How Lancashire County Council Finds & Supports Scaleups With Beauhurst
With Beauhurst, we have access to real-time information, with a level of detail that we wouldn't get anywhere else. And we can use this information to reach out to new businesses.
- Industry
Local Government
- Location
Fishergate, Preston, Lancashire PR1 8RL
- Employees
5000+
What first led you to Beauhurst?
‘The Council have been using Beauhurst for two years now. We had already heard of Beauhurst and its high-growth tracking triggers through conversations with other growth hubs and councils in our network, but the main reason we were interested was Beauhurst’s scaleup data. We work very closely with the ScaleUp Institute and we wanted Beauhurst to help us identify scaling businesses within Lancashire.’
How are you using Beauhurst to support your work?
‘Beauhurst is a very easy-to-use system, first and foremost. The platform is easy to navigate, so you don’t even need training to be able to use it.
‘The Council uses the Beauhurst platform in a number of ways—everything from researching businesses before we speak with them through to trend analysis.
‘For me, since I oversee the Council’s business finance programmes, I spend a lot of time looking at equity investment rates within Lancashire and using the platform’s Advanced Search tool to identify businesses that are raising equity. I can see the kind of investment they’ve secured so far, what stage in their development they’re at, and really drill down into the specifics, like borough, sector, size of business, and so on.
‘We also use Beauhurst to prepare for presentations to stakeholders, whether that be internal committees of councillors, local authorities, businesses, suppliers, private and public sector sub-committees or BEIS. Beauhurst gives us more credibility—say we want to discuss new aims and objectives, or certain trends we’re seeing, we can use Beauhurst data to formulate and back up our argument.
‘One of my colleagues also uses the platform to collect data for weekly reports. By allowing us to draw information seamlessly from a single source, rather than having to trawl through different datasets, Beauhurst saves us a lot of time.’
"Beauhurst is a very easy-to-use system, first and foremost. The platform is easy to navigate, so you don't even need training to be able to use it."
Has Beauhurst changed the way you target businesses?
‘The Council has an internal function that gathers intelligence on businesses that pay rates. We can also reach out to anyone who inquires about or receives support through the Council’s growth hub programmes and other business initiatives.
‘But now, with Beauhurst, we have access to real-time information, with a level of detail that we wouldn’t get anywhere else. That’s the great thing about it—whilst we’re working with similar companies as before, we have much more oversight now, from their corporate structure and timeline of activity, to their employee count, revenue and whether they’ve accessed any grants or funding. And we can use this information to then reach out to businesses.’
How do you use Beauhurst Collections?
‘Rather than searching across specific criteria on Beauhurst on a regular basis, I have Collections set up based on my key drivers. This means I can get weekly updates on relevant businesses, as well as any information I need for presentations. If something comes through that piques my interest, such as a company’s credit score changing, I’ll look into it further and use that to form my work for the week. Collections allow us to be more proactive and ahead of the curve. This access to real-time information also saves us from needing to have regular dialogue with businesses to update our own database.’
What has your experience with our team been like so far?
‘Faultless. It’s been a real pleasure working with Beauhurst’s Account Management and Client Services team. They check in on a regular basis, regularly share information reports with us, and are always available to provide users with additional training on the platform where needed.
‘The reason we’ve stayed with Beauhurst first and foremost has been the standard and the level of account management. We were running parallel with another data provider in the past, but ultimately, we’d only hear from them when it was renewal time. Whereas with Beauhurst, we’re always in touch—I have bi-monthly check-ins with Beth and Isabel as a minimum.
‘What sets Beauhurst apart from the competition are the people, the culture of the individuals who are employed, and how they conduct themselves. It’s not only the responsiveness of the team but also the friendliness that goes with it. We’ve had different Account Managers throughout our relationship with Beauhurst, but the high standard of account management has never changed.
‘For us, as a local authority and as a government organisation, data is always very important. This is because our key role in driving economic prosperity is based on data intelligence that tells us what the businesses in our area are doing and what kind of activities are undergoing. So, the data is always going to be useful. But, I think when you’ve also got people that can really help and support you with that—that’s the icing on the cake. And that’s why we end up carrying on with Beauhurst, because of that high level of service.’
"The customer service and account management at Beauhurst have always been head and shoulders above any other data provider that I've come in contact with—it really is Beauhurst’s biggest strength."
How would you describe Beauhurst to another council?
‘I would say that the Beauhurst platform is a dynamic tool that gives you real-time information and a very detailed set of search criteria, helping you to understand and analyse the businesses you’re working with. It will certainly save you time and it’s very, very easy to use.
‘The customer service and account management at Beauhurst have always been head and shoulders above any other data provider that I’ve come in contact with—it really is Beauhurst’s biggest strength.’
Discover BeauhurstImpact
- Identify, track, and support companies in the area
- Understand the economic ecosystem
- Easily measure impact (no spreadsheets in sight)
- Find potential partners, companies, people, or grant recipients
"Rather than having to trawl through different datasets, Beauhurst saves us a lot of time."
