You can build a B2B lead list for free from official business registries in both the US and the UK. In the UK, start with Companies House: one free monthly file covers every live company, with status, address, incorporation date and up to four industry codes. In the US there is no national register, so you work state by state, and several states publish their register as open data you can filter and download.
A registry gives you the account list, not people or email addresses. This guide covers where the data is and how to turn it into a list worth contacting. For the European registers, see our separate guide to finding B2B leads in EU company registers.
B2B lead gen: where do you even start?
Start with the list of companies, not with contacts. A registry-first approach forces two decisions you should make anyway:
- Which companies fit. Industry, age, size proxy and location.
- Why you are writing to them. If you cannot say why a company on your list needs you, a better email will not fix it.
Going to the source also means you know where every row came from and whether the company is still active.
The US: one register per state
Businesses in the US register with the state, not the federal government. The SBA's guide to registering a business says most states require registration with the Secretary of State's office or a similar agency, and that a business will probably need to register in every state where it does business. The federal side is mostly the tax ID.
That means 50 registers in 50 formats. Some states only offer a one-at-a-time search box; others publish the full register on an open data portal with a filterable table, CSV export and an API. These five are good starting points (we checked each dataset's columns on 2 November 2026).
| State | Dataset | Publisher | Useful fields | Industry code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | Active Corporations: Beginning 1800 | NY Department of State | Entity name, entity type, county, initial filing date, CEO name and address, location address | No |
| Colorado | Business Entities in Colorado | Colorado Department of State | Entity name, type, status, formation date, principal and mailing address, registered agent | No |
| Oregon | Active Businesses - ALL | Secretary of State, Corporation Division | Business name, entity type, registry date, principal and mailing address, registered agent, authorized representative | No |
| Connecticut | Business Registry - Business Master | Secretary of the State | Name, business type, status, registration date, address, NAICS code, business email | Yes (NAICS) |
| Texas | Active Franchise Taxpayers | Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts | Taxpayer name, address, county code, organization type, SOS charter date, SOS status | Yes (NAICS) |
A few things worth knowing before you download:
- New York's file is active corporations only. Its description says it covers all active corporations "as of the last business day of the specified month". It has no industry code, so you filter by entity type, county and filing date, then judge fit from the company's website.
- Oregon's file has one row per associated name or address type, so a single business can appear several times. Deduplicate on the registry number before you count anything.
- Connecticut's file includes NAICS codes and a business email field filled in by the business itself. Treat that email as a lead to check, not a verified address.
- Texas is a tax list, not the Secretary of State register. It lists active taxpayers set up for franchise tax under Tax Code Chapter 171. The NAICS column makes it one of the easiest US sources to filter by industry.
For other states, search the state's open data portal for "business entities", or check the Secretary of State's site for a bulk data product.
The UK: Companies House
The UK has one register for limited companies, LLPs and other company types, and it is open.
- Free bulk file. The Companies House free company data product is a monthly snapshot of live companies, as CSV in one large ZIP (471 MB) or seven smaller parts. It is updated within five working days of each month end and "provided free of charge". The data.gov.uk listing gives the licence as CC BY.
- What the file contains. According to the published field list: company name and number, registered office address, company category, company status, country of origin, incorporation date, accounts category, accounts and confirmation statement due dates, and up to four SIC codes (SICCode1 to SICCode4).
- API. The Companies House public data API has endpoints for company profiles, officers, filing history, search and an advanced company search. You register an application to get a key, and the rate limit is 600 requests per five minutes.
- Web search. For a few hundred companies, the advanced company search filters by status, company type, incorporation date range, SIC code and registered office address, with no code at all.
SIC codes come from the condensed SIC 2007 list Companies House uses. Companies choose their own codes when they file, so a marketing agency may be filed under 73110 (advertising agencies), 70229 (management consultancy other than financial management) or both, as listed in the Companies House SIC lookup. Search a few codes, not one.
The accounts category is a rough size proxy: micro-entity accounts mean a small company.
What a registry gives you, and what it does not
| You get | You do not get |
|---|---|
| Legal name and registration number | A named decision maker for sales |
| Entity type and status | Verified email addresses |
| Registered or principal address | Phone numbers (rarely) |
| Formation or incorporation date | Revenue or headcount (UK: accounts category only) |
| Industry code where published (UK SIC, CT and TX NAICS) | Any sign that they are buying right now |
Two cautions. The registered address is often an accountant's or a registered agent's office, not where the business works. And names in the file (a CEO in New York, officers in the UK) are personal data; a director is rarely the right person for a sales email anyway.
How to turn a registry list into a lead list
- Filter to active. Drop dissolved, struck-off, inactive and forfeited entities. Every source above has a status field or is active-only.
- Filter by industry code. Use NAICS in Connecticut and Texas and SIC in the UK. In states without codes, filter by name keywords and entity type, then check fit by hand.
- Filter by age. A company formed in the last 12 months needs different things (bookkeeping, a website, insurance) than one trading for 20 years.
- Filter by location. County, ZIP or postcode if you sell locally or need a shared time zone, for example plumbing companies in Harris County, Texas, or restaurants in London.
- Find the website. Search the company name plus city. No website usually means very small.
- Find published contacts. Use what the company publishes itself: the team page, the contact page or a generic address such as info@.
- Verify every address before the first send. See how to verify B2B email addresses before sending.
- Read the list. If you cannot read it through and say why each company is on it, tighten the filters.
Where do small business owners find sales leads?
The usual places are people they already know, local directories and associations, and public records. Registries are the public-records option, and their filters match how small sellers think: "new LLCs in my county" or "SaaS companies in Texas".
For a local service business, a monthly pull of newly formed companies in your area is a simple, repeatable source of first conversations. See local services.
The law basics: CAN-SPAM, PECR and UK GDPR
This is general information, not legal advice.
US: CAN-SPAM. The FTC's CAN-SPAM compliance guide says "the law makes no exception for business-to-business email". You do not need prior consent, but every commercial email must have accurate header information, a subject line that is not deceptive, a clear statement that it is an ad, a valid physical postal address and a clear way to opt out. You must honor opt-outs within 10 business days, and you stay responsible if someone else sends on your behalf. Each violating email can cost up to $53,088, per the same guide. See what a cold email footer must include.
UK: PECR and UK GDPR. The ICO's guidance on business-to-business marketing says the PECR email marketing rule does not apply to corporate subscribers (limited companies, LLPs and some government bodies). You still must not hide your identity, you must give a valid address to opt out, and the ICO advises honoring those opt-outs. Sole traders and some partnerships are individual subscribers and need consent or the soft opt-in; if you cannot tell which a recipient is, the ICO says to treat them as an individual. UK GDPR still applies when the address identifies a named person, such as jane.smith@company.co.uk: you need a lawful basis and must stop when they object.
This is one reason the Companies House file is useful: the company category column tells you whether a record is a limited company, an LLP or another type before you write a word.
Doing it without the spreadsheet work
Outvori does this work for you. It holds about 11 million companies from official registers including UK Companies House, plus live lookups in US state registers (New York Department of State, Colorado and Oregon Secretary of State, Connecticut Secretary of the State and Texas Comptroller active franchise taxpayers). The source is stored with every company. Agents read each company's website to summarize what it does and find contact details it publishes itself. It is not a stored people database like Apollo, so expect fewer named contacts. See find customers and pricing.
If you want to see which companies match your offer, scan your website free.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free national business register in the US?
No. Businesses register with each state, usually the Secretary of State, so you work state by state. New York, Colorado, Oregon, Connecticut and Texas publish free, downloadable datasets on their open data portals.
Is Companies House data free to use for lead generation?
The monthly bulk snapshot is provided free of charge and listed under a CC BY licence on data.gov.uk. The API needs a registered application and key and has a rate limit of 600 requests per five minutes. Using the data for outreach still has to follow PECR and UK GDPR.
Do business registries include email addresses?
Mostly no. Connecticut's register has a business email field filled in by the company, but UK Companies House and most US states do not. Find the address on the company's own website and verify it before sending.
Can I cold email UK limited companies without consent?
Under PECR, limited companies and LLPs are corporate subscribers, so consent is not required, but you must identify yourself and give a working opt-out. Sole traders and some partnerships need consent or the soft opt-in.
