Contents
Background
It's first worth noting that some criteria will produce search results only within our tracked companies (for more information on this, look at "What does tracked mean and what is the tracking process?" within the Tracking and Signals section).
Therefore, it's important that you choose the right criteria to highlight the correct types of companies!
Returns All UK Companies | Returns Only "Tracked" Companies |
Industries | Sectors |
Commodity Trade activity | Buzzwords |
SIC Codes (2007) | Target Markets |
Description | Description is similar to |
Business Description (from filings) |
|
Description from company website |
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I'd recommend the criteria in bold above as the most useful ones, but each criteria serves a different purpose!
The criteria is listed in order of how they appear in Advanced Search:
Industries > the new gold standard!
What is it? Our newest classification, covering over 4.6 million UK companies, generated by our own machine learning algorithm, trained by our in house data team's vast experience and knowledge
Best used for? Almost everything! This combines the broadness of SIC codes, and the specificity and modernness of Sectors into a more powerful criteria.
Better still, Buzzwords are now found within here, so you can search over Industries and Buzzwords at the same time!
For more info on methodology, and how to update your old collections to use Industries, then check out this article
Commodity trade activity
What is it? Looking at the goods a company is importing and exporting
Best used for? Finding companies in a niche space, typically in a manufacturing or industrial vertical.
Using 'Commodity traded' allows you to look at companies importing or exporting particular goods, from the broader 'section' they fall under - eg. Prepared foodstuffs - to the niche exact 'commodity' - eg. Food preparations for infant use.
Sectors - soon to be retired and replaced by Industries!
What is it? A Beauhurst proprietary dataset that classifies companies into more traditional industries, manually assigned by our in-house data team.
Best used for? Finding high-growth or innovative companies in traditional spaces
Sectors are perfect for capturing Technology companies, or smaller areas underneath this like Software or SaaS companies (be sure to open up each sector and see what falls underneath it!)
Buzzwords
What is it? A Beauhurst proprietary dataset that classifies companies in exciting, up-and-coming areas, manually assigned by our in-house data team.
Best used for? Targeting companies in the most talked about hotspots, like Fintech, AI or eHealth
Buzzwords capture the most exciting companies, in the areas you've probably heard about on LinkedIn! It's worth hovering over the little 'i' icon next to each one to see our definition
Target Markets
What is it? A matrix highlighting who the focus audience is for a given company
Best used for? Finding B2B, B2C or Public sector-focused companies
SIC Codes (2007)
What is it? Companies House's way of classifying companies
Best used for? Capturing old-school businesses in long-standing industries.
SIC Codes may be outdated, so aren't best for highlighting the next Fintech unicorn, but can be a good way to highlight companies in manufacturing, hospitality, business and professional services, and other familiar verticals.
Description
What is it? Our way of saying what the company does, in a simple sentence.
Best used for? Searching for very niche words like "Nanoparticles" or particular phrases like "net zero", or ensuring you can narrow down a wider search.
Description searching allows you to be very precise about a given space that we have not captured with our other classifications.
Make sure you look at all of the options in the dropdown box before the textbox, to ensure that you capture as many companies as you can!
Description is similar to
What is it? Using a machine-learning algorithm to find similar companies to a chosen firm
Best used for? Perfect for finding competitors, collaborators or other market players in the same space as another company; equally a good tool for searching within a niche industry, that is better defined by a certain company within it rather than a jumbled description.
The results from this criteria pull on the descriptions of each company, rather than their current financial situation, funding history, location and so on.
Business description (from filings)
What is it? A company's self-described outline of what they do, as reported to Companies House
Best used for? Double-checking a description search, or narrowing down a wider list
Description from company website
What is it? A company's self-described outline of what they do, found on their website. Often a bit longer and more verbose!
Best used for? Double-checking a description search, or narrowing down a wider list.
Still need some support?
Still unsure? Make sure to reach out to your Client Experience Manager, or Account Manager (you'll find their details in the Help tab in the top right of the screen!)