# Companies House UK Scraper (`glassventures/companies-house-uk-scraper`) Actor Scrape UK company data from Companies House. Extract company profiles, officers, SIC codes, registered addresses. Uses the official API. - **URL**: https://apify.com/glassventures/companies-house-uk-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Glass Ventures](https://apify.com/glassventures) (community) - **Categories:** Business, Lead generation - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per usage This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-usage ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use 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 ## Companies House UK Scraper Scrape UK company data from Companies House using the official API. Extract company profiles, officers, SIC codes, registered addresses, and filing dates. ### What does Companies House UK Scraper do? Companies House UK Scraper lets you extract detailed information about UK-registered companies using the official Companies House API. It retrieves company profiles including registration details, officer information, SIC codes, and filing history dates. The actor searches Companies House by company name or accepts direct company numbers and URLs. It handles pagination for search results and can optionally fetch officer details for each company. All data comes from the official government API, ensuring accuracy and reliability. This is ideal for anyone performing due diligence, market research, or competitor analysis on UK businesses. The data includes company status, type, registered address, and key dates that are essential for business intelligence. ### Use Cases - **Due diligence teams** -- verify company details, officer information, and filing status before partnerships or investments - **Market researchers** -- analyze UK companies by industry using SIC codes, identify active vs dissolved companies - **Data analysts** -- build datasets of UK companies for sector analysis, geographic mapping, or trend identification - **Developers** -- integrate UK company data into CRM systems, compliance tools, or business intelligence platforms ### Features - Search companies by name or keywords - Look up companies by registration number directly - Extract full company profiles with all registration details - Fetch officer lists (directors, secretaries) for each company - Handles API rate limiting automatically - Exports to JSON, CSV, Excel, or connect via API ### How much will it cost? Companies House API is free. The only cost is Apify platform compute time. | Results | Estimated Cost | |---------|---------------| | 100 | ~$0.01 | | 1,000 | ~$0.05 | | 10,000 | ~$0.30 | | Cost Component | Per 1,000 Results | |----------------|-------------------| | Platform compute | ~$0.05 | | Proxy (optional) | ~$0.00 | | **Total** | **~$0.05** | ### How to use 1. Get a free API key from [Companies House Developer Hub](https://developer.company-information.service.gov.uk/) 2. Go to the Companies House UK Scraper page on Apify Store 3. Enter your API key in the Authentication section 4. Enter search terms, company numbers, or Companies House URLs 5. Set the maximum number of items 6. Click "Start" and wait for the results ### Input parameters | Parameter | Type | Description | Default | |-----------|------|-------------|---------| | searchTerms | array | Search queries to find companies by name | - | | companyNumbers | array | Companies House registration numbers | - | | startUrls | array | Companies House URLs to scrape | - | | apiKey | string | Companies House API key (required) | - | | includeOfficers | boolean | Fetch officer details for each company | true | | maxItems | number | Max results to return | 100 | | maxConcurrency | number | Parallel request limit | 5 | | proxyConfig | object | Proxy settings | Apify Proxy | ### Output The actor produces a dataset with the following fields: ```json { "companyName": "REVOLUT LTD", "companyNumber": "09740085", "companyStatus": "active", "companyType": "ltd", "dateOfCreation": "2015-07-23", "registeredAddress": { "addressLine1": "7 Westferry Circus", "locality": "London", "postalCode": "E14 4HD", "country": "United Kingdom" }, "sicCodes": ["64999"], "officers": [ { "name": "STORONSKY, Nikolay", "officerRole": "director", "appointedOn": "2015-07-23" } ], "jurisdiction": "england-wales", "lastAccountsDate": "2023-12-31", "confirmationStatementDate": "2024-07-23", "url": "https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/09740085", "scrapedAt": "2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z" } ```` | Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | companyName | string | Registered company name | | companyNumber | string | Companies House registration number | | companyStatus | string | Active, dissolved, liquidation, etc. | | companyType | string | Ltd, PLC, LLP, etc. | | dateOfCreation | string | Incorporation date (YYYY-MM-DD) | | registeredAddress | object | Registered office address | | sicCodes | array | Standard Industrial Classification codes | | officers | array | Directors and secretaries (if includeOfficers is true) | | jurisdiction | string | Registration jurisdiction | | lastAccountsDate | string | Date of last filed accounts | | confirmationStatementDate | string | Date of last confirmation statement | | url | string | Companies House URL | | scrapedAt | string | ISO 8601 scrape timestamp | ### Integrations Connect Companies House UK Scraper with other tools: - **Apify API** -- REST API for programmatic access - **Webhooks** -- get notified when a run finishes - **Zapier / Make** -- connect to 5,000+ apps - **Google Sheets** -- export directly to spreadsheets #### API Example (Node.js) ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_TOKEN' }); const run = await client.actor('YOUR_USERNAME/companies-house-uk-scraper').call({ searchTerms: ['Revolut'], apiKey: 'YOUR_COMPANIES_HOUSE_API_KEY', maxItems: 100, }); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); ``` #### API Example (Python) ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient client = ApifyClient('YOUR_TOKEN') run = client.actor('YOUR_USERNAME/companies-house-uk-scraper').call(run_input={ 'searchTerms': ['Revolut'], 'apiKey': 'YOUR_COMPANIES_HOUSE_API_KEY', 'maxItems': 100, }) items = client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).list_items().items ``` #### API Example (cURL) ```bash curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/YOUR_USERNAME~companies-house-uk-scraper/runs" \ -X POST \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \ -d '{"searchTerms": ["Revolut"], "apiKey": "YOUR_KEY", "maxItems": 100}' ``` ### Tips and tricks - Start with a small `maxItems` (10-20) to test your API key before running large scrapes - Companies House rate limits at 600 requests per 5 minutes -- keep maxConcurrency low (5-10) - Use company numbers for precise lookups; use search terms for discovery - SIC codes can be used to filter companies by industry sector ### FAQ **Q: Does this actor require login credentials?** A: Yes, you need a free API key from the Companies House Developer Hub. Registration is free and instant. **Q: How fast is the scraping?** A: Approximately 100-200 company profiles per minute, depending on whether officer data is included. **Q: What should I do if I get rate limited?** A: Reduce maxConcurrency to 3-5. Companies House allows 600 requests per 5 minutes. **Q: Can I scrape dissolved companies?** A: Yes, Companies House keeps records of dissolved companies and they appear in search results. ### Is it legal to scrape Companies House? Companies House data is public information maintained by the UK government. This actor uses the official free API provided by Companies House specifically for programmatic access. The data is Crown Copyright but is available under the Open Government Licence. For more information, see [Apify's blog on web scraping legality](https://blog.apify.com/is-web-scraping-legal/). ### Limitations - Requires a free API key from Companies House Developer Hub - Rate limited to 600 requests per 5 minutes by the API - Only covers UK-registered companies (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland) - Officer data requires an additional API call per company ### Changelog - **v0.1** (2026-04-23) -- Initial release # Actor input Schema ## `searchTerms` (type: `array`): Search queries to find companies by name. The actor will search Companies House and scrape matching company profiles. ## `companyNumbers` (type: `array`): List of Companies House registration numbers to scrape directly (e.g. '09740085' for Revolut). ## `startUrls` (type: `array`): Companies House URLs to scrape. Supports company profile URLs like https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/09740085 ## `apiKey` (type: `string`): Your Companies House API key. Get a free key at https://developer.company-information.service.gov.uk/. Required for all requests. ## `includeOfficers` (type: `boolean`): Whether to fetch company officers (directors, secretaries). Requires an additional API call per company. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of company profiles to scrape. Use 0 or leave empty for unlimited. ## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of API requests processed in parallel. Companies House rate limits at 600 requests per 5 minutes. ## `debugMode` (type: `boolean`): Enables verbose logging for troubleshooting. ## `extendOutputFunction` (type: `string`): A JavaScript function to customize each output item. Receives { data, request }. ## `proxyConfig` (type: `object`): Select proxies to be used. Not required for Companies House API but can help avoid IP rate limits. ## Actor input object example ```json { "searchTerms": [ "Revolut", "Deliveroo" ], "includeOfficers": true, "maxItems": 100, "maxConcurrency": 5, "debugMode": false, "extendOutputFunction": "async ({ data }) => {\n return data;\n}", "proxyConfig": { "useApifyProxy": true } } ``` # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "searchTerms": [ "Revolut", "Deliveroo" ], "extendOutputFunction": async ({ data }) => { return data; }, "proxyConfig": { "useApifyProxy": true } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("glassventures/companies-house-uk-scraper").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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "searchTerms": [ "Revolut", "Deliveroo", ], "extendOutputFunction": """async ({ data }) => { return data; }""", "proxyConfig": { "useApifyProxy": True }, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("glassventures/companies-house-uk-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "searchTerms": [ "Revolut", "Deliveroo" ], "extendOutputFunction": "async ({ data }) => {\\n return data;\\n}", "proxyConfig": { "useApifyProxy": true } }' | apify call glassventures/companies-house-uk-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=glassventures/companies-house-uk-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Companies House UK Scraper", "description": "Scrape UK company data from Companies House. Extract company profiles, officers, SIC codes, registered addresses. Uses the official API.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "oHYEGgoP8dBgmcWwg" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/glassventures~companies-house-uk-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-glassventures-companies-house-uk-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/glassventures~companies-house-uk-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-glassventures-companies-house-uk-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/glassventures~companies-house-uk-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-glassventures-companies-house-uk-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "searchTerms": { "title": "Search Terms", "type": "array", "description": "Search queries to find companies by name. The actor will search Companies House and scrape matching company profiles.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "companyNumbers": { "title": "Company Numbers", "type": "array", "description": "List of Companies House registration numbers to scrape directly (e.g. '09740085' for Revolut).", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "startUrls": { "title": "Start URLs", "type": "array", "description": "Companies House URLs to scrape. Supports company profile URLs like https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/09740085", "items": { "type": "object", "required": [ "url" ], "properties": { "url": { "type": "string", "title": "URL of a web page", "format": "uri" } } } }, "apiKey": { "title": "API Key", "type": "string", "description": "Your Companies House API key. Get a free key at https://developer.company-information.service.gov.uk/. Required for all requests." }, "includeOfficers": { "title": "Include Officers", "type": "boolean", "description": "Whether to fetch company officers (directors, secretaries). Requires an additional API call per company.", "default": true }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max Items", "minimum": 0, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of company profiles to scrape. Use 0 or leave empty for unlimited.", "default": 100 }, "maxConcurrency": { "title": "Max Concurrency", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 20, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of API requests processed in parallel. Companies House rate limits at 600 requests per 5 minutes.", "default": 5 }, "debugMode": { "title": "Debug Mode", "type": "boolean", "description": "Enables verbose logging for troubleshooting.", "default": false }, "extendOutputFunction": { "title": "Extend Output Function", "type": "string", "description": "A JavaScript function to customize each output item. Receives { data, request }." }, "proxyConfig": { "title": "Proxy Configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Select proxies to be used. Not required for Companies House API but can help avoid IP rate limits." } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```