B2B guide · Dual official sources
FHRS vs Companies House: a B2B prospecting guide
503,426 FHRS establishments vs 7,964 Companies House registrations — how to use both official sources for B2B sales.
503,426
FHRS establishments
7,964
CH registrations
7,964
New companies (12m)
1,567
New companies (Q3)
Two official registers, one sales workflow
UK food & hospitality sales draw on two public datasets that answer different questions. The FSA Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) covers inspected food premises — operational sites with a published hygiene score. Companies House covers legal entities — incorporation date, status and registered office for companies mapped to food-sector SIC codes.
FoodProspect tracks 503,426 FHRS establishments and 7,964 company registrations across England. We import them separately: we do not merge premises and companies into a single matched lead row. Exports include two CSV files in one ZIP — establishments.csv and companies.csv.
FHRS establishments vs Companies House registrations
Side-by-side county comparison — independent sources, not matched
- FHRS establishments
- CH companies
When to use each signal
Use FHRS when you sell to operating food businesses — equipment, ingredients, hygiene services, POS, insurance. Rating activity and low scores (0–2) provide compliance-related talking points. Browse county pages or sector views like takeaways.
Use Companies House when timing matters — newly incorporated entities, status changes, registered office moves. Over the last 12 months FoodProspect recorded 7,964 incorporations (1,567 in Q3 2026). See recent rows on the Companies House feed.
Use both in the same area without assuming overlap. A new Ltd in Kent is not automatically the operator of a FHRS-rated kitchen at the same address — cross-reference manually or in your CRM if needed.
County examples — volume divergence
Kent: 16,785 FHRS establishments and 438 Companies House registrations — 438 new companies in 12 months (93 in Q3). Explore Kent county data.
Greater London: 79,736 FHRS establishments vs 498 companies (498 incorporations over 12 months). High FHRS density does not imply equally high turnover of new companies — compare columns, not merged counts. Open Greater London.
New company incorporations (12 months)
Companies House — food-sector registrations across England
- New companies (12m)
Practical steps for sales teams
- Define your area — pick counties aligned with field coverage (county list).
- Weekly FHRS scan — filter new Q3/Q4 ratings and 0–2 scores in your county; focus on recently published dates when contacting prospects.
- Weekly CH scan — filter incorporations in the last 30–90 days; suited to supplier onboarding and facility services.
- Export both files — Live Watch subscribers download the full historical ZIP while active; daily alerts cover a 90-day activity feed. See pricing.
- Do not merge the two lists automatically — treat establishments and companies as complementary rows, not duplicates.
| County | FHRS est. | CH companies | New co. (12m) | New co. (Q3) | New co. (30d) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater London | 79,736 | 498 | 498 | 0 | 0 |
| Greater Manchester | 25,208 | 109 | 109 | 36 | 9 |
| West Midlands | 24,391 | 500 | 500 | 109 | 38 |
| West Yorkshire | 20,930 | 336 | 336 | 73 | 32 |
| Kent | 16,785 | 438 | 438 | 93 | 25 |
| Essex | 15,292 | 499 | 499 | 76 | 18 |
| Hampshire | 14,533 | 255 | 255 | 45 | 23 |
| Lancashire | 14,289 | 476 | 476 | 111 | 34 |
| Devon | 12,029 | 147 | 147 | 31 | 6 |
| South Yorkshire | 11,753 | 213 | 213 | 41 | 9 |
| Merseyside | 11,521 | 242 | 242 | 54 | 14 |
| Lincolnshire | 11,160 | 105 | 105 | 19 | 6 |
| County Durham | 10,303 | 225 | 225 | 65 | 25 |
| Hertfordshire | 9,864 | 175 | 175 | 42 | 21 |
| Nottinghamshire | 9,758 | 102 | 102 | 24 | 7 |
| Somerset | 9,685 | 139 | 139 | 35 | 14 |
| Derbyshire | 9,535 | 127 | 127 | 23 | 8 |
| Staffordshire | 9,477 | 135 | 135 | 22 | 5 |
| Surrey | 9,424 | 265 | 265 | 50 | 13 |
| North Yorkshire | 9,294 | 132 | 132 | 21 | 9 |
| Leicestershire | 9,215 | 133 | 133 | 34 | 10 |
| Tyne and Wear | 9,211 | 124 | 124 | 29 | 11 |
| Norfolk | 9,038 | 175 | 175 | 45 | 18 |
| Dorset | 8,727 | 141 | 141 | 26 | 7 |
| Cheshire | 8,721 | 217 | 217 | 50 | 15 |
| East Sussex | 8,319 | 89 | 89 | 19 | 7 |
| Gloucestershire | 8,059 | 93 | 93 | 18 | 6 |
| West Sussex | 7,962 | 105 | 105 | 22 | 6 |
| Cambridgeshire | 7,879 | 73 | 73 | 17 | 5 |
| Berkshire | 7,351 | 101 | 101 | 22 | 11 |
| Buckinghamshire | 7,143 | 106 | 106 | 27 | 9 |
| Northamptonshire | 7,121 | 83 | 83 | 11 | 2 |
| Suffolk | 6,998 | 118 | 118 | 29 | 11 |
| Oxfordshire | 6,326 | 58 | 58 | 8 | 1 |
| Wiltshire | 5,931 | 79 | 79 | 24 | 8 |
| Cumbria | 5,929 | 64 | 64 | 9 | 2 |
| Cornwall | 5,515 | 95 | 95 | 18 | 4 |
| East Riding of Yorkshire | 5,502 | 28 | 28 | 6 | 1 |
| Warwickshire | 5,333 | 67 | 67 | 13 | 7 |
| Bedfordshire | 5,116 | 97 | 97 | 21 | 7 |
| Worcestershire | 4,648 | 68 | 68 | 11 | 5 |
| Shropshire | 4,634 | 91 | 91 | 11 | 5 |
| Bristol | 4,472 | 486 | 486 | 83 | 20 |
| Northumberland | 3,515 | 81 | 81 | 23 | 8 |
| City of London | 1,847 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Herefordshire | 1,784 | 25 | 25 | 4 | 1 |
| Isle of Wight | 1,700 | 17 | 17 | 4 | 2 |
| Rutland | 463 | 27 | 27 | 11 | 2 |
Export this data for your area
Live Watch subscribers get full historical ZIP exports (establishments + companies) and daily alerts on new FHRS ratings and incorporations in scope.
Get both CSV files with Live Watch →Frequently asked questions
- Are FHRS premises linked to Companies House records?
- No. FoodProspect imports FHRS hygiene ratings and Companies House registrations as independent official sources. Exports contain two CSV files (establishments.csv and companies.csv) — they are not merged or de-duplicated into a single lead row.
- When should I use FHRS vs Companies House for sales?
- Use FHRS for operational food businesses with a hygiene inspection history — suited to compliance-focused sales and field teams. Use Companies House for newly incorporated legal entities, status changes and registered office data — suited to timing outbound sales.
- How many companies were incorporated in the last 12 months?
- 7,964 food-sector Companies House registrations across all 48 ceremonial counties of England in the last 12 months, including 1,567 in Q3 2026 (Jul–Sep 2026).
- Which county combines the largest FHRS and CH volumes?
- Greater London leads on FHRS establishments (79,736); West Midlands recorded the most new incorporations over 12 months (500). The two measures often differ — compare both columns in the county table.
- Can I export both datasets for my area?
- Live Watch subscribers receive a ZIP with full historical establishments.csv and companies.csv for their county or sector scope, plus daily email alerts on new ratings and incorporations.