NURSLING-BASED mapping giant Ordnance Survey (OS) has seen its revenue grow to record levels, driven by a demand for geospatial data.

OS revenue for 2017/18 was £154.9 revenue for up from £152.8m the previous year.

Last year also saw record levels of data capture with over 60 million changes to the national geospatial database for GB.

This is more than 100,000 updates every day to the database containing more than 500 million geographic features.

Chairman Kieran Murphy said: “Our data is already used by 4,700 organisations working across the public sector, in areas such as housing, transport, the natural environment, health and local and national security.

“The demand for accurate and detailed location data will continue to grow as its importance is increasingly recognised.

"We were pleased when this was formally acknowledged by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his 2017 autumn budget. The plan to create a new Geospatial Commission was recognition that Government is addressing the need to have a clear voice to ensure that location data and the organisations which provide it are at the heart of the future UK economy.

"Ordnance Survey also has a role in promoting Great Britain around the world, and we enjoy a reputation internationally as a leader among national mapping agencies. We already sell our advice and our services outside GB, and we intend to build on that.”

OS data is used across many markets and technologies.

It also supports start ups and developers through its Geovation project

In three years since the Geovation Hub opened it has had 72 businesses on its Geovation Programme and helped them create 200 new jobs and raise £19.5 million in investment funding.

For many OS is still known for its leisure maps and these still account for seven per cent of revenue.

Today, and in the future, location data is becoming embedded in the fast-developing areas of Smart Cities, driverless cars and 5G development and OS is involved in a number of these projects.