How do I look up beneficial ownership data for a UK company in a Python agent?

Steps

1. Install the Strale Python SDK, straleio.
2. Create the client with your API key.
3. Call beneficial-ownership-lookup with the company name and gb as the jurisdiction.
4. Go through the owners in the answer.

The solution

# pip install straleio
from straleio import Strale, DoRequest

strale = Strale(api_key="sk_live_YOUR_KEY")

result = strale.do(DoRequest(
    capability_slug="beneficial-ownership-lookup",
    inputs={"company_name": "Tesco PLC", "jurisdiction": "gb"},
    max_price_cents=50,
))

print(f"Source: {result.output['data_source']}")
print(f"Owners found: {result.output['total_beneficial_owners']}")
for owner in result.output.get("beneficial_owners", []):
    print(owner)

How it works

Beneficial ownership shows who ultimately controls a company. This tool reads the UK register of persons with significant control (PSC). Other jurisdictions return a coverage notice rather than owners.

The answer has data_source, company_status, total_beneficial_owners, a beneficial_owners list and has_psc_data. Check has_psc_data before treating an empty list as "no owners": it can mean there is no register to read for that company.

The register can lag real ownership changes, and complex ownership chains are not always fully resolved.

Tools in this guide

Company records for United Kingdom: inputs, output fields, source and last test.