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How to look up hundreds of UK companies on Companies House at once (profile, officers, PSC)

Updated 2026-10-28 · Tool used: UK Companies House Lookup - Company Profile, Officers & PSC on Apify · Price: $0.002 per company profile found ($2 per 1,000), officers and PSC included; invalid numbers and names with no match are free

Supplier onboarding, KYB checks and CRM clean-up all start with the same question: is this UK company real, active and up to date with its filings, and who runs and owns it? The Companies House website answers it one company at a time, and its terms ask people not to bulk-scrape the website.

This guide shows how to use the official Companies House Public Data API instead, with your own free API key, to check hundreds of companies in one run: status, type, incorporation date, registered office, SIC codes, liquidation and charges flags, next accounts and confirmation statement due dates, and optionally officers and persons with significant control (PSC).

Open UK Companies House Lookup on Apify →

Steps

  1. Get a free API key at the Companies House developer hub and put it in apiKey. Without a key the actor only serves a small demo.
  2. Add company numbers to companyNumbers (Scottish SC, Northern Irish NI and LLP OC prefixes work) and/or names to companyNames. Set maxResultsPerName to 1 when you only want the best match.
  3. Turn on includeOfficers and includePersonsWithSignificantControl if you need directors and owners. They are nested on the same row at no extra charge.
  4. Run it and export the dataset as CSV or Excel. Re-run it monthly as a task to catch status changes and overdue accounts.

Example input

{
  "companyNumbers": [
    "00445790",
    "00000006"
  ],
  "companyNames": [
    "Tesco"
  ],
  "includeOfficers": false,
  "includePersonsWithSignificantControl": false,
  "maxResultsPerName": 1,
  "maxCompanies": 100
}

Example output (one item, shortened)

{
  "query": "00445790",
  "queryType": "companyNumber",
  "found": true,
  "demo": true,
  "companyNumber": "00445790",
  "companyName": "TESCO PLC",
  "companyStatus": "active",
  "companyType": "plc",
  "dateOfCreation": "1947-11-27",
  "dateOfCessation": null,
  "registeredOfficeAddress": {
    "lines": "Tesco House, Shire Park, Kestrel Way",
    "locality": "Welwyn Garden City",
    "region": null,
    "postalCode": "AL7 1GA",
    "country": "United Kingdom"
  },
  "sicCodes": [
    "47110"
  ],
  "jurisdiction": "england-wales",
  "hasBeenLiquidated": false,
  "hasCharges": true,
  "hasInsolvencyHistory": false,
  "accountsNextDue": "2027-02-28",
  "accountsNextMadeUpTo": "2026-02-28",
  "accountsOverdue": false,
  "confirmationStatementNextDue": "2026-12-11",
  "confirmationStatementOverdue": false,
  "companiesHouseUrl": "https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00445790",
  "officers": null,
  "personsWithSignificantControl": null,
  "error": null
}

Every run's dataset can be downloaded as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or HTML from the Apify Console, or via https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/<datasetId>/items?format=csv.

Run it from code

Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient  # pip install apify-client

client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>")
run_input = {
  "companyNumbers": [
    "00445790",
    "00000006"
  ],
  "companyNames": [
    "Tesco"
  ],
  "includeOfficers": false,
  "includePersonsWithSignificantControl": false,
  "maxResultsPerName": 1,
  "maxCompanies": 100
}
run = client.actor("tinyrex/uk-companies-house-lookup").call(run_input=run_input)
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

JavaScript / Node.js

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // npm i apify-client

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('tinyrex/uk-companies-house-lookup').call({
  "companyNumbers": [
    "00445790",
    "00000006"
  ],
  "companyNames": [
    "Tesco"
  ],
  "includeOfficers": false,
  "includePersonsWithSignificantControl": false,
  "maxResultsPerName": 1,
  "maxCompanies": 100
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

curl (no SDK)

# Runs the actor and returns the results directly (CSV here; use format=json for JSON)
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/tinyrex~uk-companies-house-lookup/run-sync-get-dataset-items?format=csv" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"companyNumbers": ["00445790", "00000006"], "companyNames": ["Tesco"], "includeOfficers": false, "includePersonsWithSignificantControl": false, "maxResultsPerName": 1, "maxCompanies": 100}' > results.csv

Get your API token in Apify Console → Settings → API & Integrations. The free Apify plan includes monthly credit that is enough to try this.

Use it from an AI agent (MCP)

The Apify MCP server exposes this actor as a tool for Claude, Cursor, VS Code, n8n and other MCP clients. Add this to your client's MCP config (or use the OAuth flow at mcp.apify.com instead of a token):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=tinyrex/uk-companies-house-lookup",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Then ask in plain language, e.g. "Companies house api bulk lookup for this list and give me a table".

Pricing

Pay per result: $0.002 per company profile found ($2 per 1,000), officers and PSC included; invalid numbers and names with no match are free. You can cap the cost of every run in the run options.

FAQ

Is the Companies House API free?

Yes. The Public Data API is free with a key from the developer hub and is limited to 600 requests per key per 5 minutes. The actor throttles itself under that limit and retries politely.

Can I reuse Companies House data commercially?

Companies House does not restrict how public register information is used. Officer and PSC names are personal data, so check your GDPR legal basis before using them for marketing.

How do I check if a UK company is overdue with its accounts?

Look at accountsNextDue and confirmationStatementNextDue in the output and compare them with today's date. companyStatus, hasBeenLiquidated and hasCharges cover the other basic red flags.

What does it cost?

$0.002 per company profile found ($2 per 1,000). Officers and PSC are included in that price. Invalid numbers and names without a match return free rows with the reason.

Try it on Apify →

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