# UK Company Lookup (Companies House) (`factpipe/uk-company-lookup`) Actor

Look up UK companies by number or name via the official Companies House API: status, incorporation date, SIC codes, registered office, filing deadlines. Pay per successful lookup.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/factpipe/uk-company-lookup.md
- **Developed by:** [Neo B](https://apify.com/factpipe) (community)
- **Categories:**
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$4.00 / 1,000 company founds

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?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## UK Company Lookup (Companies House)

Look up **UK companies** by company number or name and get a clean, flat JSON record from the **official Companies House API**: legal status, incorporation date, SIC codes, registered office, accounts and confirmation-statement deadlines, insolvency and charges flags. Built for KYB checks, lead enrichment, and AI-agent pipelines. **You are only charged for successful lookups** — misses are free.

### What you get

```json
{
  "query": "Example Widgets Limited",
  "found": true,
  "company_number": "01234567",
  "company_name": "EXAMPLE WIDGETS LIMITED",
  "status": "active",
  "company_type": "ltd",
  "jurisdiction": "england-wales",
  "incorporated_on": "2012-03-15",
  "dissolved_on": null,
  "sic_codes": ["62012", "62020"],
  "registered_office": "1, Example Street, London, Greater London, EC1A 1AA, England",
  "registered_office_postcode": "EC1A 1AA",
  "accounts_next_due": "2026-12-31",
  "accounts_overdue": false,
  "confirmation_statement_next_due": "2026-11-15",
  "has_insolvency_history": false,
  "has_charges": true,
  "company_url": "https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/01234567",
  "source_url": "https://api.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/01234567",
  "fetched_at": "2026-09-11T12:00:00.000Z"
}
```

Company facts only — this Actor deliberately returns **no personal data** (no officers, no PSC records).

### Use cases

- **KYB / vendor onboarding**: verify status, age, and filing compliance of UK counterparties in bulk.
- **Lead enrichment**: turn a list of company names into verified registry records with SIC codes and location.
- **Credit & risk signals**: overdue accounts, insolvency history, registered charges.
- **AI agents**: single-record lookup with a tiny input schema — ideal via API or MCP.

### Input

| Field | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `companyNumbers` | string\[] | e.g. `01234567`, `SC123456` |
| `companyNames` | string\[] | Resolved via official search, best match |
| `apiKey` | secret string, optional | Works out of the box with no key. Optionally bring your own free key from [developer.company-information.service.gov.uk](https://developer.company-information.service.gov.uk/) for dedicated rate limits |

### Pricing (pay per event)

| Event | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `company-found` | One company successfully found and delivered. **Not-found lookups and empty runs are never charged.** |

### Reliability

Official government API, polite rate limiting inside Companies House quotas, retries with backoff, structured failure reporting, daily issue triage.

# Actor input Schema

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

Companies House numbers, e.g. 01234567 or SC123456. Cheapest and fastest lookup path.

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

Company names to resolve via official search (best match) and then look up.

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

Optional: your own free key from developer.company-information.service.gov.uk for dedicated rate limits. The Actor works without it out of the box.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "companyNumbers": [
    "00445790"
  ]
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `resultsDatasetUrl` (type: `string`):

UK company registry records for the requested lookups

# 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 = {
    "companyNumbers": [
        "00445790"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("factpipe/uk-company-lookup").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 = { "companyNumbers": ["00445790"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("factpipe/uk-company-lookup").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 '{
  "companyNumbers": [
    "00445790"
  ]
}' |
apify call factpipe/uk-company-lookup --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,factpipe/uk-company-lookup"
        }
    }
}

```

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/wfcdwJw5mWYbpxaPp/builds/QM2GwmyuRB33EVZAc/openapi.json