Company data intelligence on every new UK business
Companies House is page one. We read the rest.
Firstfile starts with the companies register, like everyone else. Then it goes further. Every new company is checked against the public registers that show what it's really about to do, and against its own website. Each match becomes a buying signal on the lead and moves its score for your profession.
The sources behind every lead.
What each one tells you, how we match it to the company, and how often we read it.
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Companies House
The companies register
Every new UK company the moment it's incorporated: name, registered office, SIC codes, directors and owners.
- Matched on
- It's the spine everything else joins to.
- Read
- Live, as companies are filed
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Companies House
Directors' other companies
Signal: Serial founder, Part of a groupWhether the founder already runs other businesses, or the company belongs to a group.
- Matched on
- Each director's appointments and each corporate owner's company number.
- Read
- Checked within the hour, cached for 30 days
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Companies House
New filings
Signal: New chargeA new charge means someone lent the business money, and we name the lender. A strike-off notice means it's closing.
- Matched on
- Company number, from the live filings stream.
- Read
- Live
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The traffic commissioners
Vehicle operator licences
Signal: Operator licenceThe company has a licence to run goods vehicles or buses, how many, and where they're based.
- Matched on
- Company number.
- Read
- Weekly
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The Food Standards Agency and every council
Food premises
Signal: Food premisesA café, takeaway or restaurant has registered with its council and is waiting for its first hygiene inspection. It's about to open.
- Matched on
- Exact business name and postcode district.
- Read
- Daily
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The Care Quality Commission
Care providers
Signal: CQC registeredThe company is registered to provide care, and for which activities: personal care, nursing, treatment.
- Matched on
- Company number.
- Read
- Changes read every hour
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Public web
The company's own website
Whether it has a site, a parked domain or nothing yet, plus the company email and phone number listed on it.
- Matched on
- Domains checked against the company name.
- Read
- Every morning
More registers, being added now.
These are being built. Each one goes live only when we can match it to the right company without guessing.
- ComingCouncil business rates
Who has just taken on premises, and where.
- ComingPostcode and area data
Distance from you, and how affluent the area is.
- ComingCharity Commission
Charitable companies, matched on company number.
- ComingFCA register
Whether a new firm is authorised for financial services.
- ComingPublic contracts
New companies winning public sector work.
- ComingWebsite signals
Online booking, card payments, hiring and ad spend.
Rules you can check, not guesses.
Company number first
Where a register records the company number, as the licence and CQC registers do, we match on it and nothing else. Where it doesn't, as with food premises, we need the exact business name and the same postcode district. A wrong signal on a lead is worse than a missing one, so near misses are counted, not shown.
Signals are rules, not AI
Whether a company holds a licence or is registered with CQC is a fact from the register. AI models do one job here: reading the company and its website to say what it really does and to write your pitch angle.
What we never keep
Directors' and owners' names come from the public register and stay on the lead. We don't store dates of birth, home addresses or personal emails, and we never read the contact names some registers include.
All public registers are used under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Firstfile is not affiliated with Companies House, the traffic commissioners, the Food Standards Agency or the Care Quality Commission.
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