What the public registers actually contain, what they leave out, and how to get something useful out of them. Written as we work, not as marketing.
What happens when you buy a dataset - the price, the VAT, the invoice, how the file reaches you and what to do if something is wrong with it.
DeveloperWhat a DataSteak file actually looks like when it lands - the format, the column conventions, how editions work and what the quality figures mean.
DeveloperWhat each part of your account does, who on your team can see it, and where a dataset lives once you have bought it.
DeveloperHow to pull a dataset into your own systems over HTTP, including authentication, paging, and the one header that saves you most of the work.
LicensingFree to download and free to do anything with are different things. Five questions worth answering before you build something on a public dataset.
Data qualityIt is not where the business is. Once you accept that, the address column starts telling you something more interesting than geography.
OwnershipDirectors run a company. They do not necessarily own it. The UK publishes both, which is unusual, and the difference is where most of the value sits.
Data qualityNobody checks them, nobody updates them, and a lot of analysis is built on them anyway. Here is how to use them without getting burned.
Getting startedThe free register is smaller than most people assume in one direction and much larger in another. Worth knowing which before you build anything on it.