Ordnance Survey revenue jumps as map maker goes digital
Ordnance Survey has posted record revenue growth as the mapping agency takes the fight to Apple and Google with the “most detailed digital map of Britain to date”.
The firm, which is Great Britain’s official mapping service, posted a 2.1 per cent jump in revenue to £199m in the year to March, driven by its public sector partnerships.
Ordnance Survey (OS), which is known for its paper maps, says it has evolved into a “data giant” by providing digital infrastructure to government and private partners like telecoms giant Openreach.
OS has mapped 80 per cent of Britain’s buried pipes and cables as part of the National Underground Asset Register it has created for the government.
This map enables construction workers to plan works around power and water supplies, avoiding delays and life-threatening accidents, OS said. The mapping firm has tracked 3.2m kilometres of pipes and cables as part of the project.
OS added Openreach to this platform later this year, alongside the 70 per cent of local authorities which use the data.
The map provider is also supporting government agencies like the Office for National Statistics and HM Land Registry with its data.
Its uses include a tool to track which road and rail lines are vulnerable to flooding, and a machine learning model which identifies which households in the North of England have off-street parking access.
OS ‘evolving’ for digital age
Despite the popularity of the map services provided by tech giants Google and Apple, OS said consumer use of its maps is growing.
The firm saw a six per cent jump in subscribers to OS Maps, to 536,000, in the year to March. The commercial use of its maps in the land and property sectors grew by nine and 17 per cent.
Nick Bolton, chief executive of Ordnance Survey, said: “This year marked the 225th anniversary of our first map, and today, OS continues to innovate to meet the evolving needs of the nation.
“This demand for trusted location data has delivered another year of growth, and with a six-year programme to build our data foundation now complete, our focus is now on making data more accessible to more people and organisations.”