# UK Companies House Scraper (`opendata-labs/companieshouse-scraper`) Actor

Scrape the official UK Companies House register — companies, directors/officers and persons with significant control (PSC) — through the government's own free API. Built for B2B prospecting, recruiting, KYC and due diligence.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/opendata-labs/companieshouse-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Joao Paulo](https://apify.com/opendata-labs) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Automation, Integrations
- **Stats:** 3 total users, 3 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 and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#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 Companies House Scraper

Extract data from the **official UK Companies House register** — the government's own database of every company registered in the United Kingdom. This Actor talks directly to the official Companies House public API, so the data is authoritative, always up to date, and never breaks.

Perfect for **B2B lead generation, sales prospecting, recruiting, KYC, AML and due diligence**.

### What you can scrape

| Mode | What you get |
| --- | --- |
| **Search companies** | Find companies by name, location, industry (SIC code), status and incorporation date. One row per company. |
| **Company details** | Full company profile for a list of company numbers — status, type, addresses, SIC codes, accounts and filing due dates. |
| **Officers / directors** | Directors and officers of a company — name, role, appointment/resignation dates, nationality, occupation, partial date of birth and address. |
| **Persons with significant control (PSC)** | The beneficial owners of a company — name, nature of control, nationality and country of residence. Essential for KYC / due diligence. |

### Free API key required (2-minute setup)

Companies House provides the data for free, but every request needs a free API key:

1. Go to <https://developer.company-information.service.gov.uk/>
2. Sign in (or create a free account) and register a new application of type **REST**.
3. Copy the application's **API key** and paste it into the `apiKey` field.

That's it — there is no charge from Companies House for using the register.

### Example input

Search for active software companies in London:

```json
{
  "mode": "search",
  "apiKey": "YOUR_FREE_API_KEY",
  "query": "",
  "companyStatus": "active",
  "location": "London",
  "sicCodes": "62012,62020",
  "maxItems": 500
}
```

Get the directors of specific companies:

```json
{
  "mode": "officers",
  "apiKey": "YOUR_FREE_API_KEY",
  "companyNumbers": ["00445790", "SC123456"]
}
```

### Output

Results are returned as a clean, flat dataset that you can export to **JSON, CSV or Excel**, or pull through the Apify API. Use the **Overview** table view for a quick look.

### Notes

- Data comes straight from Companies House — this Actor performs no scraping of rendered web pages and needs no proxies.
- Companies House exposes only the **month and year** of an officer's date of birth (never the day), in line with its privacy rules; this Actor reflects that.
- Rate limits (600 requests / 5 minutes) are handled automatically with back-off.

### Keywords

UK company data, Companies House API, company registration data, UK business directory, director search, company officers, persons with significant control, PSC data, KYC, AML, due diligence, B2B lead generation, sales prospecting, UK companies scraper, business intelligence.

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

What to scrape. 'search' finds companies by name/location/industry filters (one row per company). 'company\_details' returns full profiles for a list of company numbers. 'officers' returns directors & officers (one row each) for a list of company numbers. 'psc' returns persons with significant control (beneficial owners) for a list of company numbers.

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

Your free Companies House API key. Register at https://developer.company-information.service.gov.uk/ , create an application of type 'REST' and copy its API key. Takes about 2 minutes and is completely free.

## `query` (type: `string`):

Search mode only. Return companies whose name contains this text. Leave empty to match all (combine with location or SIC codes).

## `companyStatus` (type: `string`):

Search mode only. Filter by status. Comma-separate multiple values (e.g. 'active,dissolved'). Common values: active, dissolved, liquidation, administration, open, closed.

## `location` (type: `string`):

Search mode only. Filter by registered office location (town/city, e.g. 'London', 'Manchester').

## `sicCodes` (type: `string`):

Search mode only. Filter by SIC (industry) code. Comma-separate multiple codes (e.g. '62012,62020' for software). See https://resources.companieshouse.gov.uk/sic/

## `incorporatedFrom` (type: `string`):

Search mode only. Only include companies incorporated on or after this date.

## `incorporatedTo` (type: `string`):

Search mode only. Only include companies incorporated on or before this date.

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

For 'company\_details', 'officers' and 'psc' modes. The list of Companies House company numbers to look up (e.g. \['00445790', 'SC123456']).

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

Stop after pushing this many rows to the dataset.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "search",
  "companyStatus": "active",
  "companyNumbers": [],
  "maxItems": 1000
}
```

# 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 = {
    "query": "",
    "companyStatus": "active",
    "location": "",
    "sicCodes": "",
    "incorporatedFrom": "",
    "incorporatedTo": "",
    "companyNumbers": []
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("opendata-labs/companieshouse-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 = {
    "query": "",
    "companyStatus": "active",
    "location": "",
    "sicCodes": "",
    "incorporatedFrom": "",
    "incorporatedTo": "",
    "companyNumbers": [],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("opendata-labs/companieshouse-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 '{
  "query": "",
  "companyStatus": "active",
  "location": "",
  "sicCodes": "",
  "incorporatedFrom": "",
  "incorporatedTo": "",
  "companyNumbers": []
}' |
apify call opendata-labs/companieshouse-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=opendata-labs/companieshouse-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/RzavAOWfDQM5YQC5J/builds/RhPwTeDrPWWs1DM32/openapi.json