UK B2B prospecting glossary
The register, compliance and deliverability terms behind UK lead generation, defined in plain English. 24 terms, updated July 2026.
SIC code
A 5-digit Standard Industrial Classification code describing what a UK company does. Every company picks up to four SIC 2007 codes when it incorporates and can change them on any confirmation statement; Companies House does not vet the choice. SIC codes are the primary way to segment the register by industry.
Companies House
The UK government's registrar of companies. Every limited company, LLP and PLC in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland appears on its public register with its filings, officers, registered address and status. The register is public data and the foundation of UK B2B prospecting.
Company number (CRN)
The unique registration number Companies House assigns at incorporation, usually 8 characters. Unlike a company name, it never changes, which makes it the reliable key for matching and deduplicating UK company records.
Incorporation date
The date a company was registered at Companies House. A strong buying signal: newly incorporated companies need accountants, banking, insurance and websites within their first weeks, and the register publishes new incorporations daily.
Confirmation statement (CS01)
An annual filing confirming that the information Companies House holds about a company is correct. It is due within 14 days of the end of the company's 12-month review period. There is no automatic financial penalty for filing late, but persistent failure can lead to strike-off and director prosecution.
Annual accounts
The financial statements every UK limited company must file with Companies House, normally within 9 months of its accounting reference date. Late filing triggers automatic penalties starting at £150 and rising to £1,500, doubling for repeat offences.
Accounting reference date (ARD)
The last day of a company's financial year. By default it is set to the last day of the month one year after incorporation. Accounts are due 9 months after the ARD, which is what makes filing deadlines predictable enough to prospect on.
Filing deadline
The date by which a company's accounts or confirmation statement must reach Companies House. Approaching deadlines are a timing signal for accountants and company secretarial services, because companies close to a deadline are actively deciding who will do the work.
Active charge
A registered security interest (such as a mortgage or debenture) that a lender holds over a company's assets, recorded at Companies House. Companies with active charges have borrowed against assets, a useful signal for commercial finance brokers and refinancing services.
Company status (active vs dissolved)
The register marks each company as active, dissolved, in liquidation or in administration among other states. Only active companies are prospects; a dissolved company no longer legally exists. Status changes are also signals: strike-off proceedings often follow missed filings.
Registered office
The official address of a company on the register, where statutory mail is served. It is often an accountant's office or a formation agent's address rather than the trading premises, so postcode targeting on the registered office alone can mislead: cross-check against the company's website.
Person with significant control (PSC)
An individual who owns or controls more than 25% of a company's shares or voting rights, or otherwise exercises significant control. The PSC register is public and identifies the real decision-makers behind small companies.
Micro-entity / small company accounts
Size categories for accounts filing. Micro-entities and small companies may file reduced accounts, so the category a company files under is a public proxy for its size, and a change of category between years is a growth (or shrinkage) signal.
Catch-all SIC code
A code ending in 'n.e.c.' (not elsewhere classified), such as 82990 or 74990, that companies pick when nothing specific fits. Lists built on catch-all codes are noisy and mixed, so they need extra qualification before outreach.
No-website flag
A Leadistry discovery signal marking active UK companies for which no public website could be found. These companies are prime prospects for web designers and marketing agencies, and they can only be reached by email or post since they publish no online contact channel.
Buying signal
A dated, observable event suggesting a company is about to need a product or service: incorporation, an approaching filing deadline, a new charge, a size-category change. Signal-based outreach converts better than cold lists because the timing supplies the reason for the message.
Legitimate interest (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(f))
The lawful basis most B2B prospecting relies on: processing is permitted where a legitimate business interest is not overridden by the individual's rights, assessed through a three-part test the ICO describes. It requires a documented balancing exercise and an easy opt-out, not consent.
PECR
The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, the UK rules for electronic marketing. PECR permits unsolicited marketing email to corporate subscribers (limited companies and LLPs) without prior consent, provided the sender identifies itself and honours opt-outs. It prohibits unsolicited marketing calls to TPS-registered numbers.
TPS (Telephone Preference Service)
The UK's official do-not-call register. Calling a TPS-registered number with unsolicited marketing is unlawful under PECR, which is why compliant UK prospecting is email-first and why Leadistry does not supply phone numbers.
Corporate subscriber
PECR's term for the entity that subscribes to a communications service when it is a company rather than an individual. Email sent to a corporate subscriber's addresses (including a named employee's work address) falls under PECR's B2B rules rather than the consent regime that applies to consumers and sole traders.
Email verification
Checking that an email address can actually receive mail before sending: format validation, DNS MX lookup, and where possible an SMTP mailbox check. Keeping bounce rates under 2 to 3 percent protects sender reputation and inbox placement.
SPF, DKIM and DMARC
The three DNS records that authenticate email: SPF lists which servers may send for a domain, DKIM cryptographically signs each message, and DMARC sets the policy for mail that fails both. Mailbox providers now expect bulk senders to pass all three.
Mailbox warm-up
Gradually increasing sending volume from a new mailbox or domain so providers learn it is a legitimate sender: a few emails on day one, rising over weeks. Skipping warm-up is one of the fastest routes to the spam folder for cold outreach.
Delivered lead
Leadistry's billing unit: one UK company record actually delivered with the data fields requested, drawn from the Companies House register and enriched with website, business email and socials where discoverable. Failed lookups never count and auto-refund, which is the practical difference from per-seat or per-credit pricing.