Scoot Business Directory

What Scoot Business Directory does

Scoot Business Directory (Scoot.co.uk) is a UK-focused online local business directory that connects consumers searching for trade and service providers with UK small and micro businesses. The platform indexes businesses across more than 200 categories — including trades (roofers, tilers, plumbers, electricians), professional services (solicitors, accountants), health and beauty, hospitality, motoring and family services — and is searchable by category and location at town and postcode granularity across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each business has a dedicated listing page with description, gallery, reviews and ratings, testimonials, special offers, opening hours, payment methods, social profiles, products and services, click-to-call phone numbers, and HERE.com-powered map and directions.

The core product is the Scoot UK Business Finder, delivered on top of 'The Scoot Network' — a shared white-label platform that also powers business directories for Touch Local, The Independent, The Sun and The Mirror, syndicating a single business listing across all five sites. Adjacent modules include a Local Events sub-site (events.scoot.co.uk) for town-level event discovery and a self-serve Business Owner Dashboard (dashboard.scoot.co.uk) for listing management. The technology stack is a web-based directory platform with mobile-responsive design, embedded mapping via HERE.com, and call-tracking integration with Yell/Yext for paid placements.

Scoot operates a two-sided, product-led, freemium marketplace: businesses add or claim a free standard listing via the 'Add My Business' and 'Claim My Listing for FREE' self-serve flows, with paid enhanced/featured listings (logo, full description, call tracking, social profiles, search tags) sold on a quote-based, multi-year basis by the parent Web.com Group / Newfold Digital, which operates Scoot's UK contact entity 'Scoot | Newfold Digital' at Fusion Hive, North Shore Road, Stockton-on-Tees. The company was founded in 2000 (with 51–100 employees) by Ranjit Anderson and Michael Anderson and is part of the Web.com / Newfold Digital corporate family; no public revenue or funding figures are disclosed.

Name

Scoot Business Directory

Legal name

Scoot | Newfold Digital

Website

https://scoot.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Scoot Business Directory is a UK-focused online local business directory operated by Newfold Digital / Web.com Group that connects UK consumers searching for trade and service providers with small businesses listed across more than 200 categories and four UK nations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Stockton-on-tees

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Free self-serve business listings: Businesses can add or claim a free standard listing on the directory at no cost. This is the top-of-funnel acquisition model and is not a direct revenue stream.
2. Paid enhanced/featured listings (inferred): The free claim flow is operated by Web.com Group, with paid enhanced listing features available (e.g. logo, full business description, map, testimonials, special offers, search tags, social profiles, products & services, payment methods, call tracking). 'Call today' call-tracking placements on some listings are powered by Yell/Yext, indicating a paid placement / lead-generation revenue stream.
3. Advertising / sponsored placement on Scoot Network: The Scoot Network 'gives businesses targeted online exposure', implying sponsored or premium placements sold across the partner network of search sites.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Scoot operates the "UK Business Finder", a free online business directory where UK consumers can search and contact local businesses by category and location, and where business owners can add or claim a free listing. Paid enhanced/featured placements (with call-tracking via Yell/Yext) are sold to businesses by parent Web.com Group / Newfold Digital, and a single listing is syndicated across the Scoot Network's partner sites (Touch Local, The Independent, The Sun, The Mirror) for broader exposure.

Product overview

Scoot Business Directory is a single core consumer-facing product — the Scoot UK Business Finder search and listings site — delivered on top of a shared underlying platform called The Scoot Network. That platform powers not only Scoot but also partner directories Touch Local, The Independent, The Sun, and The Mirror, all reusing the same listings and search backbone. Layered on top of the core finder are add-on modules including the Local Events sub-site (events.scoot.co.uk) and a Business Owner Dashboard for listing management, which together form the complete Scoot offering.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Scoot (UK Business Finder) UK-focused online business directory that lets consumers search for local businesses, browse by category and location, add their own business listing, and read or submit reviews.
• The Scoot Network White-label directory platform that powers the Scoot, Touch Local, The Independent, The Sun, and The Mirror business finder sites, sharing a common listings and search backbone.
• Local Events Events sub-site (events.scoot.co.uk) surfacing local events alongside the business directory listings, extending discovery beyond business profiles.
• Business Owner Dashboard Self-serve dashboard for business owners to add or claim their listing, manage profile details, and monitor activity on their directory page.
• Enhanced / Featured Listing (paid placement) Paid enhanced directory listing with premium content (logo, full business description, map, testimonials, special offers, search tags, social profiles, products and services, payment methods) and call-tracking (Yell/Yext 'Call today' placements), sold to UK businesses by Web.com Group / Newfold Digital.

Quantifiable outcome

• 24,866+ roofing contractor listings indexed in the directory
• +4 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core / operating partner and core / flagship syndication partner.

• Newfold Digitalcore / operating partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerNewfold Digital is the named operating entity for Scoot ('Scoot | Newfold Digital') and hosts the privacy center and terms used by the directory. The Contact Us address lists 'Scoot | Newfold Digital, Fusion Hive, North Shore Road, Stockton-on-Tees, TS18 2NB' as the main office.
• Touch Localcore / flagship syndication partnerChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTouch Local is one of the business directories powered by the Scoot Network. A single business listing on Scoot is also surfaced on Touch Local, giving advertisers exposure on multiple leading search websites.
• The Independentcore / flagship syndication partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Scoot Network powers a business directory for The Independent, distributing UK business listings to the newspaper's audience alongside Scoot and other network sites.
• The Suncore / flagship syndication partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Scoot Network powers a business directory for The Sun, extending the reach of UK business listings to the newspaper's audience.
• The Mirrorcore / flagship syndication partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Scoot Network powers a business directory for The Mirror, distributing UK business listings to the publisher's audience.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• FreeIndex: FreeIndex is a UK-focused free business directory with self-serve listings, category/location search, reviews, and premium upgrade options — directly comparable to Scoot on product, customer (UK SMBs) and freemium monetization mechanics.
• TrustATrader: TrustATrader is a UK directory of vetted tradespeople with reviews and lead generation, competing head-on with Scoot for the trade and property-maintenance categories that are core to Scoot's listing base.
• 192.com: 192.com is a UK directory and people/business search site with comparable local business listings, category browsing and consumer search traffic, putting it in direct competition with Scoot for UK consumer and SMB mindshare.
• Thomson Local: Thomson Local is a long-established UK local business directory with searchable category and location pages, user reviews, and premium listing upgrades — a near-identical GTM motion to Scoot's freemium directory model serving UK SMBs and consumers.
• Yell.com: Yell.com is the UK's flagship online business directory and the most direct competitor to Scoot, offering searchable UK business listings across categories with paid enhanced placements, call tracking, and reviews — the same product mix Scoot provides, and notably Yell/Yext also powers Scoot's call-tracking placements.
• Checkatrade: Checkatrade is a UK trades and services directory with vetted local business listings, reviews, and lead-generation for tradespeople — overlapping with the trade-side of Scoot's category base (roofers, plumbers, tilers, etc.) and a leading alternative for UK SMBs in the trades segment.
• Hotfrog: Hotfrog is an online business directory with a UK site offering free and premium local business listings, category browsing, and consumer search — directly comparable to Scoot's product set and freemium model.

Regional players

• Cylex: Cylex is a European-based business directory with a UK presence, offering local business listings, reviews, and category search comparable to Scoot's directory, and competes for UK SMB listings although its strongest markets are continental Europe.

Emerging players

• Bark.com: Bark.com is a UK-based online marketplace where consumers post jobs and local professionals respond, partially overlapping with Scoot's lead-generation intent for trades and services, but with a more marketplace/lead-gen model rather than a static directory.

Broad incumbents

• Yelp: Yelp is a global online business directory and review platform that competes with Scoot for UK consumer local-search attention, but operates as a broad multi-category global brand rather than a UK-only specialized directory.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/scoot_it
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/scoot-business-directory

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Scoot Business Directory