# Companies House UK Company Search (`brightpath-data/companies-house-uk`) Actor

Search and profile UK companies from the official Companies House API, with filing history and charges, no officer personal data

- **URL**: https://apify.com/brightpath-data/companies-house-uk.md
- **Developed by:** [Nick Randall](https://apify.com/brightpath-data) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Business
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $4.00 / 1,000 company records

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Companies House UK Company Search

Search and profile UK companies from the official Companies House API, with filing history and charges, and no officer personal data.

Get structured UK company data as JSON, CSV or Excel, or call it as a tool from Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT or any MCP client. Pay only for the results you receive.

### What you get

Two modes in one Actor:

- **Search**: find UK companies by name or keyword, with company number, status, type, incorporation date, address and SIC codes.
- **Profile**: a full company profile by company number, optionally with the most recent filing history and registered charges (mortgages and liens).

Officer data is never collected: this Actor does not call the officers endpoint and never includes director or officer names in its output.

Every result is a flat record with stable field names, so it drops straight into a spreadsheet, a database or an AI agent's context.

### Why use this instead of the website

- Search and full profile, with filing history and charges, in one Actor
- Filters and pagination handled for you, with automatic retries
- Results in JSON, CSV, Excel or via API, or piped into Zapier, Make, n8n and Google Sheets
- Works as an MCP tool, so AI agents can look up UK companies on demand
- No browser, no proxies, no officer personal data: fast runs and a tiny cost per result

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Meaning |
|-------|------|---------|---------|
| `mode` | string | `search` | `search` or `profile` |
| `query` | string | | Company name or keyword (mode `search`) |
| `companyNumbers` | array | | UK company numbers, e.g. `00445790` (mode `profile`) |
| `includeFilingHistory` | boolean | `false` | Add the 25 most recent filings (mode `profile`) |
| `includeCharges` | boolean | `false` | Add registered charges (mode `profile`) |
| `apiKey` | string | | Optional: your own free Companies House REST API key |
| `maxResults` | integer | 100 | Cap on results saved. You are charged per result, so this caps your cost. |

No API key required to get started: this Actor runs against the operator's own free Companies House key by default. If you plan to run high volumes, get your own free key at [developer.company-information.service.gov.uk](https://developer.company-information.service.gov.uk/) and pass it as `apiKey` so your usage draws on your own quota instead of the operator's. Either way it is used only for the run and is never stored or logged.

Example input:

```json
{
  "mode": "profile",
  "companyNumbers": ["00445790"],
  "includeFilingHistory": true,
  "maxResults": 10
}
```

### Output

Example result (profile mode, with filing history):

```json
{
  "companyNumber": "00445790",
  "companyName": "EXAMPLE COMPANY LIMITED",
  "companyStatus": "active",
  "companyType": "ltd",
  "dateOfCreation": "1950-01-01",
  "dateOfCessation": null,
  "jurisdiction": "england-wales",
  "registeredOfficeAddress": "1 Example Street, London, EC1A 1AA",
  "sicCodes": ["62012"],
  "accountsNextDue": "2027-01-01",
  "confirmationStatementNextDue": "2026-12-01",
  "hasBeenLiquidated": false,
  "hasInsolvencyHistory": false,
  "recentFilings": [
    { "date": "2026-06-01", "category": "accounts", "description": "Accounts made up to 2026-03-31", "type": "AA" }
  ],
  "dataSource": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, from Companies House (find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk)."
}
```

Field reference: `companyNumber`, `companyName`, `companyStatus`, `companyType`, `dateOfCreation`, `dateOfCessation`, `jurisdiction`, `address` (search mode) or `registeredOfficeAddress` (profile mode), `sicCodes`, `accountsNextDue`, `confirmationStatementNextDue`, `hasBeenLiquidated`, `hasInsolvencyHistory`, `dataSource` (the Open Government Licence attribution, required on every record, regardless of whose API key ran the request), and when requested `recentFilings[]` and `charges[]`.

### Pricing

Pay per event. You are charged **$4.00 per 1,000 results** saved to the dataset, plus a fraction of a cent per run start. Nothing is charged for results you do not receive. Set "Max total charge per run" in the run options to cap spending on any run. When a run reaches your cap it stops cleanly and keeps everything it already saved.

Rough guide: 1,000 results cost $4.00 and take about a minute.

### Use it from an AI agent (MCP)

This Actor is available as an MCP tool through the Apify MCP server. Add it to your client, then ask the agent for the data in plain language.

Claude Desktop, Claude Code or Cursor (`mcp.json` / `claude_desktop_config.json`):

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?actors=brightpath-data/companies-house-uk",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" }
    }
  }
}
```

ChatGPT and other clients that support remote MCP servers: add `https://mcp.apify.com/?actors=brightpath-data/companies-house-uk` as a connector with your Apify token.

Example prompt once connected: "Look up the Companies House profile and filing history for company number 00445790."

### Use it from code

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/brightpath-data~companies-house-uk/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"mode":"search","query":"Apivoc","maxResults":10}'
```

Python:

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient
client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("brightpath-data/companies-house-uk").call(run_input={"mode": "search", "query": "Apivoc", "maxResults": 10})
items = client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).list_items().items
```

### Limits and fair use

- Up to 10,000 results per run.
- Companies House allows up to 600 requests per 5 minutes per key, and this Actor paces requests well under that. High-volume users should pass their own `apiKey` so their runs draw on their own quota rather than sharing the operator's.
- A company number with no matching company returns nothing for that entry rather than an error.
- Officer data is never fetched or included, by design.

### Data source and legal

Data comes from the official UK government Companies House public API (`api.company-information.service.gov.uk`). This Actor collects public, non-personal company register data only (no officer names or personal contact details) and does not bypass logins, paywalls or access controls. Every record carries the Open Government Licence attribution in its `dataSource` field, as required for any reuse of Companies House data: "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, from Companies House." You are responsible for how you use the data, and, if you supply your own `apiKey`, for complying with its terms.

### Support

Found a problem or need a field added? Open an issue on the Actor's Issues tab. Fixes for broken runs are prioritized.

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

search: find UK companies by name or keyword. profile: full company profile (and optionally filing history and charges) by company number.

## `query` (type: `string`):

Company name or keyword. Used when Mode is "search".

## `companyNumbers` (type: `array`):

UK Companies House company numbers, e.g. "00445790". Used when Mode is "profile".

## `includeFilingHistory` (type: `boolean`):

Add the 25 most recent filings for each company. Profile mode only.

## `includeCharges` (type: `boolean`):

Add registered charges (mortgages, liens) for each company. Profile mode only.

## `apiKey` (type: `string`):

Optional. Your own free Companies House REST API key from https://developer.company-information.service.gov.uk/, so your usage runs against your own free quota instead of the operator's. Used only for this run, never stored or logged. Leave empty to use the operator's key.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of results to save. You are charged per result saved, so this also caps the cost of a run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "search",
  "query": "Apivoc",
  "includeFilingHistory": false,
  "includeCharges": false,
  "maxResults": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

The dataset with one flat record per result. Append ?format=csv or ?format=xlsx to the URL for other formats.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

OUTPUT record in the key-value store: counts of results pushed and charged, requests, retries and duration.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "query": "Apivoc"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("brightpath-data/companies-house-uk").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "query": "Apivoc" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("brightpath-data/companies-house-uk").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "query": "Apivoc"
}' |
apify call brightpath-data/companies-house-uk --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,brightpath-data/companies-house-uk"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/mGpQ6icH1P7BrxdOG/builds/Ph0mp1tbWte1Sp0rE/openapi.json