Search for a business by name

Type a few words of the name on Businesses. If nothing matches exactly, Adapt shows the closest matches.

How-toChecked 2026-10-10

You will have the business on the screen, and its record one click away.

Steps

  1. Open The UK book, then Businesses.
  2. Type the name in the box on the first screen, or in Name, website or keyword above the table.
  3. Press Enter. The search also runs a moment after you stop typing.
  4. Click the row. The record opens as a full page. Its arrows step to the previous and next business in your results.
The toolbar above the results: the search name, filter chips, sort and Columns
The bar above the table, in the design build. 1 Saved search menu. 2 Filter chips. 3 Sort. In the live app, Columns sits at the right.

A few words of the name are enough. You do not need "Limited" or "Ltd".

If nothing matches exactly

  • A note says "Nothing matched ... exactly, so these are the closest matches." and tells you what Adapt searched for instead. If it set aside some contact filters to find matches, it says so.
  • Buttons under Did you mean offer similar names. Click one to search it.
  • Try one distinctive word of the name rather than all of it.
  • Remove leftover filters. Each chip has a cross. Clear all filters removes everything.

From anywhere in the app

Press Ctrl or Cmd and K, or /, and type. The palette offers pages and actions, not businesses, so use Businesses for a name. See Find anything with the command palette.

Ask for it

Type "Show me everything on Marsh and Keel" into the Ask box. Ask Adapt looks up one business by name or company number and shows what the book holds. See What Ask Adapt can and cannot do today.

What it does not do

It does not search inside the notes you write on a record. It matches the business name, a website and the type of business. It does not match a person's name. For a person, see Find a director by name. To search by website, see Search by website address.

If something goes wrong

If the business is not in the book at all, the page says so and nothing is invented. See Record and search problems, by message and Search tips for name, website, sector and place.