The Amazing World of Postcodes
March 3rd, 2020How Postcodes Improved Life in Britain…
Postcodes are so commonplace now that we never consider how important they actually are. The fastest and most reliable way of getting to a destination or sending mail in the UK is by including a postcode. Without a postcode, things would be a lot harder.
The humble UK postcode that we know today has been around since 1959. Although the main UK-wide system launched in 1959, a hundred years earlier London had already introduced a system of postal subdivisions.
Originally conceived to help the postal service locate addresses to deliver letters, UK postcodes are now a critical classification system for a whole range of planning, mapping, evaluation and analytical systems, from in-car sat-navs and courier routing to insurance risk assessment.
The Royal Mail’s Address Management Unit maintains the official UK postal address and postcode database on its Postcode Address File. This is available under license for a fee and is regulated by OFCOM. Most addresses can be constructed from the postcode and house number – when you register or order online, this is the data that enables you to select your address using the website owner’s address management software.
Postcodes are a great basis for geodata, but they’re not infallible. Some postcodes cover so many buildings that it can be difficult to isolate the correct address. Others sit on top of each other in large blocks of flats or belong to a Royal Mail sorting office for onward delivery. They don’t give any information about the nature of the building (house, flat or commercial premises) or access to it. Depending on what you need postcode data for, you may need an enhanced or supplemented dataset that provides more accurate co-ordinates or combines with demographic, geographic or commercial data to give you a reliable basis for decision-making and planning.
Postcode Facts:
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Using postcode data but it’s not good enough? Wondering how to augment your postcode data to get more accurate business results? We can evaluate the many geodatasets available to recommend the most suitable combination for your needs. Get in touch with us here.