How a university library enables access to UK Company Data: IP ranges and EZproxy

How access works

UK Company Data recognises a licensed institution by the IP address of each request. If a request comes from one of your registered campus ranges, or from the outgoing IP address of your EZproxy server, it gets full licensed access. Nobody has to create an account, sign up or give us an email address.

On campus, users simply open the site. Off campus, users go through your EZproxy server as they do for other e-resources, and EZproxy makes the request from its own registered address. Walk-in users on library computers are covered in the same way, because those computers sit inside your campus ranges.

Licensed pages show a banner reading "Access provided by" followed by your institution's name. That banner is the quickest way to confirm that access is working.

What to send us

Email info@globalmindsetmarketing.co.uk with the following:

1. Campus IP ranges in CIDR notation, for example 192.0.2.0/24.
2. EZproxy outgoing IP address (or addresses, if you run more than one server or a cluster).
3. Institution name as it should appear in the banner, for example "University of Example Library".
4. A technical contact in the library or IT who can test the setup.
5. A contact for the monthly usage report, who will receive the secret link to the report page and CSV.

Tell us whenever your ranges or proxy address change, otherwise access from the new addresses will fall back to the free preview limits.

EZproxy stanza

Add this stanza to your EZproxy configuration (config.txt or an included stanza file) and restart EZproxy:

Title UK Company Data
URL https://data.globalmindsetmarketing.co.uk/accounts
HJ data.globalmindsetmarketing.co.uk
DJ globalmindsetmarketing.co.uk

The site runs on HTTPS only. If your EZproxy uses proxy by hostname, make sure your wildcard certificate covers the rewritten hostname, as for any other HTTPS resource.

How to test

1. From a campus computer, open https://data.globalmindsetmarketing.co.uk/accounts. The "Access provided by" banner with your institution's name should appear.
2. From off campus, open the resource through your EZproxy link, for example https://ezproxy.example.ac.uk/login?url=https://data.globalmindsetmarketing.co.uk/accounts. The banner should appear again.
3. Open the dataset builder and run a preview. Licensed users can export up to 50,000 rows per query; without a licence the limit is 25 preview rows and 100 CSV rows.
4. Open the full financial history of a company, for example /company/00445790/history. Licensed users see all periods without buying a pack.

If the banner does not appear, send us the IP address shown by a "what is my IP" check from the same computer and we will compare it with the registered ranges.

Stable start URLs for A-Z lists and LibGuides

These addresses are stable and safe to use in your A-Z database list, discovery layer and LibGuides:

Prefix each one with your EZproxy login URL for off-campus links.

Suggested A-Z description

Libraries can paste this text into their A-Z list or LibGuide:

Single sign-on (SAML)

SAML single sign-on through OpenAthens or the UK Access Management Federation is available on request for institutions whose policy requires it. It is not yet live. If you need it, tell us when you send your IP ranges and we will agree a timetable with your identity team. IP and EZproxy access work in the meantime.

API keys and AI assistants

Module leaders who want students to use the REST API in a taught module can ask us for API keys for that module. An MCP server for AI assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT is available as an option; licences for the AI assistants themselves are not included.

FAQ

Do students need to register to use UK Company Data?

No. Access is by IP address from your campus ranges and your EZproxy server, so students and staff use the site without any account or sign-up.

What do we need to send to enable access?

Your campus IP ranges in CIDR notation, the outgoing IP address of your EZproxy server, the institution name for the banner, a technical contact and a contact for the monthly usage report.

How do we know access is working?

Licensed pages show a banner reading "Access provided by" with your institution's name. Check it on campus and through EZproxy.

Is OpenAthens or Shibboleth supported?

SAML single sign-on through OpenAthens or the UK Access Management Federation is available on request but not yet live. IP and EZproxy access are available now.

Sources: Companies House register and accounts data (Open Government Licence v3.0), legislation.gov.uk and GOV.UK guidance where linked. This page is general information, not legal, tax or credit advice. Spotted an error? Email info@globalmindsetmarketing.co.uk.