The Real Cost of Buying Business Leads in the UK (2025 Comparison)

If you sell to businesses in the UK, lead generation is probably your biggest marketing expense — and potentially your biggest headache. The market is flooded with options: enterprise data providers, lead aggregators, social selling tools, paid advertising, and specialist data services. But how do they actually compare on cost, quality, and return on investment?

We've analysed the major lead sources available to UK B2B sellers in 2025 to give you a clear, honest comparison. Full disclosure: we're one of the options in this comparison, but we've aimed to present each fairly.

The lead sources we're comparing

1. Creditsafe

Creditsafe is one of the UK's largest business data providers, offering credit reports, company financials, and director information on millions of UK and international businesses.

Pricing: Creditsafe doesn't publish pricing publicly. Based on industry reports and user feedback, plans typically start at £100-150/month for basic access, rising to £300-500+/month for fuller datasets and higher query volumes. Enterprise contracts can run into thousands per year.

Strengths: Comprehensive data including financial information, credit scores, and payment behaviour. Excellent for due diligence and credit checking. Large database covering established companies.

Limitations for lead generation: Creditsafe is primarily a credit intelligence platform, not a lead generation tool. It covers existing companies well but doesn't focus specifically on newly incorporated businesses. The pricing makes it expensive if your primary use case is prospecting rather than credit checking.

2. DataGardener

DataGardener is a UK company data platform that offers prospecting tools, company searches, and filtered lead lists.

Pricing: Plans start from around £50/month for basic access, with professional plans at £150-250/month offering more credits and features.

Strengths: Good search and filtering capabilities. Covers a broad range of UK companies. Offers some data enrichment including email addresses (where available).

Limitations: The database includes companies of all ages, meaning you're often contacting businesses that incorporated years ago and already have established supplier relationships. Credit-based pricing means costs can escalate quickly with heavy use.

3. Apollo / ZoomInfo

These are large B2B contact databases primarily focused on the US market but with growing UK coverage. They provide email addresses, phone numbers, and company information.

Pricing: Apollo offers a free tier with limited credits. Paid plans start at $49/month (~£39/month). ZoomInfo is significantly more expensive, with plans typically starting at $15,000-25,000/year for teams.

Strengths: Large contact databases with direct email addresses and phone numbers. Good for finding specific individuals within established companies. Strong CRM integrations.

Limitations: UK data coverage is weaker than US coverage. Contact data accuracy varies significantly — email bounce rates of 15-25% are common. These platforms are best for targeting established mid-market and enterprise companies, not newly formed businesses.

4. LinkedIn Sales Navigator

LinkedIn's premium prospecting tool provides advanced search filters, lead recommendations, and InMail credits.

Pricing: Sales Navigator Core starts at £69.99/month (billed annually). Advanced plans cost £119.99/month.

Strengths: Unmatched for identifying and connecting with specific individuals. Powerful filtering by job title, company size, industry, and geography. The social context (mutual connections, shared content) can significantly warm up outreach.

Limitations: You're limited to LinkedIn's platform — you can't export contact details for outreach via email or post. InMail response rates are typically low (10-15%). New company directors often haven't updated their LinkedIn profiles yet, making it difficult to reach them in the crucial first days after incorporation.

5. Google Ads

Pay-per-click advertising on Google is the dominant inbound lead generation channel for many B2B service providers.

Pricing: Costs vary enormously by keyword. Competitive B2B terms in the UK typically cost:

With typical conversion rates of 3-5%, you're looking at an effective cost per lead of £150-500 depending on your industry and keyword competitiveness.

Strengths: Highly targeted. You reach people actively searching for your service. Scalable — you can increase budget to increase volume.

Limitations: Expensive, especially in competitive sectors. You're competing with every other provider for the same keywords. Costs have increased significantly year-on-year as competition has intensified. You also need a well-optimised landing page and conversion funnel to make the economics work.

6. Lead aggregator sites (Bark, Yell, etc.)

These platforms connect businesses seeking services with providers. Customers submit enquiries, and providers pay to access the lead details.

Pricing: Typically £5-30 per lead, depending on the service category. Some platforms charge monthly subscriptions plus per-lead fees.

Strengths: Leads are pre-qualified (the customer has actively requested quotes). Lower risk — you only pay when there's a genuine enquiry.

Limitations: Leads are sent to multiple providers simultaneously, creating intense competition. Response time is critical — if you're not the first to respond, conversion rates plummet. Quality can be inconsistent, with some leads being tyre-kickers or price-shoppers. You have no control over volume.

7. NewCo Data

NewCo Data is a specialist service that delivers daily reports of newly incorporated UK companies, filtered by industry sector and enriched with director names and registered addresses.

Pricing: Plans start from £29/month for a single sector, with multi-sector and unlimited plans available at higher tiers.

Strengths: Exclusive focus on new companies means every lead is a genuine new business that needs services now. Data is fresh — delivered daily, covering incorporations from the previous day. Sector filtering via SIC codes means you only receive relevant leads. Director names and addresses enable personalised, direct outreach. No per-lead charges — unlimited leads within your sector for a flat monthly fee.

Limitations: Covers only newly incorporated companies, not established businesses. Provides registered addresses but not email or phone numbers (these aren't publicly available via Companies House). Best suited for B2B service providers whose target market includes new businesses.

Cost comparison at a glance

Which approach is right for you?

The right lead source depends on your business model and target market:

If you target established mid-market companies: LinkedIn Sales Navigator or Apollo/ZoomInfo will give you the best access to decision-makers in specific companies.

If you need inbound enquiries from people actively searching: Google Ads remains the most effective (if expensive) channel.

If you sell services that every new business needs — accounting, insurance, banking, web design, telecoms, office supplies — then new company data is the highest-ROI lead source available. You're reaching businesses at the exact moment they need your service, before they've chosen a competitor.

Many businesses use a combination: Google Ads for inbound, LinkedIn for enterprise targeting, and new company data for a daily pipeline of fresh prospects. The key is understanding what each channel does best and allocating your budget accordingly.

Key takeaways

Lead costs vary enormously across channels — from £5 per lead on aggregator sites to £150-500 per lead via Google Ads. Enterprise data providers like Creditsafe and ZoomInfo offer comprehensive data but at enterprise prices. Google Ads are effective but increasingly expensive, especially in competitive B2B sectors. New company data offers the best value for B2B service providers targeting newly formed businesses, with costs starting from £29/month for unlimited sector-filtered leads. The smartest businesses combine multiple channels rather than relying on a single lead source.