# UK Companies House Search & New Company Leads (`clever_firebox/uk-companies-house-search`) Actor

Search all ~5.7M UK companies from Companies House's official free bulk data: new incorporations, SIC code, postcode, town, status, overdue accounts, charges, previous names. Optional officers via your free API key. Fast, no scraping.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/clever_firebox/uk-companies-house-search.md
- **Developed by:** [Agentic Hobby](https://apify.com/clever_firebox) (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 $1.40 / 1,000 uk 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

## UK Companies House Search & New Company Leads

Search **every UK registered company (about 5.7 million)** using **Companies House's official Free Company Data Product**, and get **newly incorporated companies** as lead lists. Filter by **SIC code**, **company name keywords**, **postcode** or **post town**, **status**, **company type**, **accounts category**, **overdue accounts** and **outstanding charges**. Each result includes registered address, SIC codes, accounts and confirmation-statement due dates, mortgage/charge counts and previous names.

No scraping and no CAPTCHAs: the Actor streams the official monthly bulk file straight from Companies House. A full-register scan takes about 15–30 seconds, and a new-incorporations list is ready in seconds. You can add your own **free Companies House API key** to append **current officers/directors** to each company.

### Use cases

- **New business leads:** companies incorporated in the last 30 days in your SIC codes and postcodes. Useful for accountants, banks, insurers, web agencies, office suppliers and SaaS.
- **Market mapping:** every active company in a sector (e.g. SIC 56101 restaurants in Leeds).
- **Distress & credit signals:** accounts overdue, liquidation or administration status, outstanding charges.
- **KYB / enrichment:** registered address, status, type and previous names for a list of companies.

### Input examples

New IT companies in the last 30 days (default):

```json
{"incorporatedWithinDays": 30, "sicCodes": ["62"]}
```

Active restaurants in Leeds with overdue accounts:

```json
{"sicCodes": ["56101"], "postTown": "LEEDS", "accountsOverdueOnly": true}
```

Solar companies in Manchester postcodes, with officers (your API key):

```json
{"nameKeywords": ["solar"], "postcodePrefixes": ["M"], "companiesHouseApiKey": "YOUR_KEY"}
```

### Output

`companyNumber, companyName, status, companyType, incorporationDate, dissolutionDate, countryOfOrigin, registeredAddress{careOf, poBox, addressLine1, addressLine2, postTown, county, country, postCode}, sicCodes[{code, description}], accounts{category, nextDueDate, lastMadeUpDate, refDay, refMonth, overdue}, confirmationStatement{nextDueDate, lastMadeUpDate, overdue}, charges{total, outstanding, partSatisfied, satisfied}, previousNames[], companiesHouseUrl, snapshotDate, officers[] (with API key)`

See `samples/` for real output.

### Freshness

Companies House publishes this file **monthly** (snapshot date is on every item, e.g. `2026-10-01`). Companies incorporated after the snapshot appear in the next month's file. "Overdue" flags are computed against today's date, so a company may have filed since the snapshot. Check `companiesHouseUrl` for live status. For real-time lookups, add your API key; officers are then fetched live.

### Pricing

Pay per company delivered. Filters are free. Cap spend with **Max results**.

### Legal

Contains public sector information licensed under the **Open Government Licence v3.0** (Companies House). Officer data is personal data: process it under UK GDPR (legitimate interest, PECR rules for marketing). Not affiliated with Companies House.

# Actor input Schema

## `incorporatedWithinDays` (type: `integer`):

New-company leads. Counted back from the snapshot date (published monthly). Clear it to search all companies.

## `incorporatedFrom` (type: `string`):

Overrides the field above.

## `incorporatedTo` (type: `string`):

Optional.

## `sicCodes` (type: `array`):

E.g. 62 (IT), 56101 (restaurants), 41 (construction), 6820 (letting).

## `nameKeywords` (type: `array`):

Whole-word match, e.g. solar, dental, consulting.

## `postcodePrefixes` (type: `array`):

E.g. EC1, M, LS7, SW1A.

## `postTown` (type: `string`):

E.g. LEEDS, LONDON, MANCHESTER.

## `statuses` (type: `array`):

E.g. Active, Liquidation, In Administration, Active - Proposal to Strike off.

## `companyTypes` (type: `array`):

E.g. Private Limited Company, PLC, Limited Liability Partnership, Community Interest Company.

## `accountsCategories` (type: `array`):

E.g. MICRO ENTITY, SMALL, FULL, DORMANT, NO ACCOUNTS FILED.

## `accountsOverdueOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Next accounts due date has passed (as of the snapshot).

## `hasOutstandingChargesOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Companies with secured lending outstanding.

## `onlyNewSinceLastRun` (type: `boolean`):

Remembers companies already delivered (per alert name). Useful with a monthly schedule.

## `alertStateName` (type: `string`):

Separate memory per saved search.

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

You are charged per company delivered.

## `companiesHouseApiKey` (type: `string`):

Free key from developer.company-information.service.gov.uk. Adds current officers (1 API call per company, rate-limited to ~2/s).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "incorporatedWithinDays": 30,
  "sicCodes": [
    "62"
  ],
  "statuses": [
    "Active"
  ],
  "accountsOverdueOnly": false,
  "hasOutstandingChargesOnly": false,
  "onlyNewSinceLastRun": false,
  "alertStateName": "default",
  "maxResults": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Companies from the latest Companies House bulk snapshot. Opens the Overview view by default.

## `runSummary` (type: `string`):

Snapshot date, rows scanned and companies delivered.

# 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 = {
    "sicCodes": [
        "62"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("clever_firebox/uk-companies-house-search").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 = { "sicCodes": ["62"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("clever_firebox/uk-companies-house-search").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 '{
  "sicCodes": [
    "62"
  ]
}' |
apify call clever_firebox/uk-companies-house-search --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/6v4gsr81THmTg6AAn/builds/p7SGhRmU0PtZopotZ/openapi.json