118 Group Limited

What 118 Group Limited does

118 Group Limited is a privately held UK business information provider headquartered in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands. The group operates the 118 Information platform, which maintains a continuously verified database of UK businesses. The company's operating model centres on a large outbound call-centre operation that contacts over 2 million UK businesses and places over 6 million verification calls each year, refreshing every record in the database at least once every 12 months. Patrick Bradshaw is co-founder and CEO, and the group comprises seven operating entities including 118 Information Limited, 118 Data Resource Limited, and Market Location Limited.

The core product is a free business listing service for UK businesses, accessed through 118information.co.uk. Businesses can create, locate, or manage their listing at no cost; the company's monetisation sits on the demand side, where verified business data is licensed to a distribution network spanning BT (BT.com, BTexchanges.com, 118500, The Phone Book), Microsoft Bing, Thomson Local, 192.com, Scoot, Touchlocal, and Dentons. The group's technology stack is not publicly disclosed, but it includes call-centre infrastructure, a centralised business database, identity and credit-reference integrations with Experian, Dun & Bradstreet, Creditsafe, and GBG Plc for data validation, and NLP-based analysis of call recordings for internal quality monitoring and coaching. The company is certified to ISO/IEC 27001:2022, ISO/IEC 27701:2019, and Cyber Essentials, audited by BSI.

The business model is data-monetisation, with a freemium front end for listed businesses and B2B data licensing on the back end. Revenue, funding history beyond a 2017 Pricoa Capital Group facility, and detailed partner economics are not publicly disclosed, and the company has no parent entity, no institutional investors beyond Pricoa, and no public listing.

Name

118 Group Limited

Legal name

118 Group Limited

Website

https://118information.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

118 Group Limited is a privately held UK business information provider that maintains a continuously verified database of UK businesses, contacting over 2 million businesses and distributing licensed data to partners including BT, Bing, and Thomson Local.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Birmingham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Business Listing Distribution: The company provides free business listings to businesses and monetises by distributing verified business data to partner directories, search engines, and mapping platforms. Revenue is derived from supplying data to BT, Bing, Thomson Local, and other partners who use the data for their own directory and advertising services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

118 Group maintains a UK business information database and operates the "118 Information" platform, contacting 2M+ UK businesses each year and conducting more than 6M verification calls annually. Verified business-listing data is syndicated to major UK directory, search, and sat-nav partners such as BT, Bing, and Thomson Local. UK businesses can claim and update their listing for free through the consumer-facing 118 Information website.

Product overview

118 Group Limited operates a single unified product offering through the 118 Information platform, which provides business listing creation and management services. The platform enables UK businesses to create free listings that are then verified by the company's call centre team and distributed to partner directories and search engines including BT, Bing, Thomson Local, 192.com, and others. The service is complemented by the company's proactive data verification operations, which contact over 2 million UK businesses annually to maintain accurate business information across the ecosystem.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• 118 Information Business Listings Platform

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 2 million UK businesses contacted annually for data verification
• +2 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• BT (British Telecom)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor118 Group supplies verified business listing data to BT's directory services including BT.com, BTexchanges.com, 118500, and The Phone Book. BT is one of the primary distribution channels for 118's business data across the UK.
• Thomson LocalcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor118 Group supplies business listing data to Thomson Local, a major UK online business directory. Thomson Local uses 118's verified data to populate its directory listings.
• Bing.com (Microsoft)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor118 Group supplies business listing data to Bing.com, distributing verified UK business information to users of Microsoft's search engine for local business search results.
• Scoot.co.ukcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor118 Group distributes business data to Scoot.co.uk, a UK local business directory and search platform.
• 192.comcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor118 Group supplies business listing data to 192.com, a UK people and business search directory service.
• Touchlocal.co.ukminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor118 Group supplies business listing data to Touchlocal, a UK local business directory.
• DentonsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor118 Group supplies business listing data to Dentons, a UK residential and business directory service.
• ExperiancoreTechnology or IntegrationExperian is used as a credit reference agency data provider. 118 Group uses Experian for business identification, assessment, and marketing list provider services to enhance data quality and coverage of the business database.
• Dun & BradstreetcoreTechnology or IntegrationDun & Bradstreet is used as a credit reference agency data provider to support business identification and validation within 118 Group's business database.
• CreditsafecoreTechnology or IntegrationCreditsafe is used as a credit reference agency for business credit checks and data validation purposes within 118 Group's business database.
• GBG PlccoreTechnology or IntegrationGBG Plc provides identity and fraud service solutions used by 118 Group for verifying and validating the identity of business contacts within their database.
• PertempsminorOthersPertemps is an employment and recruitment agency partner referenced in 118 Group's privacy policy as a category of third party to whom business contact data may be shared for recruitment purposes.
• Sky ConnectminorOthersSky Connect is referenced in 118 Group's privacy policy as a utility sector partner within the category of third parties with whom business contact data may be shared.
• WasteManagedminorOthersWasteManaged is referenced in 118 Group's privacy policy as a waste management sector partner within the category of third parties with whom business contact data may be shared.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Yell: Yell (formerly Yellow Pages UK) is the UK's largest traditional business directory operator, distributing UK business listings via yell.com and partner channels. It is the most directly comparable competitor in terms of business model, customer base (UK SMBs), and revenue model (data licensing to partners).
• FreeIndex: FreeIndex is a UK-focused online business directory offering free business listings and consumer reviews. It directly competes with 118 Group in the free UK SMB listing space and serves the same SMB customer base looking to maximise online visibility.
• Cylex: Cylex is a UK-based business directory operating a free-listing model for local businesses. It competes head-to-head with 118 Group for the same UK SMB listing inventory and consumer search traffic.
• Thomson Local: Thomson Local is both a customer/distribution partner of 118 Group and an operator of its own UK business directory. It is comparable because it competes for the same UK SMB listings market and operates a free business-listing model.
• 192.com: 192.com is a UK people and business search directory that both receives licensed data from 118 Group and operates its own business listings inventory. It overlaps directly with 118's product and audience.

Broad incumbents

• Yelp: Yelp is a global business directory and consumer review platform with a significant UK presence. It competes for SMB listing mindshare and consumer search traffic on a much larger geographic and product scale.
• Dun & Bradstreet: Dun & Bradstreet is a global business data provider offering verified UK and international business records. It is a data partner of 118 Group but operates at vastly larger scale, providing commercial credit and marketing data for B2B customers.
• Experian: Experian is a credit reference agency and data partner supplying 118 Group with business identification data. At a broader level, Experian competes in the UK business data and marketing lists space with much greater scale and product breadth.

Emerging players

• TrustATrader: TrustATrader is a UK directory focused on tradespeople and home services businesses with free listing plus paid lead-generation tiers. It overlaps with 118's SMB listing proposition and the freemium-plus-data-monetisation model.

Others

• Acxiom: Acxiom is a global data broker and audience targeting provider. It is thematically related as an adjacent data-services provider operating in the same ecosystem of licensed business/marketing data, although it does not directly compete in UK free business listings.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/118Information
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/118-group-limited

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about 118 Group Limited