Ordnance Survey Annual Report and Accounts 2001-2002
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Printed in the UK for The Stationery Office Limited on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office 07/02 Phone: 08456 05 05 05 (calls charged at local rate) Textphone: 023 8079 2906 (hearing impaired users only please) Fax: 023 8079 2615 Email: [email protected] Web site: www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk Trademark acknowledgement Ordnance Survey, the OS Symbol, ADDRESS-POINT, askGIraffe, Code-Point, DNF, Land-Line, Land-Line.Plus, Landranger, NLUD, Pathfinder and Superplan are registered trademarks and Digital National Framework, Explorer, Get-a-map, MapZone, Meridian, OS, OS MasterMap, OS Select, Our Favourite Places, Outdoor Leisure, Pre-Build, PRISM, Routeplanner and TOID are trademarks of Ordnance Survey, the national mapping agency of Great Britain. Abbey National is a registered trademark of Abbey National plc. Autodesk is a registered trademark of Autodesk Incorporated. Barclays is a registered trademark of Barclays Bank plc. 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Ordnance Survey acknowledges all other trademarks. © Crown copyright Annual Report and Accounts 2001–02 Presented to Parliament pursuant to section 4(6) of the Government Trading Funds Act 1973 as amended by the Government Trading Act 1990 Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 17 July 2002 HC892 London: The Stationery Office £16.60 1 2 Contents Chief Executive’s statement 4 Report of the Principal Finance Officer 8 Targets and actual performance 10 Our Directors 11 Some highlights of 2001–02 12 Underpinning public services 14 Joined-up geography to modernise government Exchanging expertise Putting our work on the map A commitment to education Developing the market by stimulating innovation 20 OS MasterMap – beyond the DNF Supporting our partners Introducing innovation Pricing and licensing Ordnance Survey Outdoors Show Focusing on our customers 28 One-stop shop for customer service Our new web site Online gateway to customer service Mapping round the clock Building a solid foundation to meet our vision 30 Software systems for customer satisfaction Enhancing today’s infrastructure Surveying the country from top to toe Online service Shaping our business for future success 34 Motivating teams from the top Learning from external experience and expertise Enhancing skills and recognising potential Raising the return on our assets Recruitment activity 38 Customer satisfaction survey 39 Safety, health and environmental review 40 Annual Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2002 41 3 Chief Executive’s statement Events at both home and abroad Playing a leading role in national life In addition, we continue to develop have brought many challenges and is certainly not a new experience for the Global Positioning System (GPS) opportunities during the past year. I us; for many years our data has services available on the National am, however, very pleased to report added value to the everyday lives of GPS Network web site – that we have succeeded in meeting millions of people. Indeed, only three www.gps.gov.uk. During the past year all the performance targets set by years ago independent experts we have been working with Ordnance the Government and that our growing estimated that our data underpins Survey Ireland and Ordnance Survey revenue passed £100 million for the around £100 billion of economic Northern Ireland to create a new first time this year. activity in Great Britain each year. geoid model that will convert GPS derived heights to Ordnance Survey As the mapping agency of Great With the development of new datum heights to an accuracy of a Britain, Ordnance Survey’s consistent, products, such as OS MasterMap™ – few centimetres. definitive and comprehensive data our groundbreaking new concept in provides a fundamental framework mapping – we believe that this Work has also taken place to further that underpins many areas of contribution will continue to grow as improve the accuracy of our national life. more and more organisations use it coordinate transformation service as the underlying framework for linking together National Grid Initiatives have ranged from providing joining up information from both the references and GPS coordinates. In highly-detailed mapping of rural public and private sectors. early summer 2002 we will be areas to help tackle the spread of releasing a new coordinate foot and mouth disease to supplying Our data is, therefore, not only a transformation that doubles the the geographical data underpinning valuable and fundamental part of our accuracy of the current system to the 2001 Census, and from helping to work, but its constant revision makes within 10 centimetres. boost tourism by encouraging people it an invaluable asset to Great Britain back into the countryside to as a whole. Around 5 000 daily This will make a significant difference supporting the national curriculum in changes to our database provide our to those needing a high level of schools with two exciting education customers with the most up-to-date precision in their work, such as civil initiatives – free maps for 11-year-olds geographical information available, engineers, land and hydrographic and Our Favourite Places™, an online helping to join up both organisations surveyors, field data collectors and tourist guide especially for children. and the services they offer. earth scientists. 4 Pioneering products companies and other organisations widespread tightening of purse preparing work schedules and strings. Yet in spite of the widespread Undoubtedly the highlight of the year operations in a specific area have had closure of the country paths and for both Ordnance Survey and many to source information about planned declining visitor numbers inevitably of its customers was the November developments from the individual affecting sales of our paper map 2001 launch of OS MasterMap. The developers involved. By doing this work products during the first quarter, delivery of this revolutionary new for them, we can offer highly-detailed sales recovered strongly to end the database and online service, featuring digital mapping pinpointing buildings year on target. definitive digital data for the whole of and roads before they are built. Great Britain, on time and to budget The July launch of our biggest-ever was the culmination of two years of Changing conditions, integrated marketing campaign for work at a total cost of £17 million. consistent data paper maps played an important part in reversing the trend. With the OS MasterMap provides intelligent While 2001– 02 has been a strapline Your passport to Great and accessible data with the flexibility successful year for us in so many Britain, the campaign was a major to link information across and ways, our business is not immune to initiative to help rebuild confidence in between organisations. With more market downturns. We too have faced the countryside and aid the than 100 customers in the first four many challenges over the past regeneration of the rural economy months, we firmly believe our 12 months as a result of both global through leisure and tourism. This strategy of investing in market- and national events. commitment continued with our leading products is right for the sponsorship of the Ordnance Survey continued success of the business Rural economies reliant on tourism and Outdoors Show – the UK’s and the greater prosperity of Great agriculture were dealt a double blow biggest-ever exhibition for outdoor Britain. during the period of this report, first enthusiasts. with