Ordnance Survey creates, maintains and makes available the most accurate and up-to-date geographic information of Great Britain. Ordnance Survey data is relied on by government, business and individuals to support better decision making, improve efficiency and enable more effective service delivery. Ordnance Survey is committed to stimulating innovation in the use of its data.

Since 1999, Ordnance Survey has operated as a Trading Fund, and generates revenue by licensing the intellectual property rights to its data under Crown copyright. This revenue covers the cost of collecting, maintaining and making available its data – including any capital investment for example in IT – since Ordnance Survey does not receive any direct public subsidy from the taxpayer.

Ordnance Survey licenses data directly to customers and also via a growing community of more than 500 private sector businesses. This community includes value-added resellers, a specialist network of retailers called Ordnance Survey Mapping and Data Centres and a wide range of commercial partners who create valuable end products and services for consumers. In the last five years, this partnership model has enabled, for example, the huge growth in the use of in-car satellite navigation devices based on Ordnance Survey data.

Ordnance Survey is a non-ministerial government department in its own right and an Executive Agency responsible to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (CLG). Since 2008, CLG has delegated to Shareholder Executive responsibility for Government’s day-to-day interaction with Ordnance Survey on financial and shareholding matters.