How to Map the Full Business Base of Your Local Authority Area

How many businesses are really operating in your Local Authority area?

It sounds like a straightforward question, but the answer is often spread across Companies House, Office for National Statistics (ONS) statistics, business rates records and local intelligence. Each source reveals part of the picture, but none provides a complete view on its own.

That makes it harder to target business support, identify emerging sectors and build a strong case for funding or inward investment. And as councils take on greater responsibility for local economic planning, having a reliable evidence base has become essential.

Mapping the full business base means looking beyond prominent employers and high-growth companies. It means understanding every business in your area: where it operates, what it does, how large it is and how it is changing.

Beauhurst’s True Companies brings this information together into coherent company profiles. Here’s how Local Authorities can use that data to build a more complete and practical map of their local economy.

Why Local Authorities Need to See Their Full Business Base

A complete business map is more than a directory. It is an evidence base that can inform decisions across economic development, regeneration, planning, business support and investment.

Economic strategy and statutory evidence base

Local economic strategies need to demonstrate how an area is performing, where its strengths lie and which challenges require intervention.

Aggregate figures can establish the broad context. Company-level data adds the detail needed to examine the businesses behind those figures, including their sectors, size, ownership and growth trajectories.

This creates a stronger foundation for economic strategies, Local Plans, funding submissions and UK Shared Prosperity Fund activity. It also helps authorities track whether the structure of the economy is changing over time.

Business rates, revenue and financial planning

Business rates records provide councils with valuable information about rateable properties, but they do not represent the entire business population. Home-based businesses, early-stage companies and organisations without their own rateable premises can be missed.

Connecting rates data with a wider company universe can reveal gaps between registered businesses, operating companies and rateable properties. This supports more informed revenue forecasting and helps councils understand the commercial activity taking place beyond the rates register.

Business support targeting

Support programmes can only reach businesses that a council knows exist.

Relying on established networks, mailing lists and previous programme participants risks repeatedly reaching the most visible companies. Smaller, newer or less connected businesses can remain outside the local support ecosystem.

A complete Local Authority business base allows teams to identify eligible companies according to geography, sector, size, age or growth stage. Outreach can then be based on the intended audience for a programme rather than the contacts already held by the council.

Sector cluster and specialisation analysis

Sector analysis helps councils identify the industries that distinguish their area. However, Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes do not always reflect how modern businesses operate.

A company developing agricultural robotics might sit across agriculture, engineering, software and artificial intelligence. Looking only at its SIC code could hide its relevance to an agritech cluster.

More detailed company descriptions and live classifications help authorities recognise emerging specialisms that would otherwise be spread across several broad categories.

Inward investment marketing and place-making

Investors need evidence of what an area can offer. Claims about a thriving digital, manufacturing or clean-energy sector are more convincing when supported by information about the companies, skills, fundraisings and growth activity already present.

A detailed map can identify anchor employers, supply chains, emerging clusters and businesses experiencing rapid growth. It gives inward investment teams specific evidence with which to describe an area’s commercial strengths.

Devolution deal evidence and Combined Authority contributions

Combined and Mayoral Combined Authorities need consistent evidence across their constituent areas. If each Local Authority uses different definitions, dates and sources, it becomes difficult to compare performance or create an accurate regional picture.

Using a consistent company dataset enables authorities to contribute comparable information about their business populations. It also helps Combined Authorities examine the relationships between neighbouring economies rather than viewing every administrative area in isolation.

Regeneration and place-based intervention planning

Business activity is not distributed evenly across an authority. Mapping companies at ward, postcode or neighbourhood level can reveal concentrations of employment, underrepresented sectors and locations experiencing high business churn.

This can inform town-centre regeneration, employment-site planning and place-based business support. It also helps teams assess whether an intervention is reaching businesses in the communities it was designed to serve.

The Data Layers Behind a Full Business Base Map

A useful map needs to show more than business names and addresses. Several data layers are required to explain the structure and direction of the local economy.

1. 1.Business population

Begin with the total number of businesses in the area, then examine how that population is distributed.

Relevant measures include incorporation status, company age and the proportion of micro, small, medium and large businesses. These establish the basic shape of the business base and provide a benchmark for future analysis.

1. 1.Sector and cluster classification

SIC codes provide a standardised starting point, but they should be supplemented with richer classifications based on what companies actually do.

Keywords, company descriptions, technology use and market focus can expose sectors that cut across traditional categories. This is particularly useful for examining areas such as cleantech, life sciences, creative technology and advanced manufacturing.

1. 1.Financial data

Turnover, profitability and balance-sheet information help distinguish dormant or low-activity entities from significant operating businesses.

Historic figures also allow teams to examine trajectories rather than isolated results. Where accounts are available, they can indicate which businesses are expanding, remaining stable or experiencing financial pressure.

1. 1.Ownership

The ownership profile of an economy can influence its resilience, access to capital and decision-making.

Useful categories include founder-owned businesses, family companies, private-equity-backed organisations and subsidiaries of larger corporate groups. Identifying ownership connections also prevents individual subsidiaries from being interpreted without the context of their wider group.

1. 1.Employment

Employment data shows how economic activity translates into jobs.

Alongside total headcount, authorities can examine employer size, employment concentration and the sectors providing the largest share of local jobs. Changes over time can also signal expansion, contraction or structural shifts within the economy.

1. 1.Growth signals

Accounts are retrospective, so they should be combined with more immediate signals.

Fundraising, hiring, acquisitions, office openings, accelerator participation and grant awards can all suggest that a company is entering a new stage of growth. These signals help councils identify potential demand for premises, skills, finance or exporting support earlier.

1. 1.Location

A registered address is not necessarily an operating address. A company may be registered at an accountant’s office, a director’s home or a group headquarters in another authority.

A reliable map should distinguish between these locations wherever possible. This is especially important in London boroughs, urban centres and areas close to administrative boundaries, where registered-office services can significantly distort company counts.

1. 1.Business dynamics

A static total cannot show whether a business base is healthy, stagnant or experiencing high churn.

Registrations, closures, dissolutions and changes in company status should be tracked over time. This makes it possible to distinguish genuine net growth from a large number of incorporations accompanied by an equally high number of closures.

The Data Sources You Already Have, and Where They Fall Short

Local Authorities already have access to several valuable sources. The challenge is that each was created for a different purpose.

Office for National Statistics Business Population Estimates

The UK business population estimates provide a valuable overview of private-sector businesses, including both registered and unregistered businesses. They are useful for understanding national and regional trends and the contribution made by different business sizes.

However, these are estimates rather than a searchable company-level universe. They cannot tell an economic development team which individual businesses make up a particular sector or where support should be directed.

The ONS also publishes UK business counts, which provide local data on enterprises and local units registered for VAT (Value Added Tax) or PAYE (Pay As You Earn). These remain aggregate statistics rather than detailed business profiles.

Nomis labour market and business demography data

Nomis provides official labour-market statistics for different geographic areas. It is particularly useful for analysing employment, occupations, qualifications, earnings and business demography.

Its strength is contextual economic intelligence. It does not provide the depth of company information needed to identify and examine every organisation behind the figures.

LG Inform comparative benchmarking

LG Inform allows councils to compare a wide range of indicators across Local Authorities.

It supports high-level benchmarking and can show how an area performs relative to its peers. However, it does not provide the underlying company population needed to investigate what is driving that performance.

Companies House

Companies House is the official register of UK companies. It provides information including company status, incorporation date, registered office, officers, SIC codes and filing history.

However, it records legal entities rather than verified operating businesses. Its registered-office data does not necessarily reveal where a company’s economic activity takes place, while SIC codes provide only a limited account of what it does.

Working directly with the register also leaves councils to reconcile duplicate records, corporate groups, trading names and changes in company status.

Inter-Departmental Business Register

The Inter-Departmental Business Register underpins many official business statistics. It brings together information from administrative and survey sources and covers businesses registered for VAT or PAYE.

Access to identifiable business-level information is restricted, meaning Local Authorities cannot generally use it as an operational database for outreach, monitoring or programme delivery.

Business rates and Non-Domestic Rates records

Rates records provide direct insight into non-domestic properties within the authority. They are particularly useful for understanding commercial premises and rateable occupation.

They do not cover every business. Sole traders working from home, companies in shared spaces and businesses without a rateable property can be absent, while one business may occupy several premises.

Where each source falls short of a coherent, company-level Local Authority view

These sources are valuable, but using them together requires substantial manual work. Definitions, dates and geographic units can differ, while organisations may appear under different names across multiple records.

The result is often a patchwork rather than a single, continuously updated view of the local business base. An integrated company dataset provides the connecting layer, while official statistics and council records remain important for validation and wider context.

A Framework for Mapping Your Local Authority’s Full Business Base

A repeatable methodology makes it easier to update the map, compare results and use the evidence across different council teams.

Step 1: Define the geographic boundary

Decide whether the analysis will use the administrative Local Authority boundary, individual wards, postcodes or a wider functional economic area.

The correct geography depends on the question. Council programme eligibility may require administrative boundaries, while labour markets and supply chains often extend into neighbouring authorities.

Record the boundary definition from the outset so that future updates and comparisons use the same basis.

Step 2: Address the registered-versus-operating-address problem

Do not treat every registered office as evidence of local economic activity.

Separate companies with a confirmed operating location from those connected to the area only through a registered address. Where possible, examine websites, trading addresses and additional location data to resolve the difference.

This prevents formation agents, accountants and virtual offices from artificially inflating the apparent business population.

Step 3: Build the full company universe from a comprehensive source

Create the broadest possible starting population before applying sector, size or growth filters.

Beginning with only known employers or high-growth businesses introduces bias into the analysis. The initial universe should cover active private companies of every size, including businesses that do not currently display prominent growth signals.

Step 4: Layer in size, sector, ownership, financial and growth dimensions

Enrich each company record with the attributes required for economic analysis.

This might include headcount, turnover, sector, ownership, funding history, grant participation and growth signals. Not every field will be available for every business, so the report should state where figures are reported, modelled or unavailable.

Step 5: Identify clusters and specialisations using live classification

Analyse companies using descriptions and current industry classifications as well as SIC codes.

Begin with a broad definition of the cluster, then test and refine the inclusion criteria. Reviewing borderline companies is important because an overly narrow definition can miss valuable supply-chain participants, while an overly broad one can exaggerate the cluster’s scale.

Step 6: Benchmark against neighbours and peer Local Authorities

Select comparators that reflect the purpose of the analysis.

Neighbouring authorities are helpful for examining cross-boundary patterns. Structural peers with similar population sizes, sector mixes or economic characteristics may provide a more useful performance comparison.

Use the same dataset, definitions and reporting period across every area.

Step 7: Set alerts and refresh continuously

Treat the map as an ongoing intelligence resource rather than a one-off research project.

Monitor new incorporations, closures, address changes, fundraisings and other important events. Scheduled reviews can then focus on interpreting change instead of rebuilding the entire dataset.

What to Include in a Local Authority Business Base Report

The final report should combine an accessible overview with enough company-level detail to support practical decisions.

Total business count and year-on-year dynamics

Report the number of active businesses alongside new registrations, closures and dissolutions. Showing both the current total and movement within it gives a more honest picture of local business dynamics.

Size distribution

Break the population down into micro, small, medium and large employers using a consistent definition. This shows whether the area depends heavily on a small number of major organisations or has a broad base of smaller businesses.

Sector and cluster distribution

Show the largest sectors as well as emerging specialisations. Explain the classification method and identify where richer company descriptions have been used to supplement SIC codes.

Employment and turnover distribution

Total employment and turnover are useful, but distribution matters too. Highlight which sectors and companies account for the largest shares and whether activity is concentrated among a small number of organisations.

Ownership breakdown

Include founder-owned, family-owned, private-equity-backed and corporate businesses where this information is available. This can reveal locally controlled firms, external ownership and potential succession or investment considerations.

Growth trajectories

Separate companies that appear to be scaling, stable, plateauing or declining. Use several indicators rather than relying on a single year of accounts.

Investor and grant engagement

Identify businesses that have raised equity, received Innovate UK grants or emerged as university spinouts. This helps authorities understand how effectively local businesses are connecting with the wider innovation and funding ecosystem.

Comparative context versus neighbours and national averages

Place local findings alongside neighbouring authorities, relevant peers and wider benchmarks. Consistent definitions are essential: figures calculated using different sources or periods should not be presented as directly comparable.

Common Pitfalls When Mapping a Local Authority Business Base

Even strong datasets can produce misleading conclusions if the methodology is inconsistent.

Confusing registered address with operating location

A registered office proves a legal connection to an address, not necessarily local employment or trading activity. Treating the two as interchangeable can overcount some areas and undercount others.

Boundary mismatches

Administrative boundaries are necessary for council reporting, but they do not always reflect the way people travel, work or do business. State clearly whether the analysis represents the Local Authority area or a wider functional economy.

Relying on aggregate statistics when company-level detail is needed

Aggregate figures can show that a sector is growing, but not which businesses are responsible or what support they might need. Use company-level data when the intended outcome involves outreach, targeting or intervention.

Static snapshots that go stale within months

Companies incorporate, close, relocate and change direction throughout the year. Without a refresh process, a carefully constructed map can quickly become unreliable.

Missing dissolutions, dormancy and struck-off entities

Counting every historical entity can make the business base appear larger and healthier than it is. Status changes and closures should be included in the analysis rather than removed from the story altogether, as they reveal important information about churn.

Sector classification bundles very different businesses under one SIC code

One SIC category can contain companies with very different products, technologies and customers. Use descriptive information and live classification to examine the economic activities taking place within each broad category.

Under-counting sole traders and businesses under different trading names

No company dataset can represent every form of economic activity. Sole traders who are not incorporated will be absent from Companies House-based records, while trading names may not match legal company names.

Be explicit about this limitation and supplement company data with official business population estimates, rates information and local intelligence where appropriate.

How Beauhurst Helps Local Authorities Map Their Full Business Base

BeauhurstImpact gives public-sector teams a single environment in which to discover, analyse and monitor private companies.

Every UK private company in one dataset, True Companies profiles built from all sources

Beauhurst combines information from thousands of sources to create unified profiles of private companies. True Companies is designed to represent the real business behind the records, bringing related information together into a clearer view.

This provides a broader starting point than a dataset limited to startups, fundraisings or other visible growth events.

Local Authority and geographic filters, using both registered and operating addresses

Geographic filters allow teams to identify companies within relevant Local Authority areas and other location parameters.

Separating registered and operating locations helps reduce one of the most persistent distortions in local business analysis and gives councils a stronger basis for identifying companies with genuine activity in their area.

Live industry classification and buzzwords beyond SIC codes

Beauhurst combines traditional industry information with more detailed descriptions, classifications and searchable buzzwords.

This makes it possible to examine contemporary and cross-cutting sectors that do not fit neatly within a single SIC code.

Financial data, growth signals and ownership on every company

True Companies profiles bring together available financial information, ownership connections and growth signals. Teams can move from a headline business count to a more detailed examination of company size, structure and trajectory without rebuilding the dataset for every question.

Business dynamics tracking

Monitoring incorporations, closures, dissolutions and other company changes reveals how the business population is evolving.

This enables Local Authorities to track churn, identify emerging patterns and update their economic evidence without relying solely on periodic static reports.

Custom collections and alerts for continuous refresh

Teams can group companies into custom collections based on programme eligibility, location, cluster membership or strategic importance.

Alerts can then surface relevant developments, creating an ongoing monitoring process rather than a map that begins losing accuracy as soon as it is completed.

Comparative benchmarking across Local Authorities

Because the same underlying dataset covers every UK private company, teams can apply a consistent methodology across multiple Local Authority areas.

This supports comparisons between neighbours, constituent authorities and structural peers without introducing differences caused by incompatible sources.

BeauhurstImpact, the product line built for Local Authorities, Combined Authorities and government

BeauhurstImpact helps economic development, policy and research teams understand the companies operating across their areas.

By combining a full business universe with geographic, sector, financial, ownership and growth data, it turns business mapping into an operational resource for strategy, delivery and evaluation.

Build an Evidence Base That Reflects the Whole Local Economy

A Local Authority business base cannot be understood through a single aggregate figure. It is a changing population of new businesses, established employers, family companies, subsidiaries, growing firms and organisations facing decline or closure.

Mapping that population effectively requires clear geographic definitions, full company coverage and several layers of financial, sector, ownership and growth data. It also requires a process for keeping the evidence current.

With BeauhurstImpact and True Companies, Local Authorities can move beyond disconnected sources and static spreadsheets to create a coherent, continuously updated view of the businesses in their patch.

Discover how BeauhurstImpact can help you map and monitor your Local Authority’s full business base.