James 
Member 
 
Registered: 1st Jun 02
 Location: Surrey 
User status: Offline 
 
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I'm looking for some data that I'm not sure exists.  I want a list of retailer names and the category that they sell. 
 
E.g.  
 
Tesco          |          Groceries 
Currys         |          Electronics 
Starbucks   |           Food and Drink 
 
Etc... 
 
Does this exist?  Obviously I'm not expecting every single company in the world to be listed, but ideally the main high street shops and online retailers would be a good start.  
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evilrob 
Premium Member
 
Registered: 16th Mar 12
 Location: Your mum's house 
User status: Offline 
 
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SIC codes are available on companies house searches: 
 
  
 
Could set up a screen scrape for a bunch of companies you're interested in.
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ed 
Member 
 
Registered: 10th Sep 03
 
User status: Offline 
 
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Used to use Mint at an old job for this kind f thing (I think): https://mintuk.bvdinfo.com
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James 
Member 
 
Registered: 1st Jun 02
 Location: Surrey 
User status: Offline 
 
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Interesting.  SIC data looks promising.   
 
I wanted to write a tool that will parse a bank statement CSV file and group the items on the statement according to category (SIC Code in this instance). 
 
It looks do-able.  2 problems: 
 
1) Can't find a global SIC code API, might have to maintain my own dataset. 
2) Company names on bank statements won't necessarily be an exact match on the company name in the SIC code data source, would need some kind of fuzzy lookup. 
 
Anyway it's just a small project to keep me entertained, nothing important. 
 
 
[Edited on 04-03-2014 by James]
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Ian 
Site Administrator
 
Registered: 28th Aug 99
 Location: Liverpool 
User status: Offline 
 
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quote: Originally posted by James 
might have to maintain my own dataset.
   
 
https://github.com/ninefour/sic-codes/blob/master/2007/sic_codes.csv
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James 
Member 
 
Registered: 1st Jun 02
 Location: Surrey 
User status: Offline 
 
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Isn't that just a list of SIC Codes though?  I need the Company to SIC Code mapping. 
 
[Edited on 04-03-2014 by James]
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Dom 
Member 
 
Registered: 13th Sep 03
 
User status: Offline 
 
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There's plenty of companies, usually gets bunged in with finance data providers, offering API's for company records (DueDil being one) which list SIC codes (note that these differ between US and UK); although i can't think of a free provider, so you'd have to stump up. 
 
Edit - Just did a 5 second Google, loads of providers of company records - Company Check (£20 for 10k API calls; could easily build a DB), Hoovers, DueDil as mentioned, D&B Direct..... 
 
Alternatively just scrape it off Company Records site as Rob mentioned and just create your own DB. 
 
[Edited on 04-03-2014 by Dom]
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James 
Member 
 
Registered: 1st Jun 02
 Location: Surrey 
User status: Offline 
 
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It would be easier to bank with Barclays who IIRC do something similar for you  
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Ian 
Site Administrator
 
Registered: 28th Aug 99
 Location: Liverpool 
User status: Offline 
 
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Barclays have the same problems you've outlined - there's not always a match between the name of the transaction and what it is.  So you end up with a few items named and a massive portion of pie chart as Other.
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