How to Find Economic Data in Your Area
Understanding what’s really going on in your local economy, as a council or university, has never been more important — especially as budgets get tighter, scrutiny increases on spending, and every decision needs to be backed by evidence. Access to accurate, real-time economic data at a local level is critical to making your case for further funding, and proving that funding’s impact.
But getting this data isn’t straightforward. Many councils and universities find themselves dealing with outdated reports, fragmented sources, or overly broad national statistics that don’t reflect the specific needs of their communities. That’s why more detailed, localised insight is so important.
Enter BeauhurstImpact. Our platform was built with these challenges in mind. It brings together complex, hard-to-find data on all businesses, industries, and local economies, and transforms it into actionable insights.
Why local economic data matters
Having the right local economic data can make a big difference. When decision-makers have a clear picture of what’s happening in their towns, cities, or regions, they can take action that’s actually grounded in reality, not guesswork.
Local economic data is therefore essential for councils trying to make smart, targeted decisions. It helps them understand what’s really happening in their communities — whether that’s rising unemployment, declining high streets, or growing demand for certain services. With that insight, councils can develop policies and public services that actually meet local needs.
It also plays a big role in planning and prioritising resources. From deciding whether to invest in transport or skills training, to backing up funding applications with solid evidence, local data gives councils the tools to act with confidence and accountability.
For universities, this data adds real-world depth to academic research. It allows researchers to explore issues like regional inequality, labour market trends, or the impact of policy interventions with much greater accuracy and relevance.
This kind of data doesn’t just strengthen the quality of the research, it also supports successful funding bids. Grant providers increasingly expect projects to demonstrate local relevance and potential impact. With robust local data, universities can make a stronger case and deliver impact across the UK and locally.
Challenges in finding economic data
Getting hold of the right local economic data isn’t always straightforward. One of the biggest hurdles is fragmentation — in other words, the information you need is often scattered across different sources, with no easy way to bring it all together. That makes it hard to get a full picture without spending a lot of time and resources researching manually.
Another common issue is that much of the available data is outdated by the time it’s published. In fast-moving economies, decisions based on old statistics means poorer results.
It can also be tough to get a clear view of business activity at a local level. While national trends might be easy to find, identifying which areas are home to high-growth companies or emerging industries often requires more detailed, harder-to-find data.
What to look for in a local economic data platform
To make better decisions, you need a platform that does the hard work for you — bringing together reliable, relevant data in one place. Here’s what really matters:
Up-to-date data
The more current the information, the more useful it is. Timely data helps you respond to changes as they happen, not months later.
Granular geographic breakdowns
Whether you’re focused on a city, town, or specific neighbourhood, you need the ability to zone in on the places that matter most to your work.
Insight into business dynamics
Look for platforms that go beyond the basics, providing visibility into high-growth companies, investment flows, and how different industries are performing locally.
Ease of access and visualisation
Data should be easy to explore and understand. Clear dashboards, maps, and charts can help you quickly spot trends and share findings with others.
In short, the right platform turns complex data into clear, local insight. Meaning you save time, reduce guesswork, and can take action with confidence. Our BeauhurstImpact platform is the perfect solution for finding this data.
How BeauhurstImpact helps you access local economic data
First off, what is BeauhurstImpact?
BeauhurstImpact is our specialist platform built to make local economic insights simple, clear, and actionable. It brings together rich, real-time data on businesses, industries, investment, and economic performance, so you can see what’s happening right now, in the places that matter to you. The platform has rich, live profiles for every single company in the UK, and allows you to filter and search over thousands of datapoints including company location, industry, growth and investment trends, news, and more.
Councils
BeauhurstImpact helps local councils by offering a centralised, real-time platform to understand, support, and grow their local business ecosystems. By bringing together accurate data on every UK (and German) company, councils can:
- Map and monitor local sectors—identifying high-growth firms, spinouts, and those needing support—rather than relying on outdated spreadsheets
- Generate inward investment by targeting companies poised to scale, using events like funding rounds, accelerator participation, or high-growth list features
- Benchmark performance, comparing metrics (e.g. company growth, funding, employment) across regions to reveal strengths and weaknesses
- Track impact with ease, using transaction data and custom dashboards to measure interventions and report on KPIs
- Enrich CRM systems via API integration, enabling automated alerts and unified collaboration across council teams
- Enhance economic insight through ESG signals, helping councils align business support with sustainability goals
Universities
- Identify strategic partners by quickly locating innovative, aligned companies for research collaborations and KTPs, with filters for sector, funding, ESG, and more
- Track university spinouts and funding by monitoring spinout companies, grants, investment rounds, and acquisitions to stay ahead of key developments
- Compare the performance of your university’s spinouts, alumni companies, and partnerships with others
- Find investors and advisors by surfacing the right funding sources and expert contacts who understand the university spinout landscape
- Conduct due diligence and benchmark performance by using reliable company data, including financials, team size, patents, shareholders, and corporate structure
- Streamline reporting and impact measurement by automating outputs for HEBCI and REF-style returns, and tracking growth and ROI over time
- Spot market trends and opportunity gaps by analysing sectors, technologies, and funding activity to shape new programmes and strategy
- Integrate ESG values by using ESG insights to align university partnerships with sustainability and institutional priorities
Take a tour
Can’t I just use ONS data?
The ONS is a valuable resource for understanding national trends — but if you’re relying on it alone, you’re missing the detail that drives smarter decisions.
1. Lack of granularity
ONS data is aggregated and anonymised, which is great for macro trends but not for identifying specific companies. Beauhurst offers detailed profiles of real UK businesses — their fundraisings, patents, leadership changes, and more.
2. Slow to update
ONS releases data on fixed schedules, often months behind. Beauhurst tracks developments in real time, so you can act on funding rounds, acquisitions, or product launches as they happen.
3. Less accurate GVA
At Beauhurst, we calculate GVA using EBITDA. By comparison, the ONS adds the sum of all income from employment (compensation of employees), and other income generated by the production of goods and services.
The key difference here is that the Beauhurst method of calculating EBITDA data by company gives a much clearer picture of a company’s direct value to the local economy. It also means that we can algorithmically calculate GVA when a company files its financials.
You can read more about how we calculate GVA here.
Real-world examples of local economic insights
How to find local economic data
Imagine you’re a council and you want to find out how much equity funding is going into your area over the past few years.
We can put together a basic search to look into that.
First change the drop down at the top of the Advanced Search from ‘Companies’ to ‘Fundraisings’.
Next, set a time frame you want to look at. In the example, we’ve put the last three years.
Add your local authority under the ‘Recepient company’ filter, to include only funding into companies in your area.
After clicking Search, you can either scroll through each fundraising secured by companies in your area in the last three years, or you can get an overview of these fundraisings by clicking on the ‘Statistics’ tab.
- The breakdown of fundraisings by week, month, quarter, or year
- The stage of evolution of companies who received funding
- The top funders for companies in your area
How Beauhurst Helps Ards and North Down Borough Council Support Businesses
How to find local business data
You can also use the platform to find more specific business data. Imagine you’re an arts university and you want to find local businesses to partner with for a jobs fair.
You can start by adding the location your university is in, and then add the industries or buzzwords that best describe the type of business you’re looking at partnering with.
[Top tip: make sure you add the Companies House status as ‘Active’ so you’re only seeing companies that are currently active.]
On the ‘People’ tab, you’ll also be able to see the company directors and founders, with their emails and LinkedIn profiles, so you’ll know exactly who you’re reaching out to.
See how the University of Manchester uses Beauhurst to build invitation lists of people and companies for events.
These are just two examples of how you can use Beauhurst to find and use company data in your area. If you’d like to explore more about how Beauhurst can help with your specific needs, fill in the form below and one of our friendly team will be in touch.
How to get started with BeauhurstImpact
Local economic insight isn’t a luxury — it’s a necessity for councils, universities, and public sector leaders making informed, evidence-based decisions that genuinely benefit their communities.
BeauhurstImpact combines real-time, reliable economic data with intuitive tools to help you zoom in on the areas that matter most to you. No more fragmented sources or outdated stats, just clear, actionable insight into your local economy.
Want to see how this plays out in practice? Discover how UK councils use data to support local businesses.
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Schedule a conversation today to see all of the key features of the Beauhurst platform, as well as the depth and breadth of data available.
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