Gridlink®

Gridlink® is the brand name for the 'Joint Venture on Postcode Location' and its outputs. It refers to the coordinated cross-organisational approach to the creation of postcode location products, such as ONS Geography's National Statistics and NHS Postcode Directories. These products relate unit postcodes to geographic areas such as electoral wards and Primary Care Trusts, and also provide postcode grid references.

In the past, competition between different organisations had led to duplication of effort on postcode products and also to variation in method and inconsistency of the actual outputs. The Joint Venture resulted from the realisation that it would be better for the organisations involved to pool their resources and harmonise their data, ensuring that a core set of components would be included in all postcode products.

'Gridlink®' was adopted as the brand name, and the organisations involved (ONS, Ordnance Survey, Royal Mail, the General Register Office for Scotland and the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland) formed the 'Gridlink® Consortium'. The resulting work, involving standardisation of methodology and the creation of a central postcode location database (from which product data can be drawn), represent a good example of the concept of 'joined up geography'.

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This page last revised: Tuesday, 7 November 2006