In 2009, the first UK postcode celebrated its 50th anniversary. In a relatively short period of time the postcode has become an important part of our identity and our culture. It was only in 1959 when the Postmaster General, Ernest Maples, first trialled a 6 digit postcode in Norwich. The idea took a while to catch on as, by all accounts, less than half of the letters that were sent used the new postcodes. Other trials followed, notably in the mid 1960’s in Croydon, and whilst a gradual roll-out of postcodes by Royal Mail continued in major conurbations, the roll out was not completed nationwide until 1974.
However, it was in the 19th Century that people started using post towns and county names to address their mail. As mail volumes increased throughout the 1850’s a new solution needed to be developed to help with the accurate delivery of mail. During this time a decision was made to split London into compass point districts – these are still exactly the same today – with Central London split between EC and WC and Outer London being given N, NE, E, SE, SW, W, and NW codes respectively.
By the early 1980’s, a database of all UK residential and business address was first devised, it soon became known as the Postcode Address File or simply by its acronym, PAF. Whilst PAF was based upon data captured electronically, the maintenance process was paper-based and updates were infrequent, reflecting the technology of its day. In 1992/93, an enhanced PAF maintenance system was introduced which meant that PAF could now be updated in real time. This greatly increased the quality, accuracy and consistency of PAF.
Over the years we have continued to invest heavily in the development and maintenance of PAF. We have created very strong relationships with Royal Mail Operations and have established well defined processes with our 1,400 Delivery Offices for validating existing records and for submitting changes and updates to PAF. We have also established very strong relationships with the Local Authorities for capturing newly created addresses and changes to existing addresses, and developed ways of working with a selection of other partners including Ordnance Survey and the Office of National Statistics.
In March 2012, we introduced a new postcode, BF, but unlike other postcodes, the BF postcode doesn’t correlate with a geographic location. This ‘pseudo’ postcode has been developed for the British Forces Post Office (BFPO) to help service personnel serving overseas overcome the difficulties they currently face with gaining access to Government services online, a range of financial services, and with ordering goods and services online. All of these difficulties arise from the individuals not having a recognisable UK address and postcode. The address and postcode contained within the BFPO Postcode Data product are entirely consistent with PAF, and are provided at the same time as other PAF products, but aren’t actually part of PAF itself.
Postcodes were first introduced alongside an address to help with the accurate sortation and delivery of mail, something that Royal Mail and all UK Mail Operators continue to use PAF for today, but the use of postcode data has widened and proliferated in recent years.
Postcodes and PAF data are used within Satellite Navigation systems, within digital maps, within call centres to verify identities, for fraud prevention, for database cleansing and database management, within rapid addressing systems on websites, and for online address look-up services such as www.royalmail.com/postcode-finder. Millions of individuals, and tens of thousands of UK businesses, rely on and have trust in the quality of the address and postcode data held within PAF. The Royal Mail Address Management Unit are proud that the accuracy of the file, which is regularly measured, which consistently stands in excess of 96%.
To find out more about PAF and how it could help your business visit the Products section
