# Companies House Scraper -- UK Company Data, Officers & PSC (`skillmerc/companies-house-scraper`) Actor

Batch-lookup any UK registered company via the official Companies House API -- profile, directors, beneficial owners, and filing dates in one run.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/skillmerc/companies-house-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Kyle Pretorius](https://apify.com/skillmerc) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 results

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

## Companies House Scraper -- UK Company Data, Officers & PSC

Batch-lookup any UK registered company via the official Companies House REST API. Returns company profile, registered address, SIC codes, accounts filing dates, directors/officers, and beneficial ownership (PSC) data in a single run.

No scraping of HTML pages. Uses the structured JSON API, so results are stable and cover all 5M+ companies on the register.

### What you need

A free Companies House API key. Register at https://developer.company-information.service.gov.uk -- takes about 2 minutes. Paste the key into the `apiKey` input field.

### Inputs

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `queries` | array | `[]` | Company names or company numbers. Numbers (e.g. `12345678`) do a direct lookup; names do a search and return up to `maxResultsPerQuery` matches. |
| `apiKey` | string | | **Required.** Free Companies House API key. |
| `includeOfficers` | boolean | `true` | Include directors and company officers (name, role, appointment date). |
| `includePSC` | boolean | `false` | Include persons with significant control (beneficial owners). |
| `maxResultsPerQuery` | integer | `5` | Maximum companies to return per name search. Ignored for direct number lookups. |
| `maxItems` | integer | `100` | Stop after pushing this many results. |

### Output example

```json
{
  "companyNumber": "00102498",
  "companyName": "TESCO PLC",
  "companyStatus": "active",
  "companyType": "plc",
  "jurisdiction": "england-wales",
  "dateOfCreation": "1947-05-27",
  "dateOfCessation": null,
  "registeredOfficeAddress": "Tesco House, Shire Park, Kestrel Way, Welwyn Garden City, AL7 1GA",
  "sicCodes": ["47110"],
  "accountsNextDue": "2025-06-30",
  "accountsLastMadeUpTo": "2024-02-24",
  "confirmationStatementNextDue": "2025-07-04",
  "officers": [
    {
      "name": "MURPHY, Ken",
      "role": "chief-executive-officer",
      "appointedOn": "2020-10-01",
      "resignedOn": null,
      "nationality": "Irish",
      "countryOfResidence": "England"
    }
  ],
  "personsWithSignificantControl": []
}
```

### Pricing

Pay per result: $1.00 per 1,000 companies. A 500-company batch costs $0.50.

### Rate limits

The Companies House API free tier allows 600 requests per 5 minutes. With officers and PSC enabled, each company uses 3 API calls (profile + officers + PSC). The actor tracks usage and pauses automatically before hitting the limit.

### Limitations

- An API key is required; the actor cannot run without one.
- About 15% of companies have no PSC data (legally exempt -- the `personsWithSignificantControl` field will be an empty array).
- Officers endpoint returns up to 50 officers per company. Very large boards may be paginated; full pagination is not implemented in v0.1.
- Companies House has occasional scheduled maintenance windows (usually weekends). The actor will surface HTTP errors if the API is unavailable.
- Overseas and Welsh names may need exact spelling for name searches. Company numbers are more reliable for direct lookups.

# Actor input Schema

## `queries` (type: `array`):

List of company names or company numbers to look up. Company numbers (e.g. '12345678') trigger a direct lookup; names trigger a search returning up to maxResultsPerQuery matches.

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

Optional. Leave blank to use the built-in key (no setup needed). Provide your own free key from developer.company-information.service.gov.uk if you want your own rate limit.

## `includeOfficers` (type: `boolean`):

Include directors and company officers (name, role, appointment date) in output.

## `includePSC` (type: `boolean`):

Include beneficial ownership (PSC) data. About 15% of companies are legally exempt and will have an empty array.

## `maxResultsPerQuery` (type: `integer`):

Maximum companies returned per name search query. Has no effect when a query is a company number (direct lookup).

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Stop after pushing this many companies to the dataset. Useful for cost control.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "queries": [
    "OpenAI UK Ltd",
    "12345678",
    "Acme Limited"
  ],
  "includeOfficers": true,
  "includePSC": false,
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 5,
  "maxItems": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Dataset items

# 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 = {
    "queries": [
        "00445790",
        "Tesco PLC",
        "Barclays"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("skillmerc/companies-house-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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "queries": [
        "00445790",
        "Tesco PLC",
        "Barclays",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("skillmerc/companies-house-scraper").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 '{
  "queries": [
    "00445790",
    "Tesco PLC",
    "Barclays"
  ]
}' |
apify call skillmerc/companies-house-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

```

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/ZV8atGxC4B9XnAZv1/builds/YvajhHlRv4nQKLvF9/openapi.json