Linked Data from Companies House
Companies House have launched a new Linked Data endpoint, where their information about all companies in the UK can be queried. You can find the service at http://business.data.gov.uk/companies.
iStandUK had a session this week with Amy Harcombe, Lead Product Manager and her colleagues, to find out more and explore how the service could be useful to local public services.
The service has been developed as a prototype, with some funding from Cabinet Office, to be a part of a set of national registers. They now hope to stimulate interest, and discover the uses that it can be put to, and how the service could be improved.
iStandUK suggested that, a national register of ‘business’ would be helpful to local public services, which would include this data from Companies House, and would also include businesses that are not on the Companies House register such as:
- charities
- partnerships
- sole traders
Local Authority data refers to Business as:
- suppliers of goods and services
- for business rates
- users of local services
- for licences, permits ,inspections and regulation
- for economic development
The Companies House data provides basic information such as:
- registered address
- status
- SIC Code to describe activities
It would be useful if the Companies House URI(s) could be associated with data held from all sorts of other sources. To name a few:
- certificates and registrations
- memberships of trade associations
- services provided
To assist Companies House to refine their linked data services, iStandUK will run workshops with interested Local Authorities to drive out how ‘company data’ and links, could be used to improve local public services.