The British Postcode: its background, how it is used and how it can be used in business enterprise.

It is not entirely obvious how the British postcode system works and if you are looking to use mapinfo 10 effectively, its best to gain a greater understanding of its history and how it can be utilised in business. Every postal address in the UK has a postcode, or to use its official name, ‘postcode unit’. The postcode is used by automated postal sorting systems, and delays may occur if you do not include the correct postcode in the address. There are nearly two million UK postcodes, and the number is increasing all the time as more houses and business premises are built. You can find out the postcode of any premises by entering the address into a postcode finder. Postcodes ensure that mail is sorted correctly by the automated sorting systems. An incorrect postcode on a letter or parcel may cause a delay in the item being delivered. Finding out the correct postcode is simple. A postcode finder will instantly find every UK postcode; all you need to do is type in the address of the premises. There are two parts to UK postcodes. The first part identifies the postal area. Often it consists of two letters followed by two numbers, but this is not always the case. This is followed by a space. The second part always consists of one number and two letters. This identifies the precise location of the address within the postal area. Postcodes are used in a variety of ways. A postcode search using online directories and search engines is a quick way of finding shops and businesses in a locality. Also, many people opt to enter their destination into their sat nav using the postcode. Postcodes as a business tool - Businesses and other organisations make extensive use of postcodes to identify regional sales patterns, assess risk, sub-divide their customer base for marketing purposes, and much more. Depending on the scale of the organisation, they may use spreadsheets to produce selective listings or very sophisticated MapInfo software to carry out complex spatial analysis. Whatever system is used, it is crucial for every postcode to be recorded accurately in order to avoid anomalies. Recording postcodes using postcode lookup - Many businesses use software that makes it easy to record customers’ postcodes and addresses. Typically, the customer is asked for a postcode and a house number; when this is input, the postcode lookup facility will complete the address if only one option is available, or display a drop-down list of possible street names. This eliminates spelling mistakes and other inputting errors. Is postcode software always accurate? - Postcode lookup software is accurate because it uses information from Royal Mail’s ‘Postcode Address Files’ or PAF files. This contains around 26 million UK addresses. It is constantly being updated as new addresses are added, so there may be occasionally a short delay before the postcode of a new building is recognised but this will be automatically resolved at the next update. How many postcodes are there? - There are around 26 million addresses in the UK, divided amongst 124 postcode areas. When new building developments are completed they are allocated new postcodes, and PAF files are updated regularly to bring the new addresses into the system.