# Companies House API (`conserving_celerytop/uk-companies-house-api`) Actor

Filter the free Companies House company data snapshot by name, company number, status, SIC code, postcode area and incorporation date. One row per UK company: type, SIC codes, registered office, filing dates. No API key, no officers or directors.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/conserving_celerytop/uk-companies-house-api.md
- **Developed by:** [Don Mangu](https://apify.com/conserving_celerytop) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.40 / 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.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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

Use this Companies House API to filter UK companies by name, company number, status, SIC code, postcode area and incorporation date, for $2.00 per 1,000 companies.

Set one or more filters and the Actor returns one clean row per matching company: company number, name, status, company type, SIC codes, registered office address, incorporation date and the dates of the next accounts and confirmation statement. It reads the free monthly company data snapshot that Companies House publishes. You need no API key, no login and no proxy.

### Sample output

One row per company. This is an invented company that shows the layout of a real row, shortened to 16 of the 33 fields:

```json
{
  "resultStatus": "ok",
  "companyNumber": "12345678",
  "name": "ACME SOFTWARE LTD",
  "status": "Active",
  "companyType": "Private Limited Company",
  "incorporationDate": "2023-01-15",
  "sicCodes": ["62012", "62020"],
  "registeredOfficeAddress": "1 Example Street, London, EC1V 4AB",
  "postTown": "London",
  "postcode": "EC1V 4AB",
  "postcodeArea": "EC",
  "accountsNextDue": "2026-12-31",
  "confirmationStatementNextDue": "2027-03-15",
  "previousNames": [{ "name": "ACME APPS LTD", "changedOn": "2024-02-02" }],
  "licence": "Companies House public register data; Companies House states it imposes no rules or requirements on how this information is used",
  "snapshotDate": "2026-10-01"
}
```

### How to use it

1. Open the Input tab and set at least one filter. Every filter you set must match, so a SIC code plus a postcode area returns only companies that have both.
2. Set Max results. The run stops as soon as it has that many companies, so a small limit finishes sooner.
3. Press Start. When the run ends, open the Output tab for the table, or download JSON, CSV or Excel. The default view shows the main columns.

You can also call the Actor from the API, from Make, Zapier or n8n, and put it on a schedule to see new companies each month.

### What you get

- Company number, name, status and company type
- Incorporation date and, when given, dissolution date and country of origin
- Up to four SIC 2007 codes with their text
- Registered office address as one line and as separate fields, plus the postcode area
- Last accounts date, next accounts due date, accounts category
- Last and next confirmation statement dates
- Previous company names with the date of each change
- A link to the company page on the official Companies House service
- The snapshot date, the source file and a usage note on every row

### What is left out

The snapshot holds company records only. It has no officers, directors, persons with significant control, shareholders or financial figures, and this Actor does not fetch them. The care-of line of the registered office address is dropped, because it can name a person. Companies that were dissolved before the snapshot date are not in the file.

### Filters

- **Company names or numbers**: a name matches companies whose name contains all of its words. A company number such as SC123456 returns that company. A company matching any line is returned.
- **Company status**: active, active with a proposal to strike off, in liquidation, in administration, or any status in the snapshot.
- **SIC codes**: a full 5-digit code such as 62012, or a shorter start such as 62 for the whole group.
- **Postcode areas**: letters only, such as EC or SW, match the whole area. An outward code such as EC1 matches that district, and M1 does not return M11.
- **Incorporated from and to**: dates in the form 2024-01-31.

### Pricing

Pay per event. Each company returned costs $0.002, which is $2.00 per 1,000 companies on the Free plan, and less on paid plans: $1.80 on Bronze, $1.60 on Silver and $1.40 on Gold per 1,000. A run that finds no company returns one row with the result status no_results and is charged one result. A run that could not read the source returns an error row, which is not charged. The Actor start fee is $0.00005. You can set a maximum charge per run and the Actor stops when it is reached.

### Input example

```json
{
  "sicCodes": ["62012"],
  "postcodeAreas": ["EC"],
  "incorporatedFrom": "2023-01-01",
  "maxResults": 25
}
```

### FAQ

**Where does the data come from?** From the Free Company Data Product of Companies House, a monthly snapshot of live companies on the UK register. Companies House states that it imposes no rules or requirements on how the information on the public register is used, and that you are responsible for complying with any data protection, copyright and other rules that apply to your use. Each row names the snapshot date, so you know how fresh it is.

**How current is it?** Companies House publishes a new snapshot each month, so the data can be up to a month old. A company incorporated last week will not appear until the next snapshot.

**Why does a run take a while?** The Actor streams the whole snapshot, about 470 MB compressed, and checks every company against your filters. It does not keep the file in memory. A run that reaches your limit early ends early, while a narrow filter with few matches reads the whole file.

**Does it return directors or owners?** No. Officers and persons with significant control are personal data and are not in the snapshot. Registered office addresses are published company data, but for some small companies the registered office is a private address. Check the rules that apply to your own use of the data.

**Why not use the Companies House REST API?** The REST API needs your own API key and limits how many requests you can make. This Actor needs neither, and it works well for list building and bulk filtering. For one live company profile with officers, use the official service.

**What if the download fails?** The Actor retries each file. If a file still cannot be read, the run reports which one in the status message and the stats record, and marks the results as possibly incomplete.

### Related Actors

The author publishes other Actors that return filtered company lists from official public registers. They are listed on the author's Apify profile.

### About

This Actor is built by an independent developer and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Companies House or the UK government. The data comes from the Companies House public register. Disclosure: the author owns this Actor.

# Actor input Schema

## `companyNames` (type: `array`):

Enter company names or company numbers, one per line. A name matches every company whose name contains all of its words, for example acme software. A number such as 12345678 or SC123456 returns that company. A company that matches any line is returned. Leave empty to use only the other filters.

## `companyStatus` (type: `string`):

Keep only companies with this status on the register. The monthly snapshot lists live companies, so dissolved companies are not in it.

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

Enter UK SIC 2007 codes, one per line. Use a full 5-digit code such as 62012 for software development, or a shorter start such as 62 for all computer programming and consultancy. A company matches if any of its listed SIC codes starts with one of your entries.

## `postcodeAreas` (type: `array`):

Enter registered office postcode areas, one per line. Letters only, such as EC or SW, match the whole postcode area. An outward code such as EC1 or M1 matches that district only, so M1 does not return M11.

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

Keep only companies incorporated on or after this date. Use the format 2024-01-31.

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

Keep only companies incorporated on or before this date. Use the format 2024-12-31.

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

Stop after this many companies. The run ends as soon as the limit is reached, so small limits finish faster. Each company returned is one charged result.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "companyStatus": "active",
  "sicCodes": [
    "62012"
  ],
  "postcodeAreas": [
    "EC"
  ],
  "incorporatedFrom": "2023-01-01",
  "maxResults": 25
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `companies` (type: `string`):

No description

## `stats` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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": [
        "62012"
    ],
    "postcodeAreas": [
        "EC"
    ],
    "incorporatedFrom": "2023-01-01",
    "maxResults": 25
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("conserving_celerytop/uk-companies-house-api").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": ["62012"],
    "postcodeAreas": ["EC"],
    "incorporatedFrom": "2023-01-01",
    "maxResults": 25,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("conserving_celerytop/uk-companies-house-api").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": [
    "62012"
  ],
  "postcodeAreas": [
    "EC"
  ],
  "incorporatedFrom": "2023-01-01",
  "maxResults": 25
}' |
apify call conserving_celerytop/uk-companies-house-api --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/UDbejRbPlyYgPQqjg/builds/OeNmSukNwsT0e2sh3/openapi.json