How reliable is ONS data for commercial purposes?
The Office for National Statistics is the UK’s largest independent producer of official statistics. These span from industry and trade, through to housing and personal finance.
Most (though not all) ONS datasets are made available under the Open Government Licence (OGL), allowing free use, adaptation, and redistribution of ONS statistics — including for commercial purposes. And it is rightfully trusted by businesses, individuals, and local authorities across the UK.
But how useful is the data alone for commercial use? Well, the short answer is that it depends, both on your use case and the level of granularity required. This is less a question of ONS data’s accuracy and much more about what you want to do with the information.
What the ONS does (and does not) cover
At first glance, the ONS covers a lot. Landing on the homepage, you’ll see figures around UK employment, population growth, inflation, and GDP.
- Labour market and employment
- Population and demography
- Business and industry
- Trade and investment
- Education and skills
- Innovation and R&D
- Economic activity
Where the ONS falls short is at company level. It will not give you firmographic data, such as named companies, growth-stage tracking, and a company’s investment history. Nor does it offer real-time business changes, including leadership changes, funding rounds, spinout activity, or intellectual property.
That’s not strictly a shortcoming — it reflects the ONS’s purpose as a civic tool, designed to provide broad, reliable context. But when you need to act on that information, more targeted data is required.
In short, the ONS provides comprehensive, credible, and contextual data — but it’s only published periodically and designed for high-level analysis.
If you’re trying to track companies, measure impact, or drive business engagement, you’ll need to look elsewhere. Especially if you’re looking for the latest data.
This is where proprietary data comes in, usually offered by private company data providers (like Beauhurst).
The alternative: proprietary data
Unlike public datasets, proprietary platforms (like Beauhurst) are built with company-level activity in mind.
This makes them inherently more useful for commercial use, as they offer a more dynamic, real-time view of the business landscape, structured around the questions that commercial, academic, and public-sector teams actually need answering.
A practical example of this is GVA, or gross value added.
Spotlight on GVA
Gross value added (GVA) is a key measure of economic contribution. The ONS calculates GVA by aggregating employment income and other production-related earnings. This offers useful regional insights — but without company-level detail.
At Beauhurst, we use the income approach (GVA(i)) to calculate GVA at the individual company level. Essentially, this means adding employee wages and EBITDA, giving a direct view of an individual firm’s contribution to the economy.
Because we hold detailed financial data for thousands of companies, we can generate GVA estimates as soon as new accounts are filed.
This granular, timely data means far more precise insights, helping users pinpoint which businesses are driving growth in specific sectors or regions — something that simply isn’t possible with ONS data alone.
GVA is just one example. Proprietary data also enables users to track equity investment in companies, regions, and industries as they happen.
Other examples include monitoring business innovation through patent filings and R&D claims, and identifying fast-growing (or at-risk) businesses. At Beauhurst, we use Signals — proprietary datasets that measure growth, innovation, risk, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG).
For local authorities, this means being able to allocate support where it’s most needed, demonstrate the impact of economic development programmes with hard data, and build stronger business cases for funding bids.
Rather than relying on lagging indicators or aggregated trends, you can work with up-to-date, company-level intelligence to inform decisions, evaluate interventions, and engage more effectively with the local business base.
How to find (and use) a business database
Discover how to find a UK business database, and how to use that database to get the information you need.
What proprietary data offers over ONS data
Timeliness
With data updated daily, a company data platform is lightyears ahead of the monthly, quarterly, and sometimes annual updates to ONS statistics.
For users making strategic decisions — or needing to respond to fast-moving developments — waiting months for public data simply isn’t practical.
Granularity
Company-level data enables your research to be as detailed as it needs to be.
So, whether you’re assessing regional impact or identifying innovation clusters, you’re able to zoom in on the specific companies that matter.
Flexibility
Unlike static government datasets, proprietary platforms are built for exploration.
Advanced search filters, tags, and custom segmentations enable users to find the precise data they need — whether that’s female-founded fintechs in the Midlands, university spinouts with patents, or businesses showing signs of high growth.
What's the best database for company information?
We’ve examined 20 global company databases to get to the bottom of which platform offers the best level of company data.
Why Beauhurst?
If you want to move from finding broad trends to delivering pinpointed action — whether that’s engaging with local businesses, allocating funding, or tracking policy impact — you need access to company-level data.
We built BeauhurstImpact to meet the needs of commercial, academic, and public-sector teams alike. And it’s the same data we rely on for our own insights-led articles, equity market research reports, and consultancy work.
Combining daily data updates with powerful search functionality, our platform helps users identify trends, build reports, and act with confidence.
And so, whether you’re interested in finding local companies to partner with, tracking the fastest-growing companies in the UK, or trying to commercialise your university’s IP, Beauhurst is a fantastic option.
It’s already being used to drive real results:
- Ards and North Down Borough Council uses Beauhurst to map high-growth companies in their area and strengthen business support delivery.
- Basildon Council uses the platform to identify innovation clusters and secure targeted funding.
- UK Export Finance turned to Beauhurst to find and support UK firms with international growth potential.
Using data to shape your local economic strategy
ONS data remains a vital resource for understanding the broader factors shaping the UK economy. However, for organisations and authorities tasked with making commercial decisions, broad statistics aren’t always detailed enough.
Whether you’re looking to identify high-growth firms or evaluate the impact of local interventions, company-level insight makes the difference.
Want to see the platform in action? Simply take a two-minute online product tour. Or, to speak to our team, just fill in the form below and we’ll be in touch.
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