Hoovers UK gets a boost from D&B parent

Dun & Bradstreet boosts low-cost entry-level business information provider Hoovers UK, which made its name as a supplier of free company data

Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) has breathed new life into Hoovers UK, the low cost online supplier of company information. The move comes after D&B acquired the Hoovers UK management and sales team from PowerInfo, the London business development agency that took over the Hoovers UK operation in 2001.

PowerInfo ceo Gehan Talwatte will now act as head of Hoovers UK at D&B, with responsibility for relaunching the brand into a crowded marketplace. Talwatte told IWR that the operation was aiming to go beyond specialist researchers and target sales teams within organisations.

"Searching and retrieving information is now an everyday task for most people," he said. "Hoovers UK is packed with features that make it easy to assemble sales lists, so sales people can, for instance, build up a targetted list of sales prospects."

The new Hoovers UK site features an expanded data set, although access to D&B's in-depth data on 560,000 major UK companies and 90,000 international businesses is restricted to Hoovers UK Pro Premium subscribers.

Hoovers UK still offers a free service on its site, with toolsets for the three subscription levels (Pro, Pro Plus and Pro Premium) visible to non-subscribers as they access basic data from the core Hoovers database.

"Our aim has been to create an easy access option, there's no training required and the interface with the D&B datasets is seamless. As users dig down they discover there are other tools and premium content available," said Talwatte.

Subscriptions start at £1,400 for a 5-seat licence to Pro; £3,100 for a 5-seat licence of Pro Plus and £6,200 for a 5-seat Pro Premium licence. Talwatte said "significant discounts" were being offered to academic institutions and business schools to help increase awareness of the service among business students.