Top European Company Information
By Michael Spens

Michael Spens is a senior list manager at the UK headoffice of blue pages one of the world's longest established mailing list companies, with over 100 offices all over the globe. In this article he explains how blue pages go about obtaining the information required to build their top company databases for the UK & Europe.

This guide lists the main sources of company information available to blue pages. It lists electronic sources, print publications, other libraries which you may wish to visit, and fee-based information services. It is not intended to be a comprehensive guide.

Bloomberg.com

For real-time pricing, news, data and analysis.

Business Insights Full-text access to more than 400 global market research reports, covering the healthcare, consumer goods, finance, energy and technology sectors.

Electronic resources

Increasingly companies make information available on the Internet, so the company’s own website could be a good starting point.

Business Source Premier (EBSCO)

Full text access to nearly 8,350 scholarly business journals and other sources. Includes country economic reports and detailed company profiles for the world's 10,000 largest companies.

Company Annual Reports On- Line

Provides direct access to the financial pages of listed companies in Europe.

EDGAR

For disclosure documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission by US and overseas companies.

ABI/INFORM Global(ProQuest)

Database of approximately 1,800 worldwide business periodicals. Information on more than 60,000 companies as well as executive profiles, reports on market conditions, and in-depth case studies of global business trends.

Emerald Full-Text

Over 42,000 full-text articles on management and business topics.

Europages

A directory of Europe's 600,000 most dynamic companies.

AIM - Alternative Investment Market

For smaller companies which have access to the market at an early stage of their development through an AIM quotation. IS2540

Factiva.com

News and business information from nearly 9,000 sources.

Company and industry reports.

Over 1.7 million UK businesses covering more than 2,500 product and service areas.

FAME

Financial information on 2.8 million companies in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Britain’s top employers

Fast Track

Four annual league tables of unquoted companies published in The Sunday Times supplement. Best examples of HR management.

Online version of the Financial Times newspaper, with 200 World and Business Reports a year. Information on local businesses with more than 5 employees or an annual sales turnover in excess of 250,000.

Infobel.com CBI directory

International directory enquiries (white, yellow and business pages) covering 184 counties.Over 2,000 of the UK’s leading companies across 32 industry sectors.

Key Note Market Intelligence Reports

Source of UK market intelligence, covering 27 industry sectors.

Crawford’s directory of City connections

Lexis-Nexis Executive

Major UK quoted and unquoted companies, with details of their financial and legal advisors. News and business intelligence from 12,000 publications. Access to millions of financial reports and company profiles from around the world.

Directory of multinationals

Mintel

The world’s top 500 companies. Source of UK, European and US consumer market intelligence.

Europe's 15,000 Largest Companies

Northcote Internet Ltd

Companies ranked by size with brief financial information. Free information from the corporate websites of all companies (with a presence on the Internet) listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Financial statement analysis and security valuation

SCoRe How businesses work and how to interpret financial statements. A national catalogue of company annual reports held in libraries in the UK.

The Financial Times guide to using and interpreting company accounts

Corporate family trees with an index showing subsidiary-ultimate parent relationships. Analysing company accounts to assess business performance.

Other Libraries The Financial Times guide to using the financial pages

Kelly’s industrial directory

UK manufacturing and industrial companies. Company, product and services information. Other libraries and information centres are also open to the public. Please check the organisation’s website for access arrangements

Key British enterprises Britain’s top 50,000 companies – contact, financial, operational and corporate details. Includes rankings of the 5,000 largest employers.

British Library - Business and Intellectual Property Centre

Kompass Register

Access to market reports, trade literature, patent specifications, directories and annual reports. Electronic resources available from the Reading Room include: Amadeus; Mergent Online; Onesource; Euromonitor Global Market Information Database; and Datamonitor Business Information Centre. (Multiple locations) Corporate and financial information on 44,000 leading companies in British industry. Volumes cover products and services, and industrial trade names.

Principal international businesses

City Business Library

Marketing directory of the largest employers worldwide, covering 50,000 leading enterprises. http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporatio n/business_city Specialist collections cover: City sectors; annual reports; directories; EU policy; and market information. Electronic resources include: BRAD; Datamonitor; Euromonitor; Dialog Newsroom; Hollis PR; and Snapshots.

The Waterlow stock exchange yearbook

Companies and securities listed on the London and Dublin stock exchanges

Companies House Who owns whom - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland; Continental Europe http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/ You can visit the Companies House London Information Centre to conduct

Fee-based services aRMadillo

UK database of over 2 million registered companies and non-limited businesses. Credit Reports on over 83 Million companies worldwide. Pay-as-you-go.

Bureau van Dijk http://www.bvdep.com/ UK, European and global company information products for research, financial analysis and marketing intelligence. Most products have a pay-per-view option.

Companies House

http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/ Although the WebCHeck service is free and allows you to search the Company Names and Address Index for more than 2 million companies, a company’s latest accounts and annual returns as well as a selection of company reports are only available to purchase.

Clear Blue

http://www.clearbluegroup.net Global business information on more than 90 million companies worldwide. Some reports are available to purchase by credit card.

Dun & Bradstreet

http://dbuk.dnb.com

Equifax

http://www.equifax.co.uk/ Credit and financial information on nearly 4 million companies and businesses. Also covers direct marketing and corporate fraud.

Hemscott

http://www.hemscott.com/ Free access to basic data on 2,200 UK and Irish listed companies for investment and company research. Registration required, with reports and premium data available for a fee.

Hoovers

http://www.hoovers.com/free/ The database of 14 million companies includes in-depth coverage of 42,000 of the world's top business enterprises. The site offers some free information. Reports (e.g. Datamonitor and Dun & Bradstreet) are available to purchase.

Jordans

http://www.jordans.co.uk/ Basic company details can be viewed at no cost, with more detailed financial reports available to purchase.

Other sources of company information

There are many more sources of company information available globally. The following sources might help you locate what you need.

Business information handbook

The business and economy Internet resource handbook

Business Information on the Internet (compiled by Karen Blakeman)

http://www.rba.co.uk/sources/index.htm

Business Sources On The Net

http://www.bl.uk/collections/business/bisli nks.html

European company information

Copyright © Michael Spens

The content and opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of nor are they endorsed by blue pages