# UK Company Check - Companies House KYB (`sterlingverify/uk-company-check`) Actor

Companies House company check and UK KYB in one call: company profile and status, directors and officers, PSCs (beneficial owners), HMRC VAT number validation and UK sanctions screening. Bulk company lookup via CSV/JSON or API. Bring your own free Companies House API key.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/sterlingverify/uk-company-check.md
- **Developed by:** [Luke Mangan](https://apify.com/sterlingverify) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Lead generation, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 88.9% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$20.00 / 1,000 company checkeds

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?

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

## UK Company Check — Companies House + HMRC VAT + UK Sanctions

**UK Company Check** runs a one-shot UK KYB (know your business) check: Companies House profile, active officers and PSCs, optional HMRC VAT validation and UK Sanctions List screening, in one result per company.

**Best for:** Merchant onboarding and KYB teams, B2B credit checks, supplier due diligence and fintech compliance operations.

### What does UK Company Check do?

One-shot UK KYB check per company:

1. **Companies House** profile: status, type, incorporation date, SIC, registered office, overdue accounts/confirmation, insolvency history, charges
2. Active **officers** and **persons with significant control (PSCs)**
3. **HMRC VAT number** validation (name/address on VAT record) — optional
4. Company name, officers and PSCs screened against the **UK Sanctions List** (FCDO)
5. `flags[]`: not-found, status-dissolved, accounts-overdue, insolvency-history, vat-invalid, sanctions-potential-match

### How to run a UK company (KYB) check

1. Add companies (company number, optionally a VAT number) to **Companies**.
2. Paste your free **Companies House API key** (and optionally an HMRC token).
3. Click **Start** and review the `flags` for each company.

### Keys (bring your own)

- `companiesHouseApiKey` — free from https://developer.company-information.service.gov.uk (rate limit 600 req / 5 min).
- `hmrcAccessToken` — optional; HMRC "Check a UK VAT number" API v2 requires an OAuth app-restricted token from https://developer.service.hmrc.gov.uk. Without it, VAT is reported as `checked:false`.
- No key? The Actor runs in **demo mode** on bundled sample data (Tesco PLC + a fictitious test company) so you can preview the output; demo results are free (not charged). `mockMode: true` forces demo mode.

Data: Companies House & UK Sanctions List under Open Government Licence v3.0. Not legal advice; potential matches need human review. (FCA Register data is deliberately **not** included — its terms prohibit bulk resale.)

### Pricing (pay-per-event)

- `company-checked`: **$0.02** per company ($20 / 1,000).
- Example: 10,000 companies cost $200.00.

### Example input

```json
{
  "companies": [
    {
      "companyNumber": "00445790",
      "vatNumber": "GB220430231"
    }
  ],
  "companiesHouseApiKey": "YOUR_KEY",
  "screenSanctions": true
}
```

### Example output

Values below are illustrative.

```json
{
  "companyNumber": "00445790",
  "name": "TESCO PLC",
  "status": "active",
  "incorporated": "1947-11-27",
  "activeOfficers": [
    {
      "name": "...",
      "role": "director"
    }
  ],
  "pscs": [],
  "vat": {
    "checked": false,
    "reason": "no HMRC token supplied"
  },
  "sanctions": {
    "listReportDate": "08-Oct-2026",
    "hits": []
  },
  "flags": []
}
```

### Use it via API, schedules and integrations

Run it in Apify Console, or call it from your own code with the Apify API or the Python and JavaScript clients. Save an input as a task and add a schedule to run it regularly, and send results to Slack, email, webhooks, Zapier, Make or n8n with Apify integrations. AI agents can find and run it through the Apify MCP server.

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("sterlingverify/uk-company-check").call(run_input={"companies": [{"companyNumber": "00445790"}], "companiesHouseApiKey": "YOUR_COMPANIES_HOUSE_KEY"})
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)
```

### FAQ

#### Do I need an API key?

Yes, a free Companies House API key. Without one the Actor runs in demo mode on bundled sample data, and demo results are not charged.

#### Does it include FCA Register data?

No. FCA Register data is deliberately not included because its terms prohibit bulk resale.

### Disclaimer

**You must bring your own free Companies House API key** (and optionally an HMRC token); keys are passed as secret input and never stored. Sanctions results are a screening aid only, not legal advice; potential matches need human review. No FCA Register data is included (FCA terms prohibit bulk resale). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Platform usage is included in the per-event price; you pay only for results.

### Related sterlingVerify tools

Part of the sterlingVerify UK payments, KYB and data toolkit on Apify Store:

- [UK Director Search](https://apify.com/sterlingverify/uk-director-search): every Companies House appointment for a director
- [UK Sanctions Screener](https://apify.com/sterlingverify/uk-sanctions-screener): fuzzy screening against the UK Sanctions List (FCDO)
- [EU VAT Number Validator (VIES)](https://apify.com/sterlingverify/eu-vat-vies-validator): bulk EU VAT number checks against VIES
- [Merchant Website Compliance Checker for Onboarding](https://apify.com/sterlingverify/merchant-compliance-checker): onboarding review of a merchant's website
- [UK Bank Account Validator](https://apify.com/sterlingverify/uk-sortcode-checker): UK sort code and account number modulus check

# Actor input Schema

## `companies` (type: `array`):

List of {companyNumber, vatNumber?} objects or plain company numbers

## `companiesHouseApiKey` (type: `string`):

Required for live data. Get a free key at https://developer.company-information.service.gov.uk (Register an application → REST API key). Without it the Actor runs in demo mode on sample data.

## `hmrcAccessToken` (type: `string`):

OAuth application-restricted token for HMRC Check a UK VAT number API v2

## `screenSanctions` (type: `boolean`):

No description

## `sanctionsThreshold` (type: `integer`):

No description

## `mockMode` (type: `boolean`):

Use bundled sample data instead of live APIs. Runs without an API key automatically use demo mode.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "companies": [
    {
      "companyNumber": "00445790",
      "vatNumber": "GB220430231"
    }
  ],
  "screenSanctions": true,
  "sanctionsThreshold": 90,
  "mockMode": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

All results in the default dataset

# 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 = {
    "companies": [
        {
            "companyNumber": "00445790",
            "vatNumber": "GB220430231"
        }
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("sterlingverify/uk-company-check").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 = { "companies": [{
            "companyNumber": "00445790",
            "vatNumber": "GB220430231",
        }] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("sterlingverify/uk-company-check").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 '{
  "companies": [
    {
      "companyNumber": "00445790",
      "vatNumber": "GB220430231"
    }
  ]
}' |
apify call sterlingverify/uk-company-check --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/HmFIFFkdd6SW5vTqX/builds/EGVtpsb0eHHYFWbgX/openapi.json