UK Companies House Scraper - Company Search + Directors + PSC + AI

Part of the harvestlab MCP suite - 36 RAG-ready, AI-agent-payment-ready Apify actors covering ecommerce, social, travel, news, jobs, EU B2B, dev-tools, and government data. See the full suite

Search 5 million UK companies at $0.005 each. Directors, filings, registered addresses, SIC codes - straight from Companies House. Replaces manual gov.uk lookups for B2B intelligence, KYC workflows, and due diligence pipelines. No subscription, no minimum commitment: pay only for what you extract.

Completes the EU B2B 6-country suite: Netherlands (KvK) + Belgium (KBO) + Germany (Handelsregister) + France (Sirene) + Sweden (Bolagsverket) + United Kingdom (Companies House) - this actor.

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What This Actor Does

The UK Companies House public register contains data on over 5 million companies. This actor uses the official Companies House REST API to extract structured company data programmatically - the same data visible at find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk.

Key capabilities:

• Company name search - find companies by name, keyword, or brand
• Direct lookup by company number - fetch full profile for known companies instantly
• Directors and officers - current and historical directors, company secretaries, and other officers with appointment and resignation dates
• Persons with Significant Control (PSC) - beneficial owners holding 25%+ shares, voting rights, or appointment power; the UK's primary AML/KYC data point
• Recent filing history - last 10 Companies House filings including accounts, confirmation statements, and director changes
• SIC codes - 2007 UK Standard Industrial Classification codes for sector filtering and segmentation
• Registered address - full postal address for each company
• Company status - active, dissolved, liquidation, administration, and other statuses
• AI business analysis - sector classification, company type, key insights, and risk flags via 5 LLM providers

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Why Not Just Use gov.uk?

Manual lookups at find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk work for one company at a time. For any workflow requiring more than a handful of lookups - lead enrichment, bulk KYC, portfolio monitoring - you need programmatic access. Commercial alternatives charge hundreds or thousands per month regardless of usage. This actor charges $0.005 per company with zero monthly fees.

Competitor Comparison

Provider	Pricing	Data Coverage	Notes
Cognism	$1,500+/month	UK + EU + US companies	Contract-based, minimum commitment
DueDil	GBP 799+/month	UK + Ireland companies	Annual subscription required
Beauhurst	GBP 7,200+/year	UK private companies	Specialist UK focus, very expensive
Crunchbase Pro	$99/month	Global, startup-focused	Weaker UK filing data
Dun & Bradstreet	$500-2,000+/month	Global	Enterprise contracts
This actor	$0.005/company	UK Companies House (5M+)	Pay-per-event, no subscription

For AML/KYC and B2B workflows that need UK company data at scale, this actor delivers the same raw Companies House data as enterprise tools at a fraction of the cost.

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Use Cases

AML and KYC Checks Financial institutions, payment processors, and crypto platforms must verify beneficial ownership before onboarding business clients. Pull PSC data (persons with significant control) for any UK company in seconds - who owns 25%+, who controls voting rights, and when their control was notified or ceased.

B2B Lead Enrichment Build targeted prospect lists by searching for companies in specific sectors, regions, or by SIC code keywords. Combine with officer data to identify decision-makers - the CEO, CFO, and board members are all in the officers endpoint. Feed into HubSpot or Salesforce via n8n or Make webhooks.

Director Network Mapping Identify which directors sit on multiple boards. Search by director name via company search, collect officer records across companies, and map the web of connections. Useful for supply chain vetting, conflict-of-interest checks, and identifying holding-company structures.

Investor Due Diligence Before investing in a UK company, verify: incorporation date, current status, share structure hints from PSC data, recent filing compliance (confirmation statements on time?), insolvency and charges history. All available in a single API call with this actor.

Supply Chain Vetting Verify your suppliers are legitimately incorporated, active, and not in administration or liquidation. Check PSC data to understand who actually controls the entity you are contracting with. Flag companies with insolvency history or outstanding charges.

Credit Risk Assessment For credit decisions, pull filing history to check whether a company is current on its confirmation statements and accounts. Overdue filings are a leading indicator of financial distress. Combine with PSC data to understand beneficial ownership before extending credit.

Law Firm Due Diligence Solicitors handling M&A, property transactions, and corporate restructuring need rapid company verification. Extract registered address, officer history, PSC, and filing record for any UK entity without leaving your workflow. Integrate via the Apify API or n8n for automated pre-transaction checks.

Startup Scouting Track newly incorporated companies in target sectors by running weekly searches for SIC code keywords. Identify seed-stage companies before they appear on Crunchbase. Filter by incorporation date and company type to find private limited companies under two years old in your target vertical.

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EU B2B Suite - Complete 6-Country Coverage

This actor is the final piece of a 6-country EU+UK business registry suite. Run them in parallel for cross-border due diligence, multi-market lead generation, or EU-wide compliance checks.

Actor	Country	Registry	Key Data
kvk-scraper	Netherlands	KvK Handelsregister	SBI codes, KvK number, addresses
belgium-kbo-scraper	Belgium	KBO/BCE	VAT number, legal form, NACE codes
germany-handelsregister-scraper	Germany	Handelsregister	HRB/HRA, Amtsgericht, directors
france-sirene-scraper	France	Sirene (INSEE)	SIREN/SIRET, NAF codes, employees
sweden-bolagsverket-scraper	Sweden	Bolagsverket	Org.nr, SNI codes, board members
companies-house-scraper	United Kingdom	Companies House	Directors, PSC, SIC, filings

For a complete EU company intelligence pipeline, run all six scrapers in parallel. Each actor charges $0.005 per company - a 6-country sweep of 100 companies costs $3.00.

Downstream Enrichment

After discovering companies via Companies House, pair with:

• Contact Extractor - extract emails, LinkedIn profiles, and 175+ tech-stack signals from the company website field for sales prospecting
• Trustpilot Scraper - pull customer reviews for sentiment analysis alongside the official filing record
• News Monitor - monitor Google News for companies in your watchlist; pair with UK filing history for early-warning signals
• Google Maps EU Scraper - validate physical presence and collect customer reviews for registered-address verification

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Input Parameters

Required

Parameter	Type	Description
companiesHouseApiKey	string	Free API key from Companies House. Register in ~1 minute at developer-specs.company-information.service.gov.uk.

You must register for a free Companies House API key. Registration takes about one minute and you receive a key immediately. The API is free with a rate limit of 600 requests per 5 minutes.

Search Targets

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
searchQuery	string	-	Company name or keyword to search. E.g. Barclays Bank, fintech London. If this looks like a company number (8 alphanumeric chars), it is treated as a direct lookup.
q	string	-	Alias for searchQuery - short form for CLI use.
companyNumbers	array	-	List of company numbers for direct lookup. E.g. ["00445790", "OC315819"]. Can be combined with searchQuery.
maxResults	integer	10	Max companies to return from search (1-100).

Enrichment Options

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
includeOfficers	boolean	false	Fetch current and resigned directors and secretaries. Adds 1 API call per company.
includePscs	boolean	false	Fetch persons with significant control (beneficial owners). Adds 1 API call per company.
includeFilingHistory	boolean	false	Fetch 10 most recent filings. Adds 1 API call per company.

AI Analysis

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
enableAiAnalysis	boolean	false	Enable AI business profile analysis. Requires an LLM API key.
llmProvider	string	openrouter	AI provider: openrouter, anthropic, google, openai, ollama.
llmModel	string	-	Override the default model (leave blank for recommended default).
openrouterApiKey	string	-	OpenRouter key - or set OPENROUTER_API_KEY env var. Get one at openrouter.ai/keys.
anthropicApiKey	string	-	Anthropic key - or set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env var.
googleApiKey	string	-	Google AI key - or set GOOGLE_API_KEY env var.
openaiApiKey	string	-	OpenAI key - or set OPENAI_API_KEY env var.
ollamaBaseUrl	string	http://localhost:11434	Ollama server URL for self-hosted models.

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Output Schema

Each item in the dataset represents one UK company. All fields follow the portfolio-standard schema with url as the top-level identifier.

Company Record (base fields)

{
  "url": "https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08720512",
  "companyNumber": "08720512",
  "companyName": "MONZO BANK LIMITED",
  "companyStatus": "active",
  "companyType": "private-limited-company",
  "jurisdiction": "england-wales",
  "dateOfCreation": "2013-10-06",
  "dateOfCessation": null,
  "address": {
    "addressLine1": "Broadwalk House",
    "addressLine2": "5 Appold Street",
    "locality": "London",
    "region": null,
    "postalCode": "EC2A 2AG",
    "country": "United Kingdom"
  },
  "sicCodes": ["64110"],
  "canFile": true,
  "hasBeenLiquidated": false,
  "hasCharges": false,
  "hasInsolvencyHistory": false,
  "scraped_at": "2026-04-27T18:42:00Z"
}

Officers (includeOfficers: true)

{
  "officers": [
    {
      "name": "BLOMFIELD, Thomas Arthur",
      "role": "director",
      "appointedOn": "2013-10-06",
      "resignedOn": null,
      "nationality": "British",
      "countryOfResidence": "United Kingdom",
      "dateOfBirth": "1983-09"
    }
  ]
}

Persons with Significant Control (includePscs: true)

{
  "personsWithSignificantControl": [
    {
      "name": "Y Combinator Continuity Fund I, L.P.",
      "naturesOfControl": [
        "ownership-of-shares-25-to-50-percent"
      ],
      "notifiedOn": "2018-07-11",
      "ceasedOn": null,
      "nationality": null,
      "countryOfResidence": null,
      "kind": "corporate-entity-person-with-significant-control"
    }
  ]
}

Filing History (includeFilingHistory: true)

{
  "recentFilings": [
    {
      "date": "2024-03-15",
      "type": "CS01",
      "description": "Confirmation statement made on 2024-03-06",
      "category": "confirmation-statement"
    }
  ]
}

AI Analysis (enableAiAnalysis: true)

{
  "aiAnalysis": {
    "summary": "Monzo Bank Limited is a UK-licensed digital challenger bank offering current accounts, savings, and consumer lending products via a mobile-first platform.",
    "sector": "Digital Banking / Fintech",
    "companyType": "private limited company",
    "keyInsights": [
      "FCA-regulated banking licence holder",
      "Rapid growth from challenger bank to full bank status",
      "Consumer-focused mobile-first product strategy"
    ],
    "riskFactors": [],
    "targetMarket": "UK retail consumers and small businesses seeking modern digital banking"
  }
}

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Pricing

This actor uses pay-per-event pricing - you only pay for what you extract.

Event	Price	Description
company-scraped	$0.005	Per company record extracted
ai-analysis-completed	$0.005	Per AI business analysis completed

Cost examples:

• 100 companies (search only): $0.50
• 100 companies + officers + PSC + filing history: $0.50 (enrichment endpoints use the same per-company charge)
• 100 companies + AI analysis: $1.00
• 1,000 companies with full enrichment and AI: $10.00

No subscription, no monthly minimum. The Companies House REST API is free - this actor charges only for extraction.

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AI Business Analysis

When enableAiAnalysis is enabled, each company is analysed by your chosen LLM to generate:

Field	Description
summary	2-3 sentence business profile
sector	Industry sector name
companyType	Business classification (startup, listed company, LLP, holding, etc.)
keyInsights	3 notable facts about the company
riskFactors	Risk signals (charges, insolvency history, non-filing, dissolved status)
targetMarket	Primary customer or market segment

Supported providers: OpenRouter (recommended, 300+ models), Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, OpenAI GPT, Ollama (self-hosted).

Default model: google/gemini-2.0-flash-001 via OpenRouter - cheapest option at $0.10/M tokens. Override with any provider's model via llmModel.

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Technical Details

Official API - This actor uses the Companies House REST API at api.company-information.service.gov.uk. Authentication is via HTTP Basic Auth with the API key as username and an empty password. All responses are JSON.

Rate limiting - The API allows 600 requests per 5-minute window per key. This actor adds 0.5-second delays between requests and uses exponential backoff on 429 responses. For typical workloads under 100 companies with enrichment enabled, you will not approach the rate limit.

Retry logic - All requests are retried up to 3 times with exponential backoff for 429 (rate limit), 502, 503, and 504 responses. Timeouts are handled with per-attempt backoff.

Company number format - UK company numbers are 8 characters. England/Wales companies start with digits (e.g. 08720512). Scottish companies start with SC, LLPs start with OC or SO, overseas companies start with FC. All formats are handled.

SIC codes - Companies House uses 2007 UK SIC classification. Codes are returned as strings (e.g. "64110" for Central banking, "62012" for Business and domestic software development).

Search pagination - Companies House search returns up to 100 results per query. This actor paginates automatically using items_per_page and start_index to reach your maxResults target.

Concurrency - The actor processes up to 3 companies concurrently using an asyncio semaphore, balancing throughput with API rate limits.

Proxy configuration - The Companies House API is publicly accessible without a proxy. Residential proxies are optional and supported for scenarios where datacenter IP ranges are restricted.

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API Key Setup

1. Go to developer-specs.company-information.service.gov.uk
2. Click Register and create a free account
3. Create a new application - choose the Live environment
4. Copy the API key shown on your application page
5. Paste it into the companiesHouseApiKey input field

Registration takes about one minute and the key is available immediately. The API is free with no usage fees.

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Scheduling and Webhooks

Schedule this actor weekly in Apify Console under Schedules to refresh your UK B2B prospect list by sector. Use the webhookUrl in n8n or Make to push each extracted company record into HubSpot, Salesforce, or a Slack alert the moment a run completes.

Example weekly workflow: SIC 62.01 (computer programming) new incorporations each Monday - Companies House actor run - n8n webhook - CRM lead creation with officer names pre-populated.

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Limitations

• Search results cap - Companies House search returns a maximum of 100 results per query. For exhaustive sector analysis, use company number batch lookups.
• API rate limit - 600 requests per 5 minutes. For large batches with all enrichment options enabled, the actor adds delays to stay within this limit.
• PSC data gaps - Some companies with legitimate exemptions (e.g. listed companies on regulated markets) may not have PSC records on file.
• Filing documents - This actor extracts filing metadata (date, type, description, category). It does not download the actual filing documents (PDFs).
• Historical officer data - Officer appointments from before digital records (pre-1980s) may be incomplete in the API.

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Legal and Compliance

Open Government Licence - UK Companies House data is published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This licence permits free re-use of the data, including for commercial purposes, subject to attribution.

UK GDPR - Directors, PSC individuals, and officer records contain personal data (names, nationalities, dates of birth, countries of residence). Users are responsible for compliance with UK GDPR and applicable data protection law when processing this personal data. The lawful basis is typically legitimate interests for due diligence and business verification purposes.

Terms of service - This actor uses the official Companies House REST API and complies with the Companies House Developer Terms of Service.

User responsibility - The author provides this actor as-is. Users are responsible for how they use the extracted data and for compliance with applicable laws in their jurisdiction.

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Example Runs

Find fintech companies in London:

{
  "searchQuery": "fintech London",
  "maxResults": 20,
  "includeOfficers": true,
  "companiesHouseApiKey": "YOUR_KEY_HERE"
}

Direct lookup with PSC data for KYC:

{
  "companyNumbers": ["08720512", "10647718"],
  "includePscs": true,
  "includeFilingHistory": true,
  "companiesHouseApiKey": "YOUR_KEY_HERE"
}

AI-enriched prospect list for Manchester software companies:

{
  "searchQuery": "software development Manchester",
  "maxResults": 50,
  "includeOfficers": true,
  "enableAiAnalysis": true,
  "llmProvider": "openrouter",
  "openrouterApiKey": "YOUR_OPENROUTER_KEY",
  "companiesHouseApiKey": "YOUR_KEY_HERE"
}

Bulk KYC sweep from a list of company numbers:

{
  "companyNumbers": ["00445790", "OC315819", "SC123456", "FC012345"],
  "includeOfficers": true,
  "includePscs": true,
  "companiesHouseApiKey": "YOUR_KEY_HERE"
}

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Support

• Issues: Use the Apify issue tracker on the actor page
• Documentation: Companies House API docs
• EU B2B suite: harvestlab on Apify