FAME is the academic and enterprise standard for UK company research. UKDataAPI is the developer API — director risk scoring, network analysis, and API-native.
FAME (Financial Analysis Made Easy) is Bureau van Dijk's flagship UK and Irish company database, now owned by Moody's Analytics. It's the standard tool in academic institutions, investment banks, and consulting firms for company research, financial analysis, and director network mapping. FAME contains detailed financials, ownership structures, and director networks for millions of UK companies. Institutional licences typically cost £5,000-30,000+/year. UKDataAPI's Director endpoint provides director lookups with appointment history, portfolio analysis, disqualification checks, and a proprietary Director Risk Score — all via API. You won't get FAME's financial statement data or advanced screening tools, but for director-level intelligence and risk assessment, UKDataAPI delivers programmatic access at a fraction of the cost.
| Feature | UKDataAPI | FAME / Bureau van Dijk |
|---|---|---|
| Director appointments and history | Full appointment list with company status | Comprehensive director data with financials |
| Director Risk Score | ✓0-100 score with risk signals and recommendation | No equivalent composite scoring |
| Disqualification checks | Included — checks Insolvency Service register | Included |
| Company financial statements | Not included | ✓Full P&L, balance sheet, ratios |
| Director network mapping | Portfolio of companies with statuses | ✓Visual network mapping and ownership chains |
| Screening and filtering | Name or ID lookup | ✓Advanced multi-criteria screening |
| Portfolio summary | Active/resigned/dissolved company counts | Full portfolio with financial aggregation |
| Cross-referencing with entity data | Combine with entity endpoint for full picture | Integrated company and director data |
| Output format | ✓Structured JSON API | Web platform + Excel/PDF export |
| Batch processing | ✓Up to 500 req/min | Bulk export on institutional plans |
| Academic and institutional access | Pay-per-call, accessible to all | ✓Widely available via university subscriptions |
| AI agent access (MCP/x402) | ✓Native support | Not available |
UKDataAPI
From £0.005/call (summary) to £0.03/call (full). Pay-as-you-go. Free tier: 200 credits/month.
FAME / Bureau van Dijk
Institutional licences from ~£5,000-30,000+/year. Academic access via university subscriptions. No self-serve option.
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \ "https://www.ukdatapi.com/api/v1/director/KEN%20MURPHY?depth=standard" # Returns: director appointments, portfolio summary, # disqualification status, Director Risk Score (0-100) # Cost: 15 credits (£0.03)
200 free credits. No contract. No credit card.
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