21 April 2020

New dataset: Introducing the COVID-19 impact tags

Originally written: 21st April 2020 Updated on: 10th November 2020 Back in April, our diligent data team worked hard to determine the impact of COVID-19 on the 30k companies tracked on the Beauhurst platform. Each of these companies has been assigned up to 16 “COVID-19 impact tags”, which are determined by: A combination of published … New dataset: Introducing the COVID-19 impact tags

Words Hannah Skingle

New dataset: Introducing the COVID-19 impact tags

Originally written: 21st April 2020

Updated on: 10th November 2020

Back in April, our diligent data team worked hard to determine the impact of COVID-19 on the 30k companies tracked on the Beauhurst platform. Each of these companies has been assigned up to 16 “COVID-19 impact tags”, which are determined by:

A combination of published information on their company websites and social media
An in-house analysis of the likely impact of the lockdown rules, regulations and current economic situation.

In April, we launched our preliminary report which measured and mapped the business impact of COVID-19. All of the data behind that report is available to evaluate and search across on the Beauhurst platform. Since then, we’ve brought you our “COVID-19 Business Impact — 6 months on” report too.

Our COVID-19 data impact tags are updated monthly, at a minimum. And when new restrictions come in (including local firebreak and tier restrictions), we target affected areas and review every company impacted by them, based on their sectors and where they are located.

Now, in light of a second English lockdown in November 2020, our data team has tagged over 4k high-growth, private English companies in just over 36 hours.

The team started as soon as the restrictions were announced, working tirelessly to manually review the COVID-19 impact tags of companies affected by the second lockdown. This ensures that the platform has the most up-to-date COVID-19 impact information.

The recently-updated dataset is now live on the Beauhurst platform. If you’re a subscriber, then this information is already available to you right now on the platform—go and see for yourself! If you’re not a subscriber, then be sure to book a demo of the platform.

Keep reading to discover how our COVID-19 tags work, how they can help you make strategic decisions with confidence, and help you prioritise your outreach efforts.

How you can use this data

Identify new opportunities in positively impacted businesses

Save time by focussing your business development efforts on leads that are performing well and are in need of your products and services, whether that’s a stream of new candidates, legal and professional services, or new funding to continue their growth.
Identify whole new sectors to approach by seeing which are showing the most activity and have a high proportion of positively impacted businesses.

Businesses positively impacted by covid-19

Help those in need

Determine which companies are struggling in your region or local authority, and reach out to them with immediate business support.
Use the most up-to-date data to inform and shape policy decision-making, and measure the resultant impact

Companies in London in need of covid-19 support

How you can access this data

If you’re already a subscriber to the Beauhurst platform and would like to access this new dataset, just get in touch with your Account Manager.

If you’re interested in seeing the platform and exploring the dataset for yourself then book a demo and one of our friendly Associates will be in touch.

Methodology

A company can be assigned as many, or few, of the following tags as are applicable:

Temporary cessation of operations
Closing most or all physical premises
Limiting physical services provided
Prevented from providing product/service
Surge in demand
Creating job opportunities
Offering product for free/reduced cost
Reduced Operating Hours

Offering online services only
Take-away only
Explicit staffing cuts
Increased lead times
Loss of key customer group
Struggling to cope with demand
Fundamental business model change
Permanent closure of the business

Based on these tags, an algorithm then determines a company’s “COVID-19 status” from the following selection:

Potentially positive impact – a company that can potentially grow its operations as a result of these circumstances.
Low impact – a company that will be able to largely continue normal operations, albeit possibly with safety measures such as working from home in place.
Moderate impact – a company that has suffered disruption beyond mere inconvenience but is mostly able to continue operations.
Severe impact – a company that has suffered serious disruption to its ability to operate.
Critical impact – a company that is facing an existential threat to its ability to continue in operation.
Permanent closure – a company that has definitively ceased trading as a result of COVID-19.