During this anniversary year we have asked our customers to share their Postcode stories with us. We are interested to understand how Postcodes have been used in the UK over the last 60 years to innovate your software and become part of our national identity.
Please contact us if you would like to contribute a Postcode story.
Thank you to Crafty Clicks for their Postcode story.
Crafty Clicks provide address validation solutions for 240+ countries worldwide, but our business was built on the strengths of our UK Postcode Lookup. Our customers often ask why we would promote UK Postcode Lookup as the best solution for UK customers when there is the option to search by the street name?
It’s a fair question and has a very simple answer: in the UK there is no solution which delivers accurate results in so few keystrokes as the UK Postcode Lookup. The Postcode Address File, which is the source of our data, is undisputed as the UK’s leading address data set. Our solution interfaces with it as a true partnership to deliver precise, validated results to users around the UK.
The UK postcode is a part of our national identity which is often unappreciated. Forward-thinking in its conception 60 years ago, it is a constantly changing and flexible database. It is updated every 24 hours both by the public and businesses reporting changes, so that it includes the deliverable addresses and conversely removes addresses which are no more. A large proportion of their accuracy can be attributed to the information obtained from the “eyes on the ground” – the postmen and postwomen of the Royal Mail on their daily delivery routes. The UK Postcode is undoubtedly a highly accurate and well-maintained database and we are proud to be PAF solutions providers.
Not all countries are as successful in their addressing, in fact only the Netherlands could compare with the UK when it comes to postcodes and quick retrieval of addresses. Even in the most advanced countries, like the USA with its very well-organised grid street plan, zipcodes cover huge areas, and mail delivery routes and are just not focused enough to be highly-effective addressing databases. Users would need to search for their address from the street name and drill down to their correct location data.
At Crafty Clicks we truly admire the UK Postcode. It is adaptable, useful and serves the needs of the people of the UK without question. It is an outstanding database in the eyes of the world and a jewel in the crown for all of the people of the United Kingdom.