UK public-record signals, week to 12 October 2026, against the week before

Between the week to 5 October and the week to 12 October 2026, new sites in the Lockley index rose from 24 to 483, while new charges fell from 9,130 to 1,228 and director changes from 55,699 to 32,483. Counts are by the date on each record. Large week-on-week moves are common in public records, and we do not know the cause of any single one. This page sets out the numbers and what a seller can sensibly do with them.

Week to 12 October 2026 against the week before

How the weeks are counted

This week runs from 5 October 2026 to 12 October 2026 and the week before from 28 September 2026 to 5 October 2026. Each count uses the date on the record, not the date we read it. That matters for filings: a document can be filed days after the event, so the most recent days of any week tend to be revised upwards as filings arrive.

What not to conclude

A fall in new charges from 9,130 to 1,228 does not show that UK lending has dropped by that proportion. The latest week is the one most likely to be incomplete, because records are still arriving, and small public-record series such as planning data are lumpy because a council can load a batch at once. The rise in new sites from 24 to 483 may reflect that kind of loading as much as a change in building. Treat these as counts of records, not as economic indicators, and compare a signal with its own earlier weeks before reading anything into it. A single week is a snapshot; a run of several weeks is what begins to show a pattern, and the weekly guides in this series let you line them up. For more on why counts swing, see our guide on why weekly UK signal counts swing.

What a seller can do with them

Use the counts to decide where the volume is this week. With 483 new sites on the planning registers, a business that sells to companies opening premises, such as fit-out, security, cleaning or insurance, has more to work with than usual. With only 17 public contracts ending, an incumbent-displacement approach has a thin pool for now, while 143 awards in the week give a larger one for suppliers who sell to new contract holders. Pick the signal that matches what you sell, and judge each company on its own record.

Reading the whole index

These weekly counts sit on top of a much larger base: 5,574,017 active UK companies from the Companies House register, 652,497 with a confirmed website, and 290,355 company cards written from reading those sites. Any one week touches a small fraction of those, which is why a short daily list beats a long static one.

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