How to Find Good Leads for SaaS in the UK

Bought lead lists are cheap because most of the companies on them will never buy. They usually come from old scrapes and still include companies that have closed, and the industry labels are often the vendor's guess.

Competition makes a bad list more expensive. In Company Explore's registration data, 41,401 new UK companies listed SIC 62012 (business and domestic software development) in the 12 months to 18 October 2026, up from 25,370 the year before, while total incorporations fell by about 6%. More software companies are now chasing the same buyers, so a well-built list is worth more than a long one.

Every method in this guide runs on Companies House data, which is free to use and updated every working day.

What counts as a good SaaS lead

Write down what a good lead looks like before you go looking. For most B2B SaaS products the test has four parts:

• Fit: the company works in an industry and size band where your product solves a real problem.
• Timing: something has changed recently that sends them looking for software, such as starting up, hiring or opening a new site.
• Ability to pay: the company is active, files on time and shows no sign of distress.
• Reachability: you can identify the owner or director and contact them lawfully.

A lead that passes all four deserves a personal message, while one that fails on fit isn't worth a cold email at any price.

Turn your ideal customer profile into SIC codes

Most ideal customer profiles are written in marketing language, such as "growing service businesses" or "tech-forward retailers". No register can search for those. You can search for SIC codes, incorporation dates, locations and company types, so translate your ICP into those terms.

Every UK company declares between one and four five-digit SIC codes when it registers. The codes are the company's own description of what it does, picked from a standard list, and one buyer type often spans several codes. If you sell job scheduling software to trades, your list might start with 43210 (electrical installation) and 43220 (plumbing, heat and air-conditioning installation).

The quickest way to choose codes is to look up your ten best current customers on Company Explore and write down the SIC codes on their profiles. Whatever codes repeat are your starting segments.

Here is how many companies registered under some common SaaS buyer codes in the 30 days to 18 October 2026:

Watch for two things. Many 68209 registrations are single-property landlord companies, so if you sell to letting agents, 68310 (real estate agencies, 461 in the same period) is a tighter fit. Some founders also pick vague codes such as 82990 (other business support) or 96090 (other service activities), so pair codes with keywords in the company name to catch them. The common traps are covered in our guide to SIC codes.

Reach companies while they are choosing software

The incorporation date is the most useful buying signal on the register. A company that has traded for six years already has a CRM, an accounting package and contracts it would have to cancel. A company registered last week has none of that. Its founder is opening a bank account and sending the first invoices, and choosing tools as they go.

There are plenty of them: 62,561 UK companies were incorporated in the 30 days to 18 October 2026, about 2,800 on an average weekday and around 600 on a weekend day. That is enough volume for almost any niche, even after you filter hard by SIC code and location.

The window is short. Most founders settle on their core tools in the first few months, and once they have, switching costs work against you. Aim to contact a new company within 30 days of incorporation, and treat anything over 90 days old as an ordinary prospect.

The Leads Dashboard shows daily registrations by industry, county and city. The B2B List Builder pulls every company registered in a date range under the codes you choose. If you would rather not build lists yourself, a 1,000-lead dataset costs £49 on our pricing page.

Qualify every lead with public records

A list filtered by SIC code and age still contains companies you should skip. Public records answer most qualifying questions in a minute or two per company:

• Status: contact active companies only. A company that is dissolved, in liquidation or facing a proposal to strike off is gone or going.
• Registered address: thousands of new companies share a formation agent's or virtual office address. That is normal for a start-up, though a company using its own trading address is usually further along.
• Filing history: new companies won't have accounts yet, because first accounts are due 21 months after incorporation. For older prospects, late accounts or confirmation statements often mean money or attention is short.
• Accounts: where accounts exist, look at cash at bank and net assets. The five figures that matter are in our post on reading company accounts.
• Linked companies: a director with several active companies in related industries is often a serial founder, and one conversation can open more than one account.

Find the person who signs off

In a company with fewer than ten staff, the buyer is nearly always a director or the main shareholder, and Companies House lists both. Directors appear with their appointment dates. Persons of Significant Control (broadly, anyone with more than 25% of the shares or voting rights) show who owns the business. When the sole director is also the only PSC, you have found your decision-maker. How to read PSC data explains the record in more detail.

You still need a way to reach them. Company Explore's enriched exports add the company's published website, email address and phone number, plus scored suggestions for the director's LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram profile. Check a profile match yourself before you send anything personal.

For a new company, look at the website first. A live site with a contact page means the founder is open for business. A holding page means they are still setting up, which is often the best moment to offer help.

Write outreach that new companies answer

New founders get a lot of unsolicited email in their first weeks, much of it from formation upsells and card terminal sellers. A message stands out when it is plainly about their company:

• Mention what you know: that they registered recently, their industry and where they are based.
• Name one problem your product solves for a company at their stage, such as getting the first invoices out or taking the first bookings.
• Offer something small, such as a setup call or a longer trial. Asking a three-week-old company for a demo in the first email rarely gets a reply.
• Keep it under 100 words and send it from a real person with a real signature.

Stay inside the rules. Under UK GDPR, legitimate interest usually covers relevant B2B prospecting, as long as the message fits the recipient's business. Under PECR you can email limited companies at corporate addresses without prior consent, provided you identify yourself and give an easy way to opt out. Sole traders and some partnerships count as individuals and need consent first. The GDPR guide on this blog goes into more detail.

Measure which segments convert

Tag every lead with its source, SIC code and company age at first contact. After a month or two you will see which segments produce trials and which only produce unsubscribes. Move effort to the segments that work, even if your list gets shorter.

Watch reply rate by company age as well. If 10-day-old companies reply more often than 60-day-old ones, shorten your window and contact companies sooner.

A weekly routine for SaaS lead generation

1. On Monday, pull last week's registrations for your SIC codes and regions in the B2B List Builder.
2. Remove dissolved companies, holding companies (SIC 70100 or 64209) and anything outside your size band.
3. Check each remaining company's website and director record, then export the ones that pass.
4. Send short, specific first messages within a day or two, while the companies are still new.
5. Log replies and trials against SIC code and company age, and adjust next week's filters.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best source of SaaS leads in the UK?

For companies up to a few years old, Companies House data is the most complete free source, because every limited company has to register there. Filter it by SIC code, incorporation date and location to match your ideal customer profile.

How do I find newly registered UK companies?

Use the incorporation date filter in a tool built on Companies House data, such as Company Explore's B2B List Builder, or browse recently created companies. New registrations appear every working day.

Which SIC codes should a SaaS company target?

Start with the codes your best customers already use. Look up your ten best accounts, note their SIC codes and build your first lists from the codes that repeat.

Can I email UK company directors about my software?

Usually, yes, for limited companies, if the message is relevant to their business, you say who you are and you include an opt-out. Sole traders need to give consent first under PECR.

To try this on your own market, open the B2B List Builder, choose your SIC codes and set the incorporation date to the last 30 days.