WEBVTT

NOTE Lists rot at a published rate
NOTE Narrated by Imogen. Generated from public/films/voice-takes.json
NOTE by scripts/build-film-captions.mjs. Edit the narration, not this file.

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76,840 UK businesses closed in a single quarter.

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Closures get read as bad news and then ignored.

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They are the most useful number on the sheet if you sell to businesses, because they

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tell you how fast your list is rotting.

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Transport and storage closed 16.5 per cent of its businesses in a year, against a UK

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average of 9.8.

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Finance and insurance closed 6.6.

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So in the year after you build a list of transport firms, about one in six will no

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longer be trading.

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In finance, closer to one in fifteen.

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That is before anyone moves, renames or changes director.

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A bought list is a depreciating asset, and the rate is published.

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One that keeps checking is worth more than one that was accurate once.

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We re-check every company every month. A list nobody re-checks is wrong by design.