Read from Dun & Bradstreet, Apple and Google
What is a DUNS number? Why Apple and Google Play ask for one, and how to find yours in the UK
A DUNS number is a free, unique nine-digit number that Dun & Bradstreet gives a business to identify it. In the UK you rarely have to apply for one: Dun & Bradstreet says every registered business in the UK and Ireland is issued one automatically, so look yours up by your company number first. You’re most likely to be asked for it when you publish an app under your company’s name, because Apple and Google Play both want one for an organisation account. Nobody needs to be paid to get it, and the wait can run from a few working days to a month, so sort it out before the app is ready.
The short version
- It’s a business ID, not a government number. Dun & Bradstreet, a business-information company, issues it. Your Companies House number is a different thing.
- Your company probably has one already. Search Dun & Bradstreet’s lookup by your company registration number before you apply for a new one.
- It’s free. Google warns about third-party services charging “high administrative fees” for it.
- Apple and Google ask for it when you publish as an organisation. If you publish as an individual, neither needs one.
- Sole traders publish as individuals. On the App Store, that means your own legal name appears as the seller.
- The details have to match. Google says a mismatch between your payments profile and Dun & Bradstreet, if it isn’t fixed by Google’s deadline, ends with your account restricted and your apps removed.
- Start early. Dun & Bradstreet’s UK page promises a reply within five working days, Apple adds up to two more, and Google says the process can take up to 30 days.
What is a DUNS number?
Dun & Bradstreet’s own UK definition: “A Dun & Bradstreet D‑U‑N‑S Number is a unique nine-digit code assigned by D&B to identify your business.” It’s written D‑U‑N‑S by the company that issues it, and most people search for it as “DUNS”. Both mean the same number.
Three things about it are worth knowing before you go looking for yours:
- It isn’t from the government. Your company number comes from Companies House when the company is registered. The DUNS number is a separate one, kept by Dun & Bradstreet. You need both if you publish an app as a company, and the second can be found from the first.
- It belongs to a particular business at a particular place. Apple says it identifies business entities “on a location-specific basis”, and Google warns that “Large organisations may have multiple D-U-N-S numbers for the different entities that make up the organisation”. If your business is a group, use the number of the company that will own the app.
- It’s used outside the app stores too. Dun & Bradstreet says “Many businesses will use your D-U-N-S Number to access your company’s Dun & Bradstreet credit profile”, and that “some customers even require it of their suppliers”. So a big customer’s supplier form may ask for it as well.
Does my UK company already have a DUNS number?
Almost certainly, if it’s registered. Dun & Bradstreet’s UK request page opens with: “All registered businesses in the UK and Ireland are automatically issued a D‑U‑N‑S Number.”
So the first step is a lookup, not an application. Dun & Bradstreet’s D‑U‑N‑S Number Lookup searches two ways: by company name with a post town or postcode, or by company number. In its words, “Find a UK company's D‑U‑N‑S Number by entering the full Company Registration Number.” That’s the number on the Companies House register.
If you’re enrolling with Apple, its D‑U‑N‑S help page says the same thing from the other side, “Before enrolling, look up your organization to see if you have a D‑U‑N‑S Number”, and links to its own lookup tool.
Only if you can’t find a number do you need Dun & Bradstreet’s request form, which is for businesses that “have already tried to find it using the D‑U‑N‑S Number Lookup”. It says: “We will respond within five working days.”
We wanted to show you the lookup working on our own company for this post. Dun & Bradstreet’s search runs inside the page’s own scripts, and we don’t automate other companies’ forms, so we haven’t. What’s above is Dun & Bradstreet’s own description of how it works.
Is a DUNS number free?
Yes. Dun & Bradstreet: “There is no charge to obtain a Dun & Bradstreet D‑U‑N‑S Number for your business.”
Google repeats it on its Play Console help pages, with a warning: “Applying for a D-U-N-S number through Dun & Bradstreet is a completely free process. Be aware of third-party services that may attempt to charge high administrative fees for this free registration.”
So if a website wants a fee to get you a DUNS number, you’re paying for something you can do yourself for nothing. An accountant or formation agent helping as part of other work is a different matter, but the number itself never costs anything.
Why Apple and Google ask for a DUNS number
Both stores let you publish either as a person or as an organisation. Publish as an organisation and the company’s name goes on the store listing, and both stores check that company against Dun & Bradstreet’s records first. That check is what the DUNS number is for.
| Apple App Store | Google Play | |
|---|---|---|
| Who needs one | “Companies and educational institutions must provide a D‑U‑N‑S Number registered to their legal entity.” | Organisation accounts: “You will not be able to create a developer account for an organisation without one.” |
| Who doesn’t | “If you’re enrolling as an individual, you don’t need a D‑U‑N‑S Number.” | Personal accounts. Those created after 13 November 2023 must first run a closed test with at least 12 testers for 14 days (Google’s testing rules). |
| What it won’t accept | “DBAs, fictitious businesses, trade names, and branches are not accepted.” | An organisation account whose payments profile doesn’t match Dun & Bradstreet (see below). |
| How long | Up to 5 business days for the number from Dun & Bradstreet, then up to 2 for Apple to receive it. | “This process can take up to 30 days so you should plan ahead.” |
On Google Play, some apps have to come from an organisation account whatever the size of the business. Google’s account-type page lists financial products and services, health apps, apps approved to use Android’s VpnService class and government apps. If yours is one of those, you need the DUNS number however small you are.
From 1 March 2027 the number will also be on show. Google Play is moving to what it calls “an online marketplace model in the EEA and the UK”, and its trader status page says that from that date “users everywhere will see” the developer’s contact details, and “Your D-U-N-S number will be displayed in the 'App support' section.” Users in the UK will also see the developer’s name in place of Google’s: “Your developer/trader name will replace Google in the 'Offered by' field”. Before that, every developer account has to declare whether it’s a trader, by 1 February 2027.
If you’re still working out what the two developer accounts cost, our guide to the Apple developer account price in the UK has both stores’ fees.
Sole trader? You enrol as an individual
Some search results will tell you sole traders can get a DUNS number too. Apple agrees that “many types of businesses can receive a D‑U‑N‑S Number”, but that isn’t the same as Apple accepting one. Its help page says: “If your legal status is a sole proprietorship/single person business, enroll as an individual”.
That has a visible result. Apple’s Program enrollment help page says that for an individual or sole trader, “your personal legal name will be listed as the seller on the App Store.” On Google Play, a personal account shows your legal name too, and Google adds: “If you decide to monetise on Google Play, then Google will display your full address.”
If you see Apple’s error “Your organization is not listed as a legal entity.”, that’s usually this. Apple explains that the business is listed in Dun & Bradstreet’s records “with a different legal status (such as a sole proprietorship), or its legal status has not been verified.”
So for a sole trader the choice is simple. You can publish without a DUNS number, under your own name. If you want the business name on the store, the account has to belong to a company, such as a limited company. That company then needs its DUNS number.
Make the name and address match, everywhere
This is the part that causes trouble later, not on the first day. Google’s account information page says: “If your developer account represents an organisation, you must ensure that the legal name and address in your Google payments profile match those in your Dun & Bradstreet profile.”
If they drift apart, Google sends an email and shows a banner reading “Your organisation name or address is no longer verified”. You then have to fix it by Google’s deadline to avoid the account being restricted, “which would remove all of your apps from Google Play”.
Apple asks you to use “the legal entity name of your organization”, and if Dun & Bradstreet’s record is wrong, it says “To update your D&B profile, email D&B”. It warns that “it takes up to two business days for D&B to provide updated information to Apple.”
In practice, before you enrol, put three records side by side: the Companies House register, what Dun & Bradstreet’s lookup shows, and what you’re about to type into Apple and Google. Use the company’s exact registered name. And if the company later moves office or changes its name, update Dun & Bradstreet and both store accounts as well as Companies House. Don’t assume one of them updates the others.
How long does it take to get a DUNS number?
| Step | What the source says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| A new number from Dun & Bradstreet (UK) | “We will respond within five working days.” | Dun & Bradstreet UK |
| The same, for Apple | “please allow up to 5 business days to receive your number from D&B. Expediting your D‑U‑N‑S Number creation process will not shorten this waiting period.” | Apple |
| Apple receiving it | “please allow up to 2 business days for Apple to receive your information from D&B” | Apple |
| If it’s slow | “If your application has taken longer than two weeks to process, please email D&B” | Apple |
| Google Play | “This process can take up to 30 days so you should plan ahead.” |
The two figures look as if they disagree, but they cover different ground. Dun & Bradstreet’s five working days is on its UK page; Google’s 30 days is on a help page written for every country. So for a UK company, the published figure is about a week. If the app has a launch date, plan for Google’s figure anyway, and remember Apple says expediting the request won’t shorten the wait.
Dun & Bradstreet may also get in touch. Apple notes that “a D&B representative may contact you directly for more information (such as your business type or number of employees)”, so have your registration documents to hand.
Step by step: a DUNS number for a UK limited company
- Find your company number on the Companies House register.
- Search Dun & Bradstreet’s lookup by that number (or Apple’s lookup, if you’re enrolling with Apple).
- Check the name and address it shows against Companies House. If they’re wrong, get Dun & Bradstreet to fix them before you enrol anywhere.
- No number? Use Dun & Bradstreet’s free request form. It says it replies within five working days.
- Enrol with Apple as an organisation, and create a Google Play organisation account. Type the legal name and address exactly as Dun & Bradstreet has them.
- Keep them in step: if the company’s name or address changes, update Dun & Bradstreet and both store accounts.
If someone else is building the app for you, these accounts should still be yours, in your company’s name. Our guide on how to hire an app developer explains why.
What argues the other way, and what we couldn’t check
- You may not need one at all. If you’re happy to publish under your own name, as an individual on Apple and a personal account on Google, there’s no DUNS number to get. On Google that means the 12-tester, 14-day test instead.
- Not every paid helper is a scam. Accountants and formation agents sometimes do this as part of other work. The point is only that the number itself is free.
- We didn’t run the lookup ourselves. The search works in the browser through Dun & Bradstreet’s own scripts, and we don’t automate other companies’ forms.
- Apple’s and Google’s pages are written for every country. Where Dun & Bradstreet’s UK page says something specific to the UK, we’ve used it instead.
- Our interest. We build apps for UK businesses and publish them under the client’s own Apple and Google accounts, so DUNS numbers come up in our work. Nothing in this post needs us: every step is free, and yours to do.
Sources, and what we checked
- Dun & Bradstreet UK: About the D‑U‑N‑S Number, D‑U‑N‑S Number Lookup and Request a D‑U‑N‑S Number.
- Apple: D‑U‑N‑S® Number (Account Help), Apple Developer Program enrollment and Program enrollment (Account Help).
- Google, Play Console Help, read in UK English: Required information to create a Play Console developer account, Choose a developer account type, App testing requirements for new personal developer accounts and Trader status declaration.
- All of the pages above were read in full on 30 October 2026, and again on 1 November 2026, the morning we published (the trader status page on 31 October and 1 November). Every quotation was checked word for word against the page it comes from.