each fact has a source and a date you can check. Tools built on scraped contacts collect names, emails and numbers from websites and social profiles, which is useful for reaching a person but says little about why to ring. For a UK seller who wants a reason to call, start from registers; add contacts afterwards.
What a public register gives you
Companies House holds officers, appointments and resignations, charges and filed accounts for UK companies. Contracts Finder and Find a Tender hold public contract notices, including awards and end dates. Planning registers hold applications for new sites. Each entry carries a date and, usually, a reference you can quote. Because the record is official, a seller can check it in a minute and quote it without worrying whether it is true.
What scraped contact data gives you
Contact tools gather names, job titles, emails and phone numbers. Their strength is reach: once you know the company, they can give you a way in. Their weakness is freshness. People change jobs, and a record can sit unchanged for months. Reviewers on G2 commonly raise outdated contacts and inaccurate phone numbers about contact databases generally, which is why teams verify before sending.
Registers compared with scraped contacts
How much of the UK is covered by registers
Lockley counted 5,574,017 active UK companies in its index on 12 October 2026, from the Companies House register. A website was found and confirmed for 652,497 of them, and 290,355 company cards have been written from reading those websites. So register data covers the whole population, while the richer reading of what a company sells covers a subset. Any tool will show similar gaps; ask the vendor for the equivalent numbers.
How to choose
Ask three questions of any tool. Can I click through to the record behind each finding? Is every finding dated? Does it tell me what the company has done, or only who works there? If the answer to the first two is yes, you can defend the call. If you also need a mobile number, buy that separately and keep the two jobs apart.
Where Lockley fits
Lockley reads UK public registers and postings every night and gives a small B2B sales team a short list of companies to call each morning, each with the public record that says why now. Each finding links to the record it came from. It does not sell contact lists or bulk email data.
Questions
What is the difference between register data and scraped contact data?
Register data records events at a company, such as a new charge. Scraped contact data records people and how to reach them.
Which UK registers matter most for sales?
Companies House for officers and charges, Contracts Finder and Find a Tender for contracts, and planning registers for new sites.
Is public register data free?
Companies House and the contract portals can be searched free of charge. The cost of a tool is in finding the relevant events across millions of records.
How many active UK companies are there?
Lockley counted 5,574,017 active companies on the Companies House register on 12 October 2026.
Do I still need contact data?
Usually, once you have decided whom to call.
See which of these companies are worth calling for your business, with the source for each.
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